44 THE SERI INDIANS ' [eth.anx.17 



fortable haven at high tide, it is mostly mnd-fiat and sand-waste at 

 extreme low tide — a condition which explains tlie stranding of au 

 SO-foot whale in this treacherous harbor about 1887. Tiie rada is 

 between two and three miles in length. It abounds in marine life of 

 kinds preferring quieter waters: clams are plentiful iu its mud-llats, 

 a sponge lines portions of the bottom toward its inner extremity, 

 oysters cluster numerously on bowlders and on the mangrove like roots 

 and trunks of a large shrub along the outer shore, and various fishes 

 find refuge here from the fierce currents and the hungry sharks and 

 ])orpoises of the open strait; these and other creatures form food for 

 innumeiable waders and other water-fowl that seek shelter in the quiet 

 bay, which is still further protected by salt-enduring shrubbery on the 

 bars of the point and by the shrubby thickets and wave-cast banks 

 and wind built dunes on the mainland side. 



Tlie combination of conditions renders this portion of the Tiburou 

 coast the ojjtimum liabitat of the Seri Indians. There are, indeed, no 

 houses or other traces of permanent habitation on Punta Tormenta itself, 

 which is not only swept by gales but must sometimes be inundated by 

 gale-driven waters at high spring tide; but at the inner end of the 

 long sand-spit, and also on the mainland opposite the outer portion of 

 Eada Ballena, there are extensive and well-kept rancherias, capacious 

 enough to accommodate comfortably thirty or forty Seri families, i. e., 

 150 or 200 persons. Toward its landward end the sand-spit is built 

 largely of pebbles and cobbles, of which thousands of tons are adapted 

 to industrial use; sea-food is practically unlimited and is readily taken; 

 water fowl literally crowd tlie i)rotected rada within arrow-shot of 

 natural cover; the outer slojie of the bar is admirably suited for 

 landing and embarking balsas in calm weather, while the bay is an 

 ideal harbor for the portable craft, and the shrub grown shores give 

 unlimited opportunity for concealing them when not in use; the dunes 

 and banks are high enough to i)rotect the low jacales from storm- 

 winds, while the abundant sponges and turtle-shells afford material for 

 thatching and shingling the more exposed walls and roofs; and finally, 

 it is but a favorite distance (about 4 miles) to the permanent fresh 

 water of Tinaja Anita. From this Seri metropolis well trod trails 

 radiate toward all other parts of the island; the best beaten leads to 

 the tinaja, sending branches into all the neighboring gorges, in which 

 game is sometimes taken; next best- worn is the trail laid across Sierra 

 Kunkaak to strike Arroyo Carrizal mid length of its permanently wet 

 portion; others i)ass northward to rancherias at different points on 

 the coast, and still another skirts the coast southward by several 

 smaller rancherias to the considerable jacal collection near Punta Nar- 

 ragansett — this, like other longshore routes, having alternative trails, 

 the evanescent fair-weather one following the beach, while the perma- 

 nent path threads the thorn-set thickets marking the crest of the sea- 

 cliff or cuts across the longer salients. The Nan agausett rancheria is 



