Francis Drake and the California Indians, 1579

by Robert F. Heizer

THE SOURCES

There are in existence at least three useful independent accounts of Sir Francis Drake's California visit in 1579. These are: (1) the World Encompassed and the similar Famous Voyage accounts; (2) the second deposition of John Drake, and (3) the valuable notes of Richard Madox.

The Famous Voyage and The World Encompassed.—The Famous Voyage, first printed in 1589, was compiled by Richard Hakluyt from three sources—John Cooke's manuscript, the Anonymous Narrative, and the Francis Fletcher manuscript.[A-1] The World Encompassed, which probably was in manuscript form a few years after Drake's return to England, did not appear in print until 1628. The sources of this account are the Fletcher manuscript, the Edward Cliffe account, and the relations of Nuño da Silva and López de Vaz.[A-2] It is obvious to any reader that the Famous Voyage and World Encompassed accounts of the California Indians are closely similar in wording, the chief difference between the two being that the latter account is fuller than the former.[A-3] The richer detail does not indicate literary padding, since the additional information is ethnographically sound. One gets the impression that the Famous Voyage version is an abridgement of The World Encompassed account itself, or perhaps its source, though if this is so in fact only the bibliographers can tell. Henry R. Wagner has carefully analyzed the various accounts of the Drake voyage,[A-4] and is inclined, no doubt with good reason, to treat the World Encompassed version as "untrustworthy"; yet this characterization hardly holds for what it tells of the California Indians, which, within limits of interpretation, is a straightforward, detailed ethnographic record, of convincing authenticity.

It is fairly certain that Francis Fletcher's "Notes" was the source of the description of California Indian manners and customs, since, as Wagner points out, the descriptions of the Patagonians and Fuegians in the first half of the Fletcher manuscript (the second half is now lost) agree very closely in wording with the descriptions of the California coast Indians.[A-5]

Of Francis Fletcher, chaplain and diarist of the Drake expedition, O. M. Dalton says:

... it may ... be suggested that Fletcher was not such a romancer as has sometimes been supposed. There is really a large amount of information condensed in his few pages,—as much, or perhaps more, than is to be found in many chapters of later and more diffuse historians or travellers. That he should have seen strange and unprecedented occurrences in the light of his own limited knowledge and of the narrow experience of his time, was after all a psychological necessity. His narrative, like the sea-god Glaucus in Plato's Republic, is obscured by strange incrustations; nevertheless with a little patience the fictitious shell may be removed and the solid fact discovered intact beneath it.... It is apparent that the whole passage describing Drake's interview with the "King," on which some ridicule has been cast, is chiefly absurd because the narrator inevitably reads into the social conditions of an uncultured tribe something of the European etiquette of the day.... It was only natural that a difficulty should have been experienced by minds, not scientifically trained, in finding an appropriate terminology by which to describe unfamiliar objects.... Other instances might be quoted, but the above are sufficient to show that Fletcher described scenes that actually passed before his eyes, while the inferences he drew from them were erroneous. It is only fair, if small things may be compared with great, that the humble chronicler of a later day should be accorded the same liberal method of interpretation which has long been granted to classical authors.[A-6]

John Drake's Second Declaration.—John Drake was the orphan son of Robert Drake, who was the uncle of Francis Drake. John Drake accompanied his cousin on the voyage round the world, and subsequently went along on the Edward Fenton expedition, was shipwrecked in the River Plate (1582), taken captive by the Indians, and escaped only to fall into the hands of the Spanish. John Drake was questioned by the authorities, and in his second deposition there is a brief account of the occurrences in California, 1579.[A-7]

There he [Francis Drake] landed and built huts and remained a month and a half, caulking his vessel. The victuals they found were mussels and sea-lions. During that time many Indians came there and when they saw the Englishmen they wept and scratched their faces with their nails until they drew blood, as though this were an act of homage or adoration. By signs Captain Francis told them not to do that, for the Englishmen were not God. These people were peaceful and did no harm to the English, but gave them no food. They are of the colour of the Indians here [Peru] and are comely. They carry bows and arrows and go naked. The climate is temperate, more cold than hot. To all appearance it is a very good country. Here he caulked his large ship and left the ship he had taken in Nicaragua. He departed, leaving the Indians, to all appearances, sad.[A-8]

Richard Madox's Account of California.—In 1932, Miss E. G. R. Taylor discovered in the diary of Richard Madox, Chaplain aboard Edward Fenton's ship in 1582, some remarks on Drake's visit on the California coast in 1579.[A-9] Madox was not a member of the Drake expedition, and it is safe to assume that his notes consist of information received in conversation with some of Fenton's crew who had accompanied Drake. These could have been William Hawkins, John Drake, Thomas Hood, and Thomas Blackcollar.[A-10] Miss Taylor notes Madox's categorical statement that "Syr Frances Drake graved and bremd his ship at 48 degrees to ye north" together with evidence from other sources, and concludes that "it would appear that Drake's anchorage must be sought in Oregon rather than in California, perhaps in Gray's Bay, or at the mouth of the Raft River." Miss Taylor had hoped to get a clue from the Madox vocabulary, but was unsuccessful. Henry Wagner has answered Miss Taylor's Oregon claim effectively,[A-11] and the identification of the Madox vocabulary as Coast Miwok is further proof that the statement "at 48 degrees" is an error. The log raft depicted by Madox and discussed by Miss Taylor and Mr. Wagner is a typical Peruvian sailing raft, as reference to S. K. Lothrop's detailed paper will demonstrate;[A-12] it has no relation whatsoever to California.

The relevant portion of Madox's account is as follows: