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Young Knights of the Empire

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tried to get into signalling communication with it by means of the heliograph, which at that time was quite a new invention. I reminded my cook friend of this, and he told me this little yarn about it. He said: "I was walking out on the ridge there close to the camp with a corporal in my company when we noticed a light flickering on a hill in the distance. He had been through a course of signalling, and said it looked as if somebody were trying to flash a signal to us, so we got a bit of looking-glass and flashed it in their direction. "Suddenly he said to me: "'Write down what I tell you.' "I got out a piece of paper and a pencil, and he spelt out a message which was meant for Colonel Pearson, our commanding officer. It was to say that if we sent a signaller on to the church steeple in Etshowe they could signal direct to him. "I took the message to the colonel, and soon after a sailor managed to get up somehow or other, and we very quickly had messages going and coming." SEA SCOUTING In the days of Queen Elizabeth, nearly four hundred years ago, the sailors of Spain, of England, of Holland, and of Portugal were all making themselves famous for their daring voyages in small sailing ships across unknown oceans, by which they kept discovering new lands for their country in distant corners of the world. There was one small cabin-boy on a coasting brig in the English Channel who used to long to become one of these discoverers but when he looked at the practical side of the question it seemed hopeless for a poor little chap like him ever to hope to rise in the world beyond his present hard life in a wretched little coaster, living on bad food and getting, as a rule, more kicks than halfpence--but it shows you how the poorest boy can get on if he only puts his back to it. * * * * * SIR FRANCIS DRAKE, Young Drake--for that was his name--did get on in spite of his difficulties; he worked hard at his duty until he became a captain of two small ships, one of seventy, the other of thirty tons, and with these he sailed to fight the Spaniards, who were at that time our enemies, away across the ocean in Central America. He not only fought them, but was successful in taking some of their ships and a great deal of valuable booty from their towns. On his return home he was promoted to command a large expedition of five ships, the biggest of which, however, was only 100 tons, and the smallest was 15 tons--no bigger than a fishing smack. With these he sailed down the West Coast of Africa, then across to Brazil and down the South American coast till he rounded the end of it through the dangerous and difficult Straits of Magellan into the Pacific. He coasted up the western side of America as far as California, and then struck across the ocean to India, and thence _via_ the Cape of Good Hope to England; this voyage took him nearly three years to complete. His good ship, the _Golden Hind_, though much battered and wounded with war and weather, was received with great honour at Deptford. The Queen herself went on board, and while there she showed such pleasure at Drake's good work that she knighted him, using his own well-worn sword to make him Sir Francis Drake. Soon after this King Philip of Spain began to prepare an enormous fleet, and though he told Queen Elizabeth that it was not intended to be used against England, Sir Francis Drake, who was now in command of a small fleet of British ships, maintained that it could be for no other purpose. [Illustration: DRAKE'S SHIP, THE "GOLDEN HIND."] And a secret letter was shortly afterwards intercepted which proved that his suspicions were right. Drake went off with his fleet and sailed up and down the Spanish coast destroying their ships and stores wherever he could find them, and thus he hindered their preparations for war. In this way he sank or burnt some 12,000 tons of shipping, which meant a great many ships in those days. He merely described it in his report as, "singeing the Spanish King's beard." At the end of 1588, the great Spanish fleet--the Armada--was ready, and sailed against England. But there were a fine lot of British admirals and men awaiting it, for besides Lord Charles Howard of

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