Los Angeles herald., 1892-08-15
THEY ARE UNTAMED INDIANS,
A Strange Tribe Which Lives
on TiburOn Island.
The Only Unexplored Island in the
Gulf of California.
A Description of the Inhabitants Mode
of Living-The Story of the Kid
naped Mexican Girl Who
Was There.

America, which il probably less known
than are the Fuegians OF the southern
continent. Although neither as hideous
of features, nor as small in stature, az
the emaciated natives of TERRA de
Fuego, they are fully as low down in the
scale of humanity as the others. These
Indians inhabit an Island in the gulf Of
California, named Tiburon (the shark,
situated between the twenty-eighth and
twenty-ninth degrees Of latitude, and
the thirty-fourth degree of longitude,
west of Greenwich. 1t is not very
large island, it's probable extreme
length being about twenty miles, and
it's width at the widest part something
like twelve miles. 1t lies along the
coast of the state of Sonora, from which
it ia separated by strait, which is not
more than two or three miles wide. The
northern part of the island is in the
form OF neck-shaped peninsula and
lies little below the latitude of Her
mosillo, the capital OF Sonora, from
which 1t is distant over thirty miles, as
the crow flies, although the Nazareno
range of mountains intervene between
the coast and the fertile valley in which
lies Hermosillo.
Notwithstanding the short distance
which separates the Ceris, as the Indi-
ans of Tiburon are called, from the in
habitants of the capital of the state, and
for that matter from the Sonorans in
general, they are but little known to the
Mexlcans, although small parties of the
Ceris frequently make their appearance
in Hermosillo. The Pueblo de Ceris. a
suburb of Hermosillo, is named after
these Indians.
Tiburon is mountainous and barren,
it's flora being the same as that found on
the mainland. Cacti of the tuna and
pitaya classes, which produce prickly
pears; bisnagas, called niggerheads in
Arizona, which are thick, round cacti,
growing to the size OF fve-gallonL barrels,
mesquit, grease and stink wood trees,
and bushes, are among the principal
products OF the soil in the arid parts of
the island, while in the valleys, where
water is found, sycamores are occasion
ally seen, and here grass is also en-
countered.
Jack rabbits, quail and rattlesnakea
are natives of Tiburon and burros, cat
tie and dogs have been imported in
small quantities by the Ceris during
some of their raids into Sonora. It
is not known exactly what the
number OF aborigines on the island is,
but is not believed to amount to 500,
They live on fish principally, and do not
hesitate to feed on such as have been cast
up by the sea, even if they present
symptoms of decay. In like manner
they have no objection partakiDg of
the flesh of animals that have died of
disease. In former times they were
very insolent and would not allow any
one to land at Tburon. They also made
incursions into Sonora and raided small
ranches, but for many years they have
kept very quiet, knowing that anything
savoring of violence would be punished
by the Mexicans by means of the gun
boat Democratic and federal soldiers.
When they visit Hermosillo they come
in parties of two or three for the osten-
sible purpose of selling bows and arrows
or birds, but mainly to loiter around,
dirty and repulsive, for a few days.
They then gather together such cast-off
clothing as may strike their fancy, and
other odds and ends for which they may
have use.
1t is extremely strange that these
Ceris Indians SHOULD be 30 different
from the Cahuillas of Lower California,
the Cocopahs of the Lower Colorado,
and the Yaquis of Southern Sonora, all
their near neighbors, but it is neverthe-
less fact that they bear no resemblance
to them in general features, size, clean
liness, industry or intellect.
On the island they are inhospitab1e in
the extreme, when landing parties are
not sufficiently strong to inspire them
with respect, and they are reported to
have killed several wrecked sailors
within the last ten years. AS they are
treacherous in the extreme, and use
poisoned arrows, the Mexicans leave
them severely alone, Private individ-
uals have no business relations with
them and would not consider the trip a
pleasure party, while as long as they do
not misbehave the Mexican government
does not bother it's head about them.
No efforts are made nowadays to con-
vert them to Catholicism, and former
attempts in that direction have always
been discouraged by the Indians.
The last vessel which called at IT,
buron was the English man-of- war
Daphne, which surveyed the Gulf of Cal
ifornia in 1881.
In former times the Ceris were IN the
habit of making trips as far down as
the environs of Guaymas, and of course
they would then steal anything handy
that came in their way, from COW or q
steer, burro or goat, q horse or q
mule, to dog or q cat; and these ami
mails would be devoured in secluded
places. Children also would be carried
off, and if they had chance to ambush
grown human being, that one would
be killed if there was no danger of dis
covery or reprisal.
In this way many children belonging
to poor people on the Sonora coast were
taken to Tiburon, and their fate for ever
remained a mystery to the parents.
However, the fate of one little girl.
whose relatives still live at Guaymas,
became known many years afterward,
and then it was learned that the Cerie
had been guilty Of kidnapping often. II
must be nearly thirty years ago that the
little girl, whose patronymic the writer
believes to have been Casanova, was
missed by her mother one day. Search
was made everywhere for her, but
although there were no wells
in which she might have fallen
no wild beasts which could have
devoured her, and no place near in
which she might have been concealed
nothing that would clear up her mys-
teriouH absence was discovered.
Some years later, a Frenchman named
Joseph, who had come with the MARQUIS
du pindrav tn Sonaro ~, HI. <-.><,1 ,1;%s.,,,