So unaware of danger was
{158} the captain that he thought Drake some messenger sent by the
viceroy, and instead of getting arms in readiness and pressing sail, he
lowered canvas, came to anchor, and waited![8] Drake's announcement
was a roaring cannonade that blew the mast poles off the Spanish ship,
crippling her like a bird with wings broken. For the rest, the scene
was what has been enacted wherever pirates have played their game--a
furious fusillade from the cannon mouths belching from decks and
port-holes, the unscathed ship riding down on the staggering victim
like a beast on its prey, the clapping of the grappling hooks that
bound the captive to the sides of her victor, the rush over decks, the
flash of naked sword, the decks swimming in blood, and the quick
surrender. The booty from this treasure ship was roughly estimated at
twenty-six tons of pure silver, thirteen chests of gold plate, eighty
pounds of pure gold, and precious jewels--emeralds and pearls--to the
value in modern money of seven hundred and twenty thousand dollars.
Drake realized now that he dared not return to England by the Straits
of Magellan.
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