There are several stories about how the mojito was invented. One story says that it is similar to a 19th-century drink called "El Draque", after Francis Drake. This drink is said to have been given to the crew of Drake's ships when they came to Cuba in the 16th century. Many in the crew were suffering from dysentery and scurvy. They were told that the Native Americans had remedies for various tropical illnesses. They went ashore on Cuba and were given ingredients for a remedy: a kind of rum, lime, sugarcane syrup and mint. While this drink was not called a mojito at this time, it is the same combination of these ingredients.