The country was named Albion "in respect of the white bancks and cliffes, which lie toward the sea ...," and a post was set up with an engraved brass plate nailed to it. The white cliffs are one of the most conspicuous features of Drake's Bay.[100] That the plate of brass has been found at Drake's Bay is a fact of the greatest significance.
Upon the departure of the English, the Indians were sorrowful, and they burned a "sacrifice" of a string of disk beads and a bunch of feathers. The burning of shell beads in memory and honor of the dead, a custom which Fletcher may have described, is known for the Coast Miwok,[101] Pomo,[102] and neighboring groups.[103]
Aside from those actions of the natives which are usually associated with their attitudes toward the dead (weeping, moaning, self-laceration, use of feathered baskets, sacrifice of shell beads and feathers in the fire), there are other evidences that the English were regarded as the returned spirits of the dead. First is Fletcher's observation that the Indians were "standing when they drew neere, as men rauished in their mindes, with the sight of such things as they neuer had seene, or heard of before that time: their errand being rather with submission and feare to worship vs as Gods, then to haue any warre with vs as with mortall men. Which thing as it did partly shew it selfe at that instant, so did it more and more manifest it selfe afterwards, during the whole time of our abode amongst them." Except for the sole occasion, at the conclusion of the ceremony on June 26, when the Indians embraced the youthful Englishmen, the natives seem to have avoided touching the whites. This is most understandable if it is believed that they looked upon the English as the dead returned,[104] for bodily contact with a dead person or spirit was certain, in their minds, to have disastrous results. Further evidence of this may be contained in the statement: "Our General hauing now bestowed vpon them diuers things, at their departure they restored them all againe; none carrying with him any thing of whatsoeuer hee had receiued...." There is one more bit of inferential evidence along this line which comes from the Madox account. This is the phrase Nocharo mu, "touch me not" (i.e., notcáto mu, "keep away"). It may be asked why Madox recorded this particular phrase out of the many his informant must have heard. The answer is perhaps to be found in the simple fact that the English heard this phrase uttered a great many times, and it stuck in their memory. In view of the fact that the natives held the English in fear as dead people, the phrase "touch me not" might often have been used toward amorous sailors, or against any form of bodily contact.
[Additional Ethnographic Items in the Richard Madox and John Drake Accounts]
In the second deposition of John Drake, cousin to Francis Drake ([see below, App. I]), there is no new information. There is, however, independent corroboration of the weeping and self-laceration referred to repeatedly in the World Encompassed account. The natives are mentioned as having bows and arrows and as being naked, both of which items are mentioned by Fletcher. The Indians' sadness at the departure of the English, as remarked by John Drake, is a further verification of Fletcher's observations as presented in some detail in The World Encompassed.
The brief Madox account is of particular interest since a number of words in the Indian language, a song, and the episode of the crowning are mentioned. The linguistic items are given as follows:
| Cheepe bread | Nocharo mu tuch me not |
| Huchee kecharoh sit downe | Hioghe a king |
As Elmendorf and I have already pointed out, the vocabulary may be assigned conclusively to the Coast Miwok language.[105] Cheepe, "bread," is equivalent to modern Coast Miwok tcipa, "acorn bread." This word alone is the clearest possible evidence that Drake's Indian acquaintances were Coast Miwok. Huchee kecharoh, "sit down," probably is an incorrect translation of the phrase. The closest approximation in modern Coast Miwok is atci kotcáto, "step into the house," and hoki kotcádo, "go into the house" (tc is phonetically equivalent to the sound ch as in chin). It is possible to explain these differently stated meanings of these phonetically similar phrases as owing to incorrect inductions of meaning under specific circumstances. Kelly's Coast Miwok ethnographic informants stated that, according to old custom, whenever people came to a house they were asked to walk in and were offered a seat in the rear of the house, and food was placed before them. In some such situation, particularly if the English had occasion to be often in the Indian village, they may have repeatedly heard the invitation, "step into the house." Likewise, the phrase Nocharo mu, "touch me not," may have been translated by Madox (or his informant) only vaguely, since it represents a situation rather than a concrete object, which would be less liable to misinterpretation. Modern Coast Miwok offers a close parallel in the form of notcáto mu, which may be literally translated "stay over there," or "stay away" (notca, "farther," "yonder").
Madox's word for king, Hioghe, is similar to that given by Fletcher (Hioh or Hyoh), except that the ghe ending is unusual. From the words of the Indian song given by Madox (see below), in which heigh (i.e., hai) appears, it might be suspected that the gh is silent; yet why is the terminal e present? It may be that if Hioghe were exactly similar phonetically to Hioh, there would not be a terminal e in Hioghe. Thus Madox's' Hioghe may indicate a terminal sound (short or weak e?) and therefore be close to modern Coast Miwok hoipa (and Sierra Miwok haiapo). That the gh might be an indication of the p sound is possible, or, again, it could represent Madox's attempt to render a weak or indefinite labial sound which was imperfectly remembered by his informant. Too close a phonetic transcription of an Indian language by Elizabethan Englishmen should not be expected—there was little standardization in English spelling[106] at that time. The foregoing is not advanced as an argument to show that the terminal "e" was sounded, but is merely presented as a possibility. Elizabethan English commonly used an unpronounced terminal "e." The song of the Indians "when they worship god" is given by Madox as Hodeli oh heigh oh heigh ho hodali oh. No Coast Miwok or Pomo song on record accords exactly with that given by Madox, although some are quite similar. For example, a Coast Miwok Suya song transcribed by Kelly is a repetitive line Yo ya he yo he o. Other examples from the Coast Miwok are not available, but some Pomo ceremonial songs may be cited. Stephen Powers[107] gives a Sanel Pomo song:
Hel-lel-li-ley
Hel-lel-lo
Hel-lel-lu