He not only fought them, but was successful in taking some of their
ships and a great deal of valuable booty from their towns.
On his return home he was promoted to command a large expedition of
five ships, the biggest of which, however, was only 100 tons, and the
smallest was 15 tons--no bigger than a fishing smack.
With these he sailed down the West Coast of Africa, then across to
Brazil and down the South American coast till he rounded the end of it
through the dangerous and difficult Straits of Magellan into the
Pacific. He coasted up the western side of America as far as
California, and then struck across the ocean to India, and thence
_via_ the Cape of Good Hope to England; this voyage took him
nearly three years to complete.
His good ship, the _Golden Hind_, though much battered and
wounded with war and weather, was received with great honour at
Deptford. The Queen herself went on board, and while there she showed
such pleasure at Drake's good work that she knighted him, using his
own well-worn sword to make him Sir Francis Drake.
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