探险家故事

法兰西斯·德瑞克
法兰西斯·德瑞克（1540年—1596年1月28日），英国探险家、著名海盗，据知他是第二位在麦哲
伦之后完成环球航海的探险家。关于德瑞克的生平，有记载的不多，仅知他为海盗出身。出生年份也有所争议，有一说他在1535年出生。他的小名为El Draque，也就是西班牙文“龙”的意思。

1567年德瑞克第一次探险航行，从英国出发，横越大西洋，到达加勒比海。 1569年第二次探险航行，从加勒比海再往前，到达了中美洲。 1577年第三次探险航行，德瑞克循着麦哲伦的航线出发。由英国前往南大西洋，抵达了南美洲东海岸。 1578年8月德瑞克通过了南美洲南端最危险的麦哲伦海峡。为了纪念所剩下来的最后一艘船，德瑞克将之改名为金鹿号(Golden Hind)，因为此船赞助人海顿爵士的徽章盾牌上是一只金鹿。 1579年德瑞克与金鹿号在沿着南美洲西岸往北航行，北上一直航行到北纬48度的加拿大西海岸，发现无法通过北冰洋，只好改为横越太平洋向西航行，经过菲律宾群岛，穿过马六甲海峡，横越印度洋，绕好望角再次横越大西洋 1580年9月26日回到英国普利茅斯港 1581年4月，女王伊丽莎白一世亲自登船赐德瑞克皇家爵士头衔。 1588年德瑞克成为海军中将，在军旅中曾击退西班牙无敌舰队(Great Spanish Armada)攻击。

1937年－1970年，有33年的时间，英国的钱币半便士(Half Penny)上一直以德瑞克的金鹿号为图案。 英国文化中有一首民谣叫做“德瑞克的鼓Drake's drum ”，大意是说，如果英国蒙难，只要德瑞克的鼓又响了，他就一定会回来为英国解难。




Drake was an Elizabethan sailor and navigator, and the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe.

Francis Drake was born in Tavistock, Devon in around 1540 and went to sea at an early age. In 1567, Drake made one of the first English slaving voyages as part of a fleet led by his cousin John Hawkins, bringing African slaves to work in the 'New World'. All but two ships of the expedition were lost when attacked by a Spanish squadron. The Spanish became a lifelong enemy for Drake and they in turn considered him a pirate.

In 1570 and 1571, Drake made two profitable trading voyages to the West Indies. In 1572, he commanded two vessels in a marauding expedition against Spanish ports in the Caribbean. He saw the Pacific Ocean and captured the port of Nombre de Dios on the Isthmus of Panama. He returned to England with a cargo of Spanish treasure and a reputation as a brilliant privateer. In 1577, Drake was secretly commissioned by Elizabeth I to set off on an expedition against the Spanish colonies on the American Pacific coast. He sailed with five ships, but by the time he reached the Pacific Ocean in Octob

er 1578 only one was left, Drake's flagship the Pelican, renamed the Golden Hind. To reach the Pacific, Drake became the first Englishman to navigate the Straits of Magellan.

He travelled up the west coast of South America, plundering Spanish ports. He continued north, hoping to find a route across to the Atlantic, and sailed further up the west coast of America than any European. Unable to find a passage, he turned south and then in July 1579, west across the Pacific. His travels took him to the Moluccas, Celebes, Java and then round the Cape of Good Hope. He arrived back in England in September 1580 with a rich cargo of spices and Spanish treasure and the distinction of being the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe. Seven months later, Elizabeth knighted him aboard the Golden Hind, to the annoyance of the king of Spain.

In 1585, Drake sailed to the West Indies and the coast of Florida where he sacked and plundered Spanish cities. On his return voyage, he picked up the unsuccessful colonists of Roanoke Island off the coast of the Carolinas, which was the first English colony in the New World. In 1587, war with Spain was imminent and Drake entered the port of Cadiz and destroyed 30 of the ships the Spanish were assembling against the British. In 1588, he was a vice admiral in the fleet that defeated the Armada. Drake's last expedition, with John Hawkins, was to the West Indies. The Spanish were prepared for him this time, and the venture was a disaster. Drake died on 28 January 1596 of dysentery off the coast of Puerto Rico. Hawkins died at the same time, and their bodies were buried at sea