Sir Francis Drake (c.1540-1596). Portrait of the English explorer and pirate whose expedition was the second to circumnavigate the globe. After earning his fortune plundering Spanish ships in the Caribbean, Drake was sponsored by Queen Elizabeth I to lead a fleet of ships on an expedition to the Pacific (1577). The fleet was battered by storms in South America but Drake continued alone in the Golden Hind, robbing Spanish vessels as he went. Within 3 years he had crossed the Pacific, rounded Africa and returned to England. He earned further distinction for helping to defeat the Spanish Armada in 1588. Taken from a book of 1849.