Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-09-10
RACE OF GIANT CANNIBALS.
Strange Men and Women Populating a
Mexican Island.
San Francisco Examiner.

San Francisco Examiner.
A man staying for time at hotel in
San Francisco thus spoke recently to E re-
porter: There are 147 giant cannibals,
men and women, living on Seri island In
the Gulf of California, and not sixty miles
from the mainland of Mexico.
what say may seem ridiculous, but
it is nevertheless fact, for l have seen
some of them during my travels In Mexico.
Who their ancestors were or how long
they have occupied the island is not known,
but they are now becoming extinct.
Il saw three women and one man and
their appearance and manner gave me the
impression that they are brutes by nature
and brutes in heart and soul. 1t was just
| by chance that saw them as few Of them
venture away from the island except to
sell their mats and shawls which they
make from the skins and feathers of the
albatross. They are coming thieves, but
otherwise their minds are dull-in fact
they seem stupeied. They have a
vacant stare in their eyes and when not
serious an idiotic smile spreads over their
| faces.
1.-The island of Seri is about twenty
miles long and at places ten miles wide,
and | was told no Mexican or white man
ever ventures near or attempts to land on
| it, as they claim the island is their do
main, and shoot the intruders with poison
ed arrows or capture and eat them They
exist on fish and goat meat, which are
| plentiful. Low houses, built Of shrubbery,
are their abode. Some live in 'dugouts
or caves cut into banks. They roam about
the island and lead the LATEST life of any
people that have ever heard Of No one
Lao ly, fol n tboir laiI -
living is, but it is fact the tribe is dying
out, and it will not be many years before
they will become extinct.
Their mode of burial is not known,
but it is estimated that where there are
now handful there were several thousand
not ten years ago, and if they bury the
dead and do not burn the bodies, as can
nibals dc, the bones of their enormous
frames cover a large area Of the island.
1.-The man | photographed is over seven
feet in height. His face was a study when
he saw the lens pointed at him, and he
could not understand what was being
done. He, as is all his race, was super.
stltious, but we overcome that obstacle bv
giving him an old pair of trousers, which
he Immediately tied around his neck. The
gentleman standing next to him is about
six feet tall, and he had to hold the In.
dams hands. An old rag encircled the
he upper portion of the Indians limbs,
and it was tied around the waist. The
blanket is made of aIbatross skin and
feathers. The bow and arrow which he
holds are the only weapons they know of
or use. His legs from the knee down are
not covered. The hat he wears is of straw,
and he, as he stands there, is the typical
Seri Indian.
The women wear patched dresses made
of cloth, which they receive for albatross
mats and shawls. They are wrinkled and
old, very few girls being among the tribe.
The bowls on their heads contain broken
vessels made of clay.
They are a wonderful people, an d no
doubt their past history, if revealed, will
bring to light facts that relate to the
magnificent reign Of the Montezumas, or
even far beyond the time of Coriez."