ENGLAND’S WALLS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19847, 23 May 1927, Page 11

ENGLAND’S WALLS

DRAKE’S LAST SHIP CLASS USED AGAINST SPAIN. In a letter to The Times, Mr. H. G. Fordham says ‘-‘The sketch-book of the artist who accompanied Drakeon his last expedition against the Spanish ports of Central America exists in the ‘Bibliotheque Nationale’ in Paris, in which are portrayed, with as minute details 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 Baskerville, the second in command of the expedition. 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 the ships used at this period in the war against the Spanish settlements. They appear to correspond closely with a number of vessels of war, drawn on a much larger scale, on the map of England and Wales, engraved on 20 sheets by our first English cartographer, Christopher Saxton, about the year 1580. The sketch-book 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 inconnu de la derniere expedition de Drake (vues prises do son bord),’ by M. Charles de la Ronciere, published in 1909. It is of the first interest, and importance historically, and is, besides, a charming example of the art of tho period.”