Sir Francis Drake, before he had the royal sanction for his depredations, was a famous free-booter against the Spaniards. The queen made no scruple of employing so bold and enterprising a man against a people who were themselves the greatest free-booters and plunderers amongst mankind. He was the first Englishman that encompassed the globe. Magellan, whose ships passed the South Seas some time before, died in his passage.