Front Matter

Queen Elizabeth knighting Drake on board the Golden Hind at Deptford.

Preface

It has not been possible, for lack of space, always to tell the old stories in the original words, which are, in almost all cases, the best. If any readers of this book can get a sight of two big volumes called "Drake and the Tudor Navy," by Julian Corbett, they may consider themselves fortunate. In them there are the most fascinating reproductions of pictures of old fighting ships, and old charts or maps of the taking of Cartagena, St. Domingo, and St. Augustine by Drake's ships. Here the ships are seen approaching and attacking; the towns are shown, and the soldiers, and the seas are full of wonderful curly monsters. The old charts of the invasion of the Spanish Armada show the shifting position of the fleets from day to day, and the books also contain many maps and a fine portrait.