88 THE SERI INDIANS [Ern.ANN.l7 



traversed the Californias aud entered Sonora, and while he failed to 

 see Seriland, he made a note on the tribe, valuable as a current esti- 

 mate of tlie i)opulatiou : 



At the gates of the city of Hermosillo is established a Missiou which contains 500 

 Seri Indians; 1,000 of them inhabit the coast to the north of Guaymas and lie dti 

 Reqnin (Isla del Tiburon).' 



The next noteworthy espisode in the external history of the Seri 

 chronicled in the civil records of Sonora culminated in 1844. "The 

 above-named Seris, although their nnmber never became important, 

 did nut abandon their propensity to revolt, and, while they never rose 

 en masse, made many factional uprisings. Ultimately . . . they dis- 

 played such boldness, robbing ranches, assassinating all they encoun- 

 tered, assaulting on the roads arrieros and other travelers", that a 

 considerable force was sent against them from Hermosillo under the 

 direction of Captain Victor Araiza. It was planned to support this 

 land force by a sea party from Guaymas, but delays aud misunder- 

 standings caused the practical abandonment of the plan. Tiring of 

 the delay, Araiza '"declared war on the Indians, surprising them on 

 Punta del Carrizal, killing 11, including several innocent women and 

 children", and taking 4 captives of from 1 to 11 years in age; where- 

 upon the army returned to Hermosillo.^ 



Disapproving of this undignified and inhuman crusade, the acting 

 governor. General Francisco Ponce de Leon, planned a still more 

 vigorous campaign by land and sea for the jjurpose of capturing the 

 entire tribe and transporting them to Pueblo Seri, where a few of 

 their kin were still harbored.' The command was intrusted to Oolonel 

 Francisco Andrade, who took personal charge of the land force, includ- 

 ing 160 infantry from Guaymas, 00 infantry and 30 cavalry from 

 Hermosillo, and considerable corps from Horcasitas and Altar. The 

 naval auxiliary, in charge of Don Tomas Espence,^ pilot, comprised a 

 schooner of 12 tons; two launches, one carrying a 4-pound cannon and 

 the other a I'-pouud falconet; and one rowboat. On August 11, 1844, 

 Esi)ence sailed from Guaymas, and six days later cast anchor at the 

 embarcadero (apparently a convenient place on the coast of Bahia Kino 

 due west of Pozo Escalaute — the Embarcadero Andrade of figure 1) 

 opposite Tiburou. Andrade marched from Hermosillo August 13, 



' Exploration du Territoire de I'Or^gon, des Californies et de la Mer Vermeille, ex6cut6e pendant 



les annfes 1840, 1841 et 1842, tome i; Paris, 1844, p. 214. 



■^ 'N'elasco, Notici.is Estaflisticas, pp. 124, 125. This chronicle is rendered peculiarly valuable by 

 supplements in the form of Andrmle's aud E.spence's journals, the latter incorporated (p. 125) afti-r 

 Velasco's own writing wa.s completed. The whole was revised, extended, and republished in the 

 several volumes of the first series of Bol. Soc. Mex. Geog. y Estad., 1861-1866. 



30n August 14, 1844, Secretary Manuel Cabrera reported that "there are in this pueblo not more 

 than fifteen families of Ceris located within its borders, maintaining themselves by tlie manufacture 

 of earthen ollas aud by the garbage of their neighbors, i. e., in time of harvest they glean the wheat 

 and corn left scattered, and the bones, entrails, and hoofs of the stock slaughtered for consumption tpy 

 the inhabitants." (Incorporated in Velasco, op. cit., p. 138.) 



*Tlumias Spence, of Guaymas; apparently the " Mr. Spence" mentioned favorably by Hardy 

 (Travels, p.9U). 



