Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1895-03-11
THE BL0ODTHIRSTY SERI.
THE MOST INTERESTING TRIBE ON
THE CONTINENT.
They Kill n White Man ON Sight-So
Fleet-Footed That They Outrun
Deer and Rabbits.

g 1or recent diplomatic CORE
spondence between the United States
and Mexico. 1t will be remembered
that the victims belonged to an ex-
ploring expedition headed by news
paper man named Robinson. The
latter and one of his three companions
were murdered. The deed had no
other motive than pure fendishness.
Small as is the tribe of the Seris-they
number only about $50 souls-these
savages are the most bloodthirsty in
North America. For long time they
have terrorized Sonora, but the Mexi-
can Government seems powerless to
control them.
The tribe was visited recently by On
expedition from the Bureau of Ethnol-
ogy, which has just returned to Wash
ington with some very interesting in
formation. Professor W. J. McGee,
who led the party, said:
'It is understood that the Seris are
cannibals-at all events, that they eat
every white man they can slay. They
are cruel and treacherous beyond de-
scription. Toward the whito man
their attitude is exactly the same as
that of the white man toward rattle
snake they kill him as matter of
course, unless restrained by fenr
Never do they fight in open warfare,
but always lie in ambush. They are
copper-colored Ishmaelites. 1t is their
custom to murder everybody, white,
red or Mexican Q employ the terms
commonly used in that country who
ventures to enter the territory they
call their own.
''In many respects the Seris are the
most interesting tribe of savages in
North America. They are decidedly
more primitive in their ways than
other Indians, having scarcely any
arts worth mentioning. In fact, they
have not yet advanced as far as the
stone age. The only stone implement
in common use among them is rude
hammer of that material, which they
employ for beating cluy to make
fragile and peculiar kind of pottery.
When one of the squaws wishes to
make q meal of mesquite beans she has
no utensils for the purpose. She looks
| about until she finds O rock with an
upper surface conveniently hollow,
and on this she places the beans,
pounding them with un ordinary
stone.
"The Seris live on the Island of Tt
buron, in the Gulf of California. They
also claim 5000 square miles of the
mainland in Sonora. Their dwellings
are the rudest imaginable. A chance
rock commonly serves for one wall Of
the habitation; stones are piled up so
as to make small inclosure, and the
shell OF q single great turtle does for
q roof. The house is always open on
one side and is not intended as q shell
ter from storms, but chiefly to keep
off the sun. The men and women
wear single garment, like petit
coat, made of pelican skin. Not far
from Triburon, which is about thirty
miles long by fifteen miles wide, there
is smaller island where pelicans
roost in vast numbers. The Seris go
at night, and with sticks knock over
as many of the birds as they require.
physically speaking. the Seris arc
most remarkable. They are of great
stature, the men averaging nearly six
feet in height, with splendid chests.
But the most noticeable point about
them is their legs, which are very slen-
der and sinewy, resembling the legs
of the deer. Since the first coming
of the Spaniards they have been
known to other tribes as the runners.
1t is said that they can run from $50
to 200 miles q day, not pausing for
rest. suppose you are aware that
the jack rabbit is considered very
feet animal. Yet these Indians are
accustomed to catch jack rabbits by
outrunning them.
"For this purpose three men or
boys go together. If the rabbit ran
straight away from its pursuer, it
could not be taken; but its instinct is
to make Its flight by zig-zags. Tho
hunters arrange themselves at short
distances apart. AS quickly as one of
them starts rabbit, second Indian
runs as fast rs he can along a line
parallel with the course taken by the
animal. Presently the rabbit sees the
second Indian and dashes off at tan
gent. By this time the third hunter
has come up and gives the quarry an
other turn. After the third or fourth
zigzag the rabbit is surrounded, and
the hunters quickly close in upon him
and grab him.
sit is ON odd fact that this method
OF 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 far. believe that no other
human beings approach the Seris in
celebrity of movement. A favorite
sport of the Eoys is lassoing dogs.
Mongrel ours are the only animals
domesticated by these wild people.
For amusement's sake the boys take
their dogs to q clear place and drive
them in all directions. Then they
capture the frightened animals by
running and throwing lassos, which
are made out of human hair. They
boua NO J;N, o-au4oL.xz- AZ.