The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1895-03-04
NAVIGATING INDIANS.
UNCLE SAM HAS SOMETHING TO SAY
TO MEXICO ABOUT THEM.
The Most Blood-Thirsty Snvages in North
America, as Well the Most Prim-
itive in Their Ways and Habits.


The killing of two Americans by the Seri
Indians of Sonora last spring has given oc-
Casion for recent diplomatic correspondence
between the United States and Mexico. III
will be remembered that the victims De-
lcrged to an exploring expedition headeu
by newspaper man named Robinson. 1he
latter and one of his three companions
were murdered. The deed had no other
motive than pure fiendshness. Small as is
the tribe of the Seris--they number only
about $50 souls-these savages are th@ most
cod-thrsty in North America. for
long time they have terroriZed Sonora p''
the Mexican government seems poWerless
to control them.
The tribe was visited recently by an eX-
petition from the bureau of ethnoioSy'
which has just returned to WashlhSton
with some very interesting information.
Professor w. J. Niece, who led the party
said:
at is understood that the Serbs are can
nbals--at all events that they eat every
white man they can Stay. They are c,ue'
and treacherous beyond description. 10
ward the white man their attitude is exactly
the same as that of the white man toward
a rattiesnake-they kill him as matter Oh
course unless restrained by fear. Never co
they fight in open warfare, but Always lic
in ambush. They are copper coloreu lsh-
maelites 1t is their custom TO mufier
ploy the terms commonly used III thaI
countrywide ventures to enter the terri
tory they call their own.
'In many respects the Seris are the most
interesting tribe OF savagcs in North Amer
lea. They are decidedly more prlmltlFe III
their ways than any other Indians, haNilS
scarcely any arts worth mentioning. IN
fact, they have not yet advanced as lar as
the stone age The only stone implement
in common use among them IS a rude nam
mer Of that material, which they employ
for beating clay to make fragile ara Pc
culiar kind OF pottery. When one OF the
suuaws wishes to make meal of mesquite
beans, she has no utensil for the purpose.
She looks about until she finds rock with
an upper surface conveniently hollow, ana
on this she places the beans, pounding them
with an ordinary stone.
.orho Serbs live on the island of Tiburou,
in the gulf of California. They also claim
5000 square miles of the mainland in Sono-
"a Their dwellings are the rUdest jma%i-
nable. A chance rock commonly serves for
one wall of the habitation; stones are piled
mn so as to make a small enclosure, ana
the shell of single great turtle does Tor
q roof The house is always open on one
side and is not intended as shelter from
storms, but chiefly to keep off the sun.
The men and women wear a single carmen {
like a petticoat made Of pelican skin; the
children are naked. Not far from 1lburon,
which is about thirty miles long by fifteen
miles wide, there is a smaller island where
pelicans roost in vast numbers. The Seris
go at night and with sticks knock over as
many of the birds they require.
physically speaking. the Serbs are most
remarkable They are of great stature
the men averaging nearly six feet il height,
with splendid chests. Iut the most notice
able point about them is their legs, which
are very slender and siIieWy, resembling
the legs OF the deer. Since the first COM
ing of the Spanards they have been known
to other tribes the runners. 1t is said
that they can run from $50 to 200 miles
day, not pausing for rest. Now / suppose
you are aware that the jack rabbit is con-
sidered a very fleet animal. Yet these In
dams are accustomed to catch jack rabbits
by outrunnng them.
For this purpose three men or boys so
together. If the rabbit nan straight away
from it's pursuer, it could not be- taken;
but its instinct Is to make it's liSht by zig
gags. The hunters arrange themselves at
short distances apart. As quickly one
Of them starts 4 rabbit, second Indian
runs fast as he can along q line parallel
with the course taken by the animal. Pres
entity the rabbit secs the second Indian and
dashes off at a tangent. BY this time the
third hunter has come up and gives the
quarry another turn. After the third or
fourth zigzag the rabbit is surrounded and
the hunters quickly close in upon him and
grab him.
1T IS an odd fact that this method CT
catching Jack rabbits is precisely the same
as that adopted by coyotes, which work
similarly by threes. BY this strategy these
wild dogs capture the rabbits, though the
latter are more fleet by faI. l believe that
no other human beings approach the Seris
in celebrity of movement. a faVorte sport
Of the boys is lassoing dogs. Mongrcl ours
limo - - a cd these
wild people. For amusements sake the
boys take their dogs to a clear place ana
drive th-m in all directions. Then they
capture the frightened animals by running
and throwing lassos, which are made out
of human hair. They have no difficulty ID
overtaking the dogs.
'Onc day | saw d party of boys returning
with their dogs after bout At @lis sport
They passed near n bush in which were
three or four blackbirds On spying the
birds they dashed toward the bush and
tried TO catch them with their hands. They
did not succeed, though one OF the birds
only escaped with the loss of several teath-
ers Some women OF the tribe We're watch
ing, and they actually jecrcd at the boys
for their failure. The boys were so mort-
fed that they did not so into the camp,
but went off and sat by themselves in the
shade of a greasewood bush. Now, what
white man or boy would think of trying TO
catch blackbirds in such a way? WHAT l
saw made it evident that non-success in an
attempt of the kind was the exception and
not the rule 1 was informed also that the
Serbs often take birds in this fashion.
my visit to the Serbs was rather acct
dental than otherwise. The object of our
expedition was to look up the FapaSoes,
who occupy a region of considerable extent
in southwest Arizona and Sonora. They are
agricultural and pastoral people, but are
very brave and do their fighting in the
omen Their territory approaches that OF
the Serbs. / say approaches because the