with a still stronger fleet, he attacked the Spaniards in their own seaport of Cadiz and destroyed many of their vessels. His last expedition was against Porto Bello on the Spanish Main; but, before reaching the end of the voyage, he died on shipboard and was buried at sea.

Why Drake is remembered. Sir Francis Drake is honored in his own country because he was the first to make England's power felt on the sea. He is remem

bered by Americans because he was one of the first to turn the attention of the English people toward the great continent which John Cabot had discovered for them nearly a hundred years before.

REVIEW

Why were the Spanish unwilling that the ships of any other nation should sail on the Pacific? How did they carry the goods and treasures of India to Spain? Why did Francis Drake hate the Spanish? Why did the Spaniards in America wish so many negro slaves? Why did they not make slaves of the Indians? What was the name of the first English ship that ever sailed on the Pacific? What part of North America was discovered by Drake? Why did he not return to England by way of the Strait of Magellan? In what way were Drake's exploits of assistance to England? In what way were they of importance to our own country?

SIR WALTER RALEIGH

AND THE FIRST ENGLISH COLONISTS

I. THE QUEEN'S FAVORITE

A courtly act. In England, in the days of Queen Elizabeth, there lived a noble young man whose name was Walter Raleigh. He was so brave and wise, and his manners were so courtly and kind, that he drew many friends to him and became the favorite of the rich and powerful who gathered at the court of the queen.

1580

One day as he was crossing a street in London, he saw the queen with her train of lords and ladies going down to the water side for a sail on the river. There had been a rain that morning, and across the queen's pathway there was an ugly puddle of mud too wide for her to step over. What was to be done?

While the queen hesitated, and her puzzled attendants were looking one at another, Walter Raleigh came up. He saw at a glance what the trouble was, and he acted at once. He wore a beautiful cloak of crimson velvet trimmed with gold and costly lace. This he took from his shoulders and spread upon the mud, so that the queen could step upon it and pass over without soiling her shoes.

Raleigh a knight. -The act was done so gracefully that the queen was much pleased. In a few days she sent for young Raleigh, and when he had come to her palace she bade him kneel before her. Then with the flat of his sword she struck him gently three times upon the shoulders and said, "Rise, Sir Walter Raleigh. It is thus

that we make thee a knight." Walter Raleigh was in high Elizabeth.

And from that time, Sir favor at the court of

Sir Humphrey Gilbert. Just then there was much talk about the new continent of America and about the voyages which Sir Francis Drake had made to the Spanish Main and the Pacific. Many Englishmen were beginning

to wonder whether the wild, unexplored land across the sea might not yet bring as much wealth to England as Mexico and the Indies had brought to Spain.

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Why not send out a colony, and make an English settlement in America?" asked Sir Humphrey Gilbert.

This Sir Humphrey was a half-brother of Sir Walter Raleigh, and he too had great influence with the queen. And so, about the time that Drake returned from his famous voyage round the world, permission was obtained. from Elizabeth to found a colony in America. It was to be somewhere north of the Spanish province of Florida, and Sir Humphrey Gilbert was to be its governor.

The first attempt at settlement.

Four ships were fitted out, and a number of men volunteered to go on them as colonists. Among these were carpenters and blacksmiths and wheelwrights and gardeners, and others intent on making themselves new homes in the great unknown land.

The little fleet sailed, with Sir Humphrey as its captain. But the sea was stormy, and the weather was cold; and when the voyagers came in sight of land it was the bleak and rocky coast of Newfoundland. One of the ships turned back, and one was wrecked; and when the others. would have gone on to the mainland, a dreadful tempest drove them hither and thither, and all on board begged to be taken back to England.

And so Sir Humphrey unwillingly gave orders to turn about and sail for home.

The sea was full of huge icebergs floating down from the frozen North, the wind

blew fearfully, and the waves seemed mountain high. "Do not fear," said Sir Humphrey to his companions; "heaven is as near on the sea as on the land." And that night his ship went down.

II. VIRGINIA

Discovery of Carolina. Very great was Sir Walter Raleigh's grief and disappointment; but he did not despair. The next year he sent out other ships to sail along the Atlantic coast and find the best place for a colony. These ships took a more southerly for their masters were unwilling to brave the stormy, icy seas in which Sir Humphrey had been overwhelmed.

course;

At length they sighted the long, low coast of Carolina, and anchored somewhere in the shallow bay now called Albemarle Sound. The crews went ashore. They thought the land was the most beautiful in the world. In the woods were giant trees of kinds unknown in England. There was great abundance of grapes and plums and other wild fruit, all to be had for the gathering. Game was plentiful, and the rivers and inlets were full of fish. The Indians were friendly; and, what seemed the best of all, they told of a country not far away where gold and precious stones could be picked up without labor or trouble.

Virginia. The ships did not stay long in that charming place. The captains were eager to carry the news back to England. When they told Sir Walter of the