Drimys winteri stamens. The fruit is a bluish berry. When Sir Francis Drake sailed round the world in 1577-80, of the four ships accompanying the "Golden Hind" at the outset, the only ship that successfully rounded Cape Horn with him was the "Elizabeth", captained by John Wynter; the two ships separated in a storm and Winter turned back. Presumably he had sickness on board, for he sent a boat ashore to search out medicinal herbs. He returned in 1579 with a supply of "Drimys" bark, and for centuries before vitamin C was isolated, "Winter's Bark" was esteemed as a preventive and remedy
Francis Drake was said to be 53, would give a birth year of around 1541. He was the oldest of the twelve sons of Edmund Drake (1518–1585), a Protestant farmer, and his wife Mary Mylwaye. The first son was alleged to have been named after his godfather Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford. Because of religious persecution during the Prayer Book Rebellion in 1549, the Drake family fled from Devon to Kent. There Drake's father obtained an appointment to minister the men in the King's Navy. He was ordained deacon and was made vicar of Upnor Church on the Medway. Drake's father