MCGEE] THE LESSER ISLANDS 49 



hours tumultuous waves come and go sporadically, while about the mile- 

 wide boca the choppy sea sometimes takes the form of spire-like jets, 

 spurting 5 or 10 feet high and breaking into aigrettes of glittering 

 spray in most unwaterlike and wholly indescribable fashion. Dewey 

 described the strait as "unsafe for navigation by any except the small- 

 est class of vessels"; it is safe, indeed, only for portable and inde- 

 structible craft like the Seri balsas, which may be put off or carried 

 ashore at will by craftsmen willing to wait for wind and tide, and unpos- 

 sessed of impedimenta of a sort to be injured by wetting. Of such au 

 environment the balsa is a natural product. 



The adjunct islets of Seriland are miniatures of Tiburon in all essen- 

 tial respects, save that they are without fresh water. The largest is 

 San Esteban, a somewhat comi)lex butte rising sharply from the waters 

 in a nearly continuous sea-clitt' recording vigorous work by storms 

 and tides; it is occasionally visited by the Seri, chietly in search of 

 water-fowl and eggs. The most important of the series in Seri 

 economy and mythology is Isla Tassne, off" the mouth of Bahia 

 Kino; it is a rugged butte some COO feet high, rising in wave-cut 

 clitts on the sea side and i)edimented by low spits and banks of sand 

 toward the lea; the sand-banks are literally flocked with pelicans, 

 while other fowl cover the flatter ledges and crowd the crannies of the 

 pinnacle. Isla Turner is a somewhat smaller and still more rugged 

 butte, bounded on both sides by precipitous clifls, while Eoca Foca is 

 merely a great rock shelving upward from the storm-swept waters off 

 the most exposed angle of Tiburon; in the crannies of the former 

 birds nest abundantly, while the lower ledges of both are haunted by 

 seals. Isla Patos, north of Tiburon, is a breeding-place for different 

 waterfowl, and is especially noted as a refuge for ducks; it, too, is for 

 the most part a rocky butte, with a sandy shelf at the eastern base. 

 Beyond San Esteban lies the similar but smaller Isla San Lorenzo, 

 while Isla Salsipuedes and a few other islets stretch thence northward 

 half way to tlie southern point of Isla Angel de la Guarda, the second- 

 largest island of the gulf. Sau Lorenzo and the smaller islets are 

 occasionally visited by the Seri, partly for a mineral pigment used in 

 face-painting, partly in quest of game; and they sometimes push on to 

 the larger island to enjoy its fairly abundant game, including the 

 easily taken iguana, amid the ruins ot an ancient culture apparently 

 akin to that of southern Mexico. Even the most frequented islets, 

 Tassne and Patos, can be reached only by crossing miles of open sea; 

 but in tlieir way the Seri are as canny navigators as they are skilful 

 boat-builders — it is their habit to hug the shore in threatening weather, 

 to await wind and tide for hours or days together, to set out on 

 distant journeys only when all conditions favor, and in emergency to 

 seize inspiration from the storm like the vikings of old, and bend 

 supernormal power to the control of their craft. 



Summarily, the prevailing features of Seriland may be said to be 



17 ETH 4: 



