Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
call it fortune. Drake was one of those bold, aggressive commanders
who grabbed the slenderest of opportunities and turned every half
chance into a triumph. Off the harbour of Praia he fell in with two
Brazil-bound carracks. He captured one of them and went aboard to
examine his prize. He found the Portuguese vessel laden with a vari-
ety of supplies for the colonists: wine, woollen cloth, velvet, swords
- all valuable commodities to mariners facing a long voyage. The
Mary,
herself, was a well-found ship of 100 tons and a welcome ad-
dition to Drake's fleet. But, most important of all, she was carrying
a highly-experienced pilot, Nun a da Silva, a man who had made
many voyages to the Americas, was very familiar with Atlantic winds
and currents and conversant with stellar navigation in the southern
hemisphere. Drake had no hesitation in kidnapping the little Por-
tuguese, though he released all his comrades. With a prize crew
aboard the
Mary,
the convoy sailed south-westward and the admiral
took every opportunity of spending time with da Silva, comparing
charts and rutters. He treated his captive well. Da Silva ate at Drake's
table, enjoyed the best accommodation available and, in general, had
everything he wanted - except his freedom.
The convoy wallowed through the Doldrums. For hours on end
the sweating and idle mariners had nothing to do but grumble, quar-
rel and wish they were ashore. It was that sultry atmosphere that
nurtured those rivalries and discontents that were to burgeon into
the worst crisis of the voyage. The problem was the gentlemen and,
in particular, their ringleader, Thomas Doughty. In the sixteenth cen-
tury it was the custom for adventurous young men of wealth and in-
fluence to acquire berths on long-distance voyages. It was an oppor-
tunity to see the world, to dabble in trade and to enhance their repu-
tations. Unfortunately, the presence of such idle coxcombs rarely did
anything to enhance the smooth-running of the vessels to which
they were assigned. On this expedition, as on many others, the re-
lationship of the gentlemen to the officers was ambiguous. Doughty
