"
Drake's misunderstanding of the Indian ceremony would be comical if it
were not that later historians have solemnly argued whether an act of
possession by a pirate should hold good in international law.
On the 23d of July the English pirate bade farewell to the Indians. As
he looked back from the sea, they were running along the hilltops
burning more of the fires which he thought were sacrifices.
Following the chart taken from the Spanish ship, Drake steered for the
Philippines, thence southward through the East Indies to the Indian
Ocean, and past Good Hope, back to Plymouth, where he came to anchor on
September 26, 1580. Bells were set ringing. Post went spurring to
London with word that Drake, the corsair, who had turned the Spanish
world upside down, had come home. For a week the little world of
England gave itself up to feasting. Ballads rang with the fame of
Drake. His name was on every tongue. One of his first acts was to
visit his old parents. Then he took the _Golden Hind_ round the
Channel to be dry-docked in Deptford.
For the once, the tactful Queen was in a quandary.
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