Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-10-24
CYPE ~ EH0lzRJ0N Win GIFTS
EROn CHIP ERANCSCO 20

bar that is literally paved with the ia
nous pearl oysters, and | have no
doubt that there is a vast fortune
awaiting somebody who is willing to
make the expedition.
''The chiefs present of a bow and
arrcw was a pleasant incident. In turn
asked him what Of our stores. nam
ing them over, would strike his fancy.
He speaks a sort of doggerel frontier
Spanish, and 1 made out, after some
reflection, that he thought he would
| like my shirt. l Immediately handed
out the present, in fact, made it two,
but he refused the second one, saying,
| after long thought: L can wear only
one shirt at a time This shows his
simple mind l am sure he will never
wash that shirt, but will wear it till
, it drops off or is torn to rags in the
brush.
The son took fancy to my hat,
and, of course, I at once took it off,
and gave it to him, and in turn he
presented me with a wooden crown,
rather ingeniously made of strips of
wood, coming together and fastened
with detachable pin, with knob at
the end 1t is ornamented with red
and blue stripes. l gravely put on the
crown and Ponchito seemed greatly
! pleased.
I'VE had hard time getting the
snapshot of the chief and his body
guard. They world not pose before
the camera, because they are terribly
superstitious. They believe that
everything that belongs . theI must
go with them, at death, and if any
/ thing that is part of them gets away,
/ there will be terrible trouble in the
spirit world. In order to get the chief
and the men near him before the
| camera l pretended to line them up
to distribute cigarettes, and while my
man was about to pass along with the
cigarettes l snapped the shutter.
Il do not know what would have
happened to me if l had been discov-
cred in the act of taking this picture.
1t is the first photograph of this cele-
brated chief. He is usually reported
a cannibal, but my presence to-day in
the land of the living is sufficient
/ proof 10 the COnJIdIy.
81 saw many deer heads in the
chiefs camp and large pair of noun
tain goat horns. | would have taken
the goats horns, but they looked too
old and rusty. The arrows presented
by the chief are beautiful pieces of
native workmanship. The heads of
iron, carefully sharpened with pumice
4 WORK
and it is an endless job. The head is
held in place with pelican sinews,
tightly wrapped. The upper part OF the
arrow is of willow and the lower part
of bamboo, bound with pelican sinews.
There are small ornamental bands on
| the arrow and one of them looks as
though it were put On with pitch.
The Seri Indians live largely Oh
sea food, such as turtle, fish and sea
lions. They have prodigious skill with
spears and venture out on rough seas
| in dugouts, that are handled with eX-
traordinary skill. The Serbs swim like
fish, and their eyesight, in fishing and
| hunting, is so keen that they can see
almost as we'll, it struck me, as white
man can with a marine glass. Let me
illustrate. AS we neared the island, at
our first landing, 1 raised my glass
and leveled it this way and that, and
finally saw, at great distance, an In
dian boy sitting on the rock. had
barely focused on him when he leaped
into the sea. He had seen the queer
looking object pointing at him.
ION the beach l counted 80 sea tur-
ties shells on my first landing, and
afterward saw many others. / brought
back with me some of their pottery,
and it is excellent for stuff made by
barbarians. They make jugs and
pans.
''The waters around there are alive
with sharks, but the Indians do not
modest them. There are also immense
numbers of all sorts of fish, from min
nows to black whales.
THE temperature of the island is
about 10 TO 120 in the sun, but the
nights are cold. The east channel, &C
cording to Dewey's chart, is called
Inferno and it is certainly well
named. There are parts of the eastern
channel, cutting off the island from
the mainland. that at low tide are only
half mile wide, should say; and it
varies from that distance to three
miles wide.
The report brought back from Ii