They
confessed that they dared not attack him, and again went back for more
assistance. The Viceroy abused them as cowards, arrested the officers,
despatched others again with peremptory orders to seize Drake, even if
he was the devil, but by that time their questionable visitor had flown.
They found nothing, perhaps to their relief.
A despatch went instantly across the Atlantic to Philip. One squadron
was sent off from Cadiz to watch the Straits of Magellan, and another to
patrol the Caribbean Sea. It was thought that Drake's third way was no
seaway at all, that he meant to leave the _Pelican_ at Darien, carry his
plunder over the mountains, and build a ship at Honduras to take him
home. His real idea was that he might hit off the passage to the north
of which Frobisher and Davis thought they had found the eastern
entrance. He stood on towards California, picking up an occasional
straggler in the China trade, with silk, porcelain, gold, and emeralds.
Fresh water was a necessity. He put in at Guatulco for it, and his
proceedings were humorously prompt. The alcaldes at Guatulco were in
session trying a batch of negroes. An English boat's crew appeared in
court, tied the alcaldes hand and foot, and carried them off to the
_Pelican_, there to remain as hostages till the water-casks were filled.
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