Sailing out of the harbour of St. John’s on August 20, he reached by the 27th latitude 44° with fair weather. Two days later a gale arose preceded by a dense fog. The _Golden Hinde_ and _Delight_ were beaten in among the rocks and shoals. The _Golden Hinde_ signalled to stand out to sea, but the _Delight_ did not heed this, and was shortly afterward wrecked upon a shoal, where her stern was quickly beaten to pieces. A few of the crew escaped in a boat, but the captain and a hundred men went down with the ship. The heroic Captain Browne, only recently transferred from the _Swallow_ to the _Golden Hinde_, when urged to save himself, spurned the idea and stood bravely at his post rather than bear the reproach of having deserted his ship, though that ship, himself, and all hands left aboard were doomed to destruction. The small boat into which a few had crowded, drifted about in the midst of the gale, which threatened every instant to swamp them. They were without food and suffered greatly from thirst. Fearing the overcrowded boat would founder unless materially lightened, a man named Headley suggested that lots be drawn; those drawing the four shortest should be thrown overboard. But one of their number, Richard Clarke, who had been master of the _Delight_, rose in the bow and answered sternly, “No, we will all live or die in company.”
Two more days passed with increased sufferings. They tried to appease the pangs of hunger with seaweed that floated on the surface of the waves, and they drank sea-water. On the fifth day the man Headley died and one other. All but Clarke were praying to God for death, rather than such continued agony. Clarke tried to encourage them by telling them they would surely reach land by the morrow, and if they did not make it by the seventh day, they might throw him overboard. The seventh day came at last, and by noon they sighted land, as Clarke had prophesied; in the afternoon they landed. They gave thanks to God, and after slaking their unbearable thirst with fresh water, the strong ones found some berries growing wild with which to feed the party. In several days they slowly regained their strength.
Later they rowed along the coast, hoping to reach the bay of Newfoundland and met some Spanish whalers who frequented these waters. They satisfied their hunger by eating berries and peas, landing at intervals for the purpose. Before long they fell in with a Spanish ship; the captain took them to St. Jean de Luz in the Bay of Biscay. Landing near the French frontier, they travelled through France and reached England about the end of the year 1583.