Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
September 1580 when Drake returned triumphantly from his
round-the-world voyage and he was captivated by the great mar-
iner's exploits. It was not long before he had conceived the auda-
cious plan of repeating those exploits. The task was formidable, as
the stories of the returning seamen must have made clear. Drake
had accomplished it against all the odds and Drake was an experien-
ced master mariner who had first gone to sea before Cavendish was
born. The young courtier had little to support his own pretensions
apart from his enthusiasm, the information and advice he picked up
in conversation with deep-sea captains in London alehouses, and a
substantial income from his Suffolk estates. It was the last of these
that brought him his first chance of maritime adventure. In 1584 Sir
Walter Raleigh was eagerly seeking support for a colonising voyage
to North America. Cavendish mortgaged some of his lands to provide
and equip a fifty ton barque and he captained her himself. He spent
the summer of 1585 crossing and recrossing the Atlantic in a fleet
under the command of Sir Richard Grenville. Although he fell out
with the admiral, the reality of an ocean voyage did nothing to dis-
pel his romantic notions of battling with the elements and seeing
strange lands. As soon as he returned he set about raising money,
ships and crews for his great voyage.
On 21 July 1586 Thomas Cavendish sailed out of Plymouth in
his new vessel, the
Desire
(120-140 tons), aptly named by one
whose yearning for adventure was so great. Two smaller ships, the
Content
and the
Hugh Gallant,
made up his squadron. It may have
been the queen's intention when she gave permission for the voyage
that the young commander should join forces with the Earl of Cum-
berland currently fitting out a similar fleet. But Cavendish wisely
avoided the problems of shared leadership by getting away a full
month before George Clifford's flotilla. It was as well; the earl's ships
reached Brazil ill-provisioned and too late in the season and were
forced to turn back. Cavendish's expedition undoubtedly benefited
