ople of this
part of America is most favorable They appear to have been of a
tractable, free, and loving nature, without guile or treachery.
They were finely built men, and one of them could carry easily,
uphill and down, a weight which two or three Englishmen could
scarcely lift. They were swift at running, and could catch a fish
in the sea, if it were in water within their depth.

When the ship was repaired, the admiral, with many of his officers,
made a journey into the interior, and found that it was a goodly
country, with a very fruitful soil. There were many thousands of
large and fair deer, grazing in herds. This country was christened,
by the admiral, Albion; partly from the color of its cliffs, partly
in remembrance of his country. On the shore a monument was set up,
and on it a plate of brass was affixed, engraven with the Queen's
name, the date of the arrival of the ship, and of the free giving
up of the province and kingdom into her majesty's hand; and a piece
of current English money was fastened beneath a hole made in the
brass plate, so that it might remain as a proof that the English
had taken possession of this land, to which the Spaniards had never
approached.

As the stores were being taken on board again, and the natives saw
the preparations for embarkation, the joy with which the arrival of
these white beings had been received was changed into sorrow, and
all the people went about mourning and crying. For many days this
continued, and the parting, when the ship set sail on the 23rd of
July, was a very sorrowful one, the people climbing to the top of
the hills, so as to keep the ship in sight as long as they could,
and making great fires and burning thereon sacrifices to the
departing gods.

The admiral had now made up his mind to abandon the search for a
passage round the north of America. The cold had become even
greater, while they remained in the bay. The natives themselves
were wrapped in black cloths, and huddled together for warmth; and
those in the ship suffered exceedingly. Moreover, the shores of the
country trended far more to the west than had been expected, and
the admiral concluded that, far to the north, the shores of America
and Asia must unite. He thought, too, that in that country must be
very lofty mountains, covered with snow; for so alone could he
account for the exceeding coldness of the wind. Believing,
therefore, that no passage could be made in that way, and seeing
that