DRAKE'S LAST SHIP

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 112, 14 May 1927, Page 20

DRAKE'S LAST SHIP

CLASS OF SHIP USED AGAINST SPAIN.

In a letter to "The Timos," Mr. H. G. Fordham says: "The sketch-book of the artist who accompanied Brake on his last expedition against the Spanish ports of Central America exists in the 'Bibliotheque Nationale' in Paris, in which are portrayed, with aB minute detail as the size of the subject permits, both Drake's flagship, the Defiance, and, after his death (noted at the foot of the 17th of these sheets), the Garland, the flagship of Baskervilte, the second in command of the ex r pedition. These vessels, drawn in colours, in every position, from day to day during the voyage itself, must be regarded as final in fixing the character of tho ships used at this period in tho war against the Spanish settlements. They appear to correspond closely with a number of vessels of war, drawn on a much larger scale, on tho map of England and Wales, engraved on 20 sheets by our. first English cartographer, Christopher Saxton,, about the year 1580. The sketchrbobk of Drake's last voyage was'itself discovered only a few years back, and has been described, with reproductions ,of the first 17 plates, in a paper entitled, 'Un Atlas ihconnu de la derniere expedition- de Drake (vues prises do eon bfjrd),' by M. Charles de la Eonciere, published in 1909. It is of the first interest, and importance historically, and is,, besides,, a charming example of tho art of the period."