MCGEE] hardy's explorations 1826 87 



the upi)er end of the start' was suspended by a cord 12 or 14 inches long a round 

 stone ball, and to this ball was fastened another string furnished with bits of cork, 

 surrounded with small feathers stuck into them at the distance of about 3 inches 

 apart: the only use of the stone ball being to i>re\ent the wind from blowing out 

 horizontally the string which was furnished with feathers. . . Upon examin- 



ing the bushy pile, I discovered a wooden figure with a carved hat, and others of 

 different shapes and sizes, as well also as leathern bags, the contents of which I was 

 not permitted to explore. ' 



He also mentions that " in tlieir festivities the ludians wear the head 

 (with the horns ou)" of the buia or mule deer. He adds: 



It is believed that the Ceres Indians have discovered a method of poisoning their 

 arrows, and that they do it in this way: They kill a cow and take from it its liver. 

 They then collect a number of rattle-snakes, scorpions, centipedes, and tarantulas, 

 whicli they confine in a hole with the liver. The next process is to beat them with 

 sticks in order to enrage them, and being thus infuriated, they fasteu their fangs 

 and exhaust their venom upon each other and upon the liver. When the whole 

 mass is in a high state of corruption the old women take the arrows and pass their 

 points through it. They are then allowed to dry in the shade, and it is said that a 

 wound inflicted by them will jirove fatal. Others again say that the poison is 

 obtained from the juice of the yerba de la flecha (arrow wort).- 



He purchased some of the arrows, which were stone-tipped, and had 

 " certainly had an unguent applied to them". 



He was impressed by indications of family affection, and noted the 

 custom of having two wives. Concerning tribal relations he says: 



These people have been always considered extremely ferocious, and there is little 

 doubt, from their brave and warlike character, that they may formerly have devas- 

 tated a great part of the country; but in modern days their feuds are nearly con- 

 fined to a neighboring tribe of the same name as themselves (Ceres), who speak 

 the same language and in all jirobability originally descended from tlie same stock. 

 They are said to be inferior to those of this island both in courage and stature, and 

 they are never sutt'ered to cross the channel. From what I was told * ' « the 

 Tiburow Ci^res have lately returned from a sanguinary war with the Tdpoca C<?re8, 

 in which the former were victorious.' 



Later in his itinerary Hardy noted a typical Yaqui revolution, with 

 a characteristic effort to secure the cooperation of the Seri.* He defined 

 the Seri habitat as "the island of Tiburow, the coast of Tepoca, and the 

 pueblo of Los Ceres, near Pitic";'' and he estimated the population at 

 "3,000 or 4,000 at the very utmost 'V and quoted the estimate of Don 

 Jose Maria Eetio, viz, that the Seri population of Tiburon was 1,000 

 to 1,500.' 



Like most of those visitors to the Seri who have returned to tell their 

 tale. Hardy "praised the bridge that carried him over" and gave the 

 tribe passable character — worse, of course, than that of any other, yet 

 hardly so bad as jjainted at Pitic. 



A noteworthy traveler in western America during 1840-1842 was 

 M. Dutiot de Mofras, an attache of the French legation in Mexico. He 



' Op. cit., pp. 294-295. « Hiicb, p. 395 et seq. ' Ibid., pp. 235, 540. 



'Ibiil. pp. ,298.299. « Ibid., p. 437. 



aibid., pp. 299, 300. ' Ibid., p. 438. 



