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his sins and get right with God, Fletcher drew special attention to
the part they had all played in the condemnation of Thomas Doughty.
Soon afterwards a sudden change of wind carried the Golden Hind
clear of the reef.
They were safe and under way again. But Drake was furious. His
just dealings in the Doughty affair had been challenged - and in the
name of God. How could he deal with his recalcitrant chaplain? The
bizarre answer he came up with indicates just how sensitive Drake
was about the events in St Julian's Bay. He called the ship's com-
pany together and solemnly excommunicated Francis Fletcher from
the Christian Church. He confined the poor man to the foredeck and
forced him to carry a placard stating that he was 'Ye Falsest Knave
That Liveth'.
The Golden Hind reached Java safely and here Drake and his
men were again royally received by one of the Muslim rulers. But
the visitors had to make a hurried and unceremonious departure
when a Portuguese convoy was reported approaching the island.
Fortunately there had been time to careen the ship once more. The
strains imposed on the erstwhile Pelican throughout her long odys-
sey were beginning to tell. Once again, her commander had to point
her bowsprit at the empty ocean. Like Elcano, Drake was obliged to
give a wide berth to the Portuguese shipping lane from Malacca, via
Goa, Mombasa and Mozambique to the Cape. So he had to set a direct
course for the southern tip of Africa. Being denied ports of call was a
severe hardship. The eighty-four days of comparatively easy sailing
across the Indian Ocean stretched to the utmost the supply of water
and victuals and forced the crew to dig once more into their reserves
of strength and stamina. It was a weak and listless company of men
that sailed into the Atlantic on 18 June 1580. They were reduced to
fifty-nine in number and several more would have died of thirst had
it not been for the spare canvas rigged to catch every drop of rain-
water from passing squalls. Another month would go by before they
 
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