RACIAL GROUPS HOUGH. 639 



and a little girl carries the baby, secure in its wicker cradle. The 

 man of the family, just arrived from a hunting trip, is striking fire 

 by rubbing two sticks one upon the other, an art in which the Hupa 

 are very proficient. On the ground are baskets for sifting, for 

 cooking, and for storing the acorns; wooden bowls and headrests, 

 spoons, paddles and other domestic utensils, examples of which may 

 be seen in detail in the neighboring case. (See pi. 49.) 



TRIBES OF MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA. 



In the great territory covered by the political divisions of Mexico 

 and Central America we find centers of high culture and organized 

 civilization, while at the same time there were, as to-day, tribes very 

 low in the scale. We n^ contrast the cultivated ancient Aztec with 

 the ancient Chichimec named " filth-eaters," or the modern Mexican 

 with the savage, reputed cannibal Seri, dressed in an apron of 

 pelican skin. Many tribes in Mexico are in the aboriginal state, 

 possessing the arts and industries of ancient times. Central America 

 presents the same human contrasts. Some of the tribes of Central 

 America likewise illustrate the decadence which has taken place 

 since the grand periods of the Maya civilization whose art and 

 architectural remains astonish the world. The connection of the 

 Maya civilization with those of South America is perhaps not close 

 and, with Old World civilization, is as yet a matter of conjecture. 

 The present Maya culture presents few features of interest. 



SERI INDIAN HUNTER. 



The Seri Indians, who occupj 7 Tiburon Island in the Gulf of 

 California and the adjacent mainland of Sonora, Mexico, subsist 

 largely on fish, mollusks, turtles, etc., from the waters of the Gulf, 

 and the flesh of pelicans, cormorants and other water fowls, usually 

 taken at night on islands adjacent to Tiburon. During autumn and 

 winter, and sometimes at other seasons, they repair to the mainland, 

 where they subsist chiefly on the flesh of rabbits, wild turkeys, pec- 

 caries, deer, etc. Their diet is varied in autumn by the addition of 

 fruits of cacti, with berries, mesquite beans, etc. They neither plant 

 nor cultivate, and have no domestic animals except dogs. Most of 

 their food is eaten raw. They have been constantly at Avar with 

 the whites and other native tribes for three and a half centuries. 

 Their chief weapon is the bow and arrow, and they claim that their 

 arrows are poisoned. They are remarkably swift of foot; three or 

 four hunters frequently take large game by surrounding the animal, 

 tiring it out and slaying it with clubs and stones. The costume is a 

 skirt of pelican skin, short for the men, longer for the women. They 

 paint their faces with elaborate designs, using mineral pigments of 



