Yet to return by the way they had come would be very
dangerous with their small force, as the Spaniards would probably be
keenly on the lookout for them. Only one course remained, which was to
follow the route taken by Magellan, sixty years before, across the vast
Pacific, through the islands of Asia, and around the Cape of Good Hope.
Drake had with him the narratives and copies of the charts of the first
circumnavigator of the globe, and it struck him that it would be a great
and glorious thing to take the "Golden Hind" around the earth, and win him
the credit of being the first Englishman to accomplish this wonderful
task.
The prow of the "Golden Hind" was thereupon turned to the west. Quick and
prosperous was the voyage, the sea being almost free from storms, and
after sixty-eight days in which land had not been seen a green shore came
in view. It was the last day of September, 1579.
The voyagers had many interesting experiences in the eastern archipelago,
but no mishaps except that the ship grounded on a rocky shoal near one of
the islands.
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