it is noted that ordinarily every third day they brought their "sacrifices" (?). From this and other indications it seems possible that the ceremonial number of the Indians was three. The ceremonial number of the adjoining Pomo is four.[97] The Coast Miwok ceremonial number was probably four, though there is no direct evidence to support this supposition. The Indian bow is spoken of as weak and "more fit for children than for men," a remark to be expected from the English, who were even then employing the famous longbow. The English were impressed with the strength of the natives, but, for Indians accustomed to transporting everything on their backs, their feats of strength seem not surprising. It is also noted that the natives were good at running and that this was the ordinary means of travel. The English admired the native surf fishing. Kroeber has interpreted the passage, "if at any time, they chanced to see a fish, so neere the shoare, that they might reach the place without swimming, they would neuer, or very seldome misse to take it," as signifying diving for fish in the surf. Since this unusual practice is not otherwise recorded ethnographically for any coastal Californian tribe, some other explanation may be in order, and I suggest that Fletcher may have had reference to surf fishing with a round hand net, a practice known to have been followed by the Coast Miwok.[98] One gets the impression that the English found much to admire in their native friends.

Drake, his gentlemen, and others of the ship's company made an expedition into the interior to see the native villages and the country round about. The houses were all of the semisubterranean, circular type discussed previously. Two animals were seen, as also herds of deer and great numbers of "conies," a name which, as used by Fletcher, seems to fit no known animal living today in this coastal area.[99]

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]