The Secret Voyage of Sir Francis Drake
The Secret Voyage of Sir Francis Drake

Author: Samuel Bawlf

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2009-05-26

Total Pages: 421

ISBN-13: 0802718086

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On September 26, 1580, Francis Drake sailed his ship, the Golden Hinde, into Plymouth Harbor on the southwest coast of England. Samuel Bawlf masterfully recounts the drama of this extraordinary expedition within the context of England's struggle to withstand the aggression of Catholic Europe and Drake's ambition for English enterprise in the Pacific. He offers fascinating insight into life at sea in the sixteenth century-from the dangers of mutiny and the lack of knowledge about wind and current to the arduous physical challenges faced every day by Drake's men. A cast of luminous characters runs through The Secret Voyage of Sir Francis Drake: Philip II of Spain, Europe's most powerful monarch; Elizabeth's spymaster and powerful advisor, Francis Walsingham; the encyclopedic cosmographer John Dee; and Abraham Ortelius, the great Dutch mapmaker to whom Drake leaked his Pacific discoveries. In the end, though, it is Francis Drake himself who comes most fully to life through the lens of his epic voyage. Remembered most as a privateer and for his victory over the Spanish Armada, the Drake that emerges from these pages is so much more: a dynamic leader of men, a brilliant navigator and sailor, and surely one of history's most daring explorers.

Francis Drake on the Northwest Coast of America in the Year 1579; the Golden Hinde Did Not Anchor in the Bay of San Francisco
Francis Drake on the Northwest Coast of America in the Year 1579; the Golden Hinde Did Not Anchor in the Bay of San Francisco

Author: George Davidson

Publisher: Rarebooksclub.com

Published: 2013-09

Total Pages: 46

ISBN-13: 9781230018164

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This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1908 edition. Excerpt: ...plaque. Mr. Christy quotes differently in his foot note page 45. We note the following conditions on this Silver Map: The two hemispheres are on a stereographic projection on the plane of a meridian. The eastern hemisphere contains Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Netherlands Indies; so there is but little of the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans thereon. The western hemisphere embraces North and South America with nearly all the Pacific Ocean, north and south. The engraver certainly had a special reason for this apportionment. The "Terra Australis Nvndvm cognita" occupies the southern one-third of each hemisphere. On the eastern hemisphere the prime meridian is evidently Ferro Island and the longitudes are reckoned and numbered on the Antarctic Circle eastwardly by ten degree meridians divided in half at the equator. This prime meridian is the western limit of the hemisphere. The western hemisphere therefore contains North and South America, and nearly all the Pacific, and the meridians 190 and 200 only are numbered. The parallels of latitude are given for each ten degrees, and subdivided to single degrees on the circumference, where they are of no use. "The plate bears no inscription or indication of any kind showing "the name of the maker or the date when it was made"; (page 2.) Nor is there any proof that it was prepared in commemoration of Drake's return from his famous voyage. This paper by Mr. Christy is based solely upon the assumption that the Silver Map was made for the purpose he has indicated. The only suggestion for such a hypothesis is that it_has part of the track of Drake represented by a dotted line, and that no other track is laid down; (page 14.) That of course is a marked feature and...

Commander Francis Drake & the West Coast Mysteries
Commander Francis Drake & the West Coast Mysteries

Author: Gunnar Thompson

Publisher: Lulu.com

Published: 2010-09-01

Total Pages: 237

ISBN-13: 0557494869

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Discovery of Drake's "lost" navigational chart finally reveals secrets behind his voyage to America's West Coast in 1579. The secret location of Drake's colony "New Albion" is finally identified. This was the "first" British colony in America; and it marks the beginning of the British Empire. At last, we know the reason for an ongoing feud between Queen Elizabeth and Sir Francis. He wanted desperately to rescue the shipmates that he left behind in New Albion. Drake used a shipboard clock to map the West Coast. This is the first map of America that was made using a chronometer: thus Drake's map is accurate to within 15-degrees of the true longitude. Drake was not "just a pirate" as most historians assume. He was a naturalist, ethnographer, and geographer. Drake's map and his new ship design opened the way for the Dutch East India Company.

Four Travel Journals / The Americas, Antarctica and Africa / 1775-1874
Four Travel Journals / The Americas, Antarctica and Africa / 1775-1874

Author: R. J. Campbell

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-05-15

Total Pages: 472

ISBN-13: 131713365X

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This volume offers annotated texts with biographical and historical introductions of four previously unpublished travel journals from the period 1775-1874. The first of these is the journal of a participant in a Spanish expedition sent from Mexico to explore the north-west coast of America. From the outset, difficulties plagued the voyage. Bodega's ship, a small schooner named Sonora, was not designed for open-ocean voyaging. A landing party was attacked and killed; midway into the voyage the Sonora became separated from her flagship; and later she was nearly capsized by a massive wave. Bodega's journal records the voyage's travails, hardships, discoveries, and eventual return. Next comes the journal of Commander Stokes, who served in command of HMS Beagle, under Captain P. P. King during the survey of the Straits of Magellan in 1827. This is an account of a detached operation, in very difficult weather conditions, in the western part of the strait. It is introduced by remarks on the expedition and the hydrographic history of the strait from its discovery to the inception of the survey and supplemented by remarks from Captain King's account and also that of the clerk, Macdouall. The third text is the journal of a young midshipman in HMS Chanticleer, a small vessel commanded by Henry Foster, RN, who had recently been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society for his scientific work in the Arctic. The voyage of 1828-31 was to make observations in the South Atlantic to determine the shape of the Earth and to ascertain the longitudes of a number of ports. Kay's lively diary describes the Chanticleer's encounters with warships of the Brazilian navy, largely manned by Englishmen. He records his struggle to take observations at Deception Island during gales and snowstorms, and near Cape Horn in fierce squalls and constant chilling rain, nevertheless remaining cheerful in the company of his fellow midshipmen. The final piece is the diary of Jacob Wainwright.

Thunder Go North
Thunder Go North

Author: Melissa C. Darby

Publisher:

Published: 2019

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9781607817260

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"This manuscript is a fresh look at determining the location of the 1579 landing site of Sir Francis Drake on the northwest coast of North America to repair his ship, the Golden Hind. This landing location has long been debated and was claimed by California, especially with the finding of the brass plate thought to be an artifact of Drake's landing located on a hill overlooking San Francisco Bay. Although the brass plate was supposedly authenticated in 1938, by 1977 it was proven to be a hoax, yet no re-examination of the landing question or associated data was completed"--Provided by publisher.