If, however, Drake landed in Bodega Bay, the situation would be somewhat different. The visitors of the 18th and 21st would be Bodega Coast Miwok. Those arriving on the 23d could have been Tomales Bay or Olema Coast Miwok, and the arrival on the 26th of the Hioh with his retinue and followers might mark the presence of Southern Pomo, or, less probably, Central Pomo who were concentrated in the interior some fifty miles north of Bodega Bay.
It is credible, then, that Drake landed in either Drake's Bay or Bodega Bay, since the native words listed by Fletcher and Madox all belong to the Coast Miwok language and not to any Pomo dialect.[39] It is improbable that the ceremonies, customs, and material culture forms described by Fletcher can be specifically attributed to the Pomo, as intimated by Wagner,[40] for at least three reasons: (1) Northern Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo cultures are practically indistinguishable; (2) the words Hioh and Gnaah seem to be Coast Miwok words rather than words of Pomo attribution; and (3) if Drake landed in Coast Miwok territory it is unlikely that the Pomo would be permitted to enter the territory of their southern neighbors and to perform a ceremony which the Coast Miwok themselves were as well able to do.
Following is an examination of the day-by-day account of Fletcher.
June 18.—A single man in a "canow" (probably a tule balsa) came out to the ship and delivered an oration. The canoeman also brought with him, and threw into the ship, a bunch of black feathers tied in a round bundle, and a small basket filled with an herb ("Tobah"), both of which were tied to a short stick.
In 1595, Sebastián Cermeño noted almost exactly the same thing in Drake's Bay,[41] and something very similar was observed by Francisco Mourelle in Bodega Bay in 1775.[42] Cermeño says: "On the day on which the ship anchored in the bay, about four o'clock in the afternoon, many Indians appeared on the beach and soon one of them got into a small craft which they employ like a çacate of the lake of Mexico. He came off to the ship, where he remained quite a time talking in his language, no one understanding what he said." Mourelle's statement is similar: there is no mention of a speech by the Indians in "tule canoes," but they presented the Spanish with plumes of feathers, "bone rosaries" (shell bead necklaces?), garlands of feathers which they wore around their heads, and a canister of seeds which tasted like walnuts.
The feather bundle cannot be specifically identified, but it may be the ceremonial black feather bundle ([pl. 18, b]) most often associated with the central California Kuksu cult. Some of these have been illustrated by Professor Kroeber[43] and R. B. Dixon.[44] The small basket filled with the herb called Tobah or Tabah has led some students to identify this herb as tobacco (Nicotiana sp.) John P. Harrington quotes the sections from The World Encompassed which contain mention of Tabah or Tobah, and assumes that the word has reference to tobacco (Nicotiana bigelovii).[45] Upon what grounds he identifies the herb mentioned by Fletcher as tobacco is not stated, since the local words for tobacco are different,[46] nor is it stated in the account that the herb was smoked. Wagner doubts that the herb called Tobah was tobacco, and in this he and I are in agreement. It cannot be determined whether or not a Nicotiana was referred to by Fletcher, nor is it likely that this question will ever be settled. What does seem clear is that "Tobah" is not an Indian word, but the name applied to the herb by the English narrator.[47] This supposition is enhanced by the fact that The Famous Voyage mentions the herb by the name "tabacco," a word already known in England before Drake started on his voyage around the world.[48] It may be concluded that Fletcher's word "Tobah" or "Tabah" comes from the English word "tabacco," "tobacco," "tabaco," and is not a California Indian word. In this conclusion I am in agreement with Professor Kroeber.[49]
June 18-21.—There is no mention of Indians between the 18th and the 21st of June. After referring to the man in the "canow," Fletcher continues, "After which time, our boate could row no way, but wondring at vs as at gods, they would follow the same with admiration." This would indicate that June 19 and 20 were spent exploring the bay in a small boat to discover a proper spot for careening the treasure-laden ship, which had sprung a leak at sea.
June 21.—On this day the ship was brought near shore and anchored. Goods were landed, and some sort of stone fortification was erected for defense. The Indians made their appearance in increasing numbers until there was a "great number both of men and women." It is clearly apparent that the natives were not simply curious, but acted, as Fletcher points out, "as men rauished in their mindes" and "their errand being rather with submission and feare to worship vs as Gods, then to haue any warre with vs as with mortall men." It would seem that the natives demonstrated clearly their fear and wonderment at the English, and it is certain that they behaved as no other natives had done in the experience of the chronicler. The English gave their visitors shirts and linen cloth, in return for which (as Fletcher thought) the Indians presented to Drake and some of the English such things as feathers, net caps, quivers for arrows, and animal skins which the women wore. Then, having visited for a time, the natives left for their homes about three-quarters of a mile away. As soon as they were home, the Indians began to lament, "extending their voices, in a most miserable and dolefull manner of shreeking." Inserted between the passages dealing with the departure of the Indians to their homes and their lamenting is a description of their houses and dress. The houses are described as "digged round within the earth, and haue from the vppermost brimmes of the circle, clefts of wood set vp, and ioyned close together at the top, like our spires on the steeple of a church: which being couered with earth, suffer no water to enter, and are very warme, the doore in the most part of them, performes the office of a chimney, to let out the smoake: its made in bignesse and fashion, like to an ordinary scuttle in a ship, and standing slopewise: their beds are the hard ground, onely with rushes strewed vpon it, and lying round about the house, haue their fire in the middest...." The men for the most part were naked, and the women wore a shredded bulrush (tule? Scirpus sp.) skirt which hung around the hips. Women also wore a shoulder cape of deerskin with the hair upon it.
Another representation of the "crowning" of Francis Drake.
(From an old engraving; provenience not known.)