MriiEE] CONSUMPTION OF CLAMS 195* 



bottoms literally writhing with fishes stranded aiiioug beds of mollusks 

 and slimy with the aboiiiidiiig plankton of a fecund coast. The region 

 is one of ample, albeit lowly, food supply, where every experience tends 

 towai'd inert reliance on providential chance, and where the stimulus 

 of consistently conscious necessity seldom stirs the inventive faculty. 



Closely connected with fish as a Seri food-source are the various 

 niolluscan and crustacean forms collectively called shellfish; and these 

 contribute a considerable share of the sustenance of the tribe. 



Apparently the most important constituent of this class of foods is 

 the Pacific coast clam, which abounds i-'n the broad raud-flats border- 

 ing Laguna La Cruz and other lagoons of Seriland, and which was still 

 more abundant during a subrecent geologic epoch, to judge from the 

 immense accumulation of the shells in Punta Antigualla. The clams 

 are usually taken at low tide, without specialized apparatus. They are 

 located by feeling with the feet in shallow water, and caught either 

 with toes or with fingers, to be tossed into any convenient receptacle. 

 When the water is entirely withdrawn from the fiats, they are located 

 by means of their holes, and are extricated either with a shellcup or 

 with some other improvised implement. Frequently the entire mess is 

 thrown into a fire until the shells open, when they are withdrawn and 

 the mollusks devoured practically raw; perhaps more commonly the 

 shells are opened by blows of the hupf, and eaten without semblance 

 of cooking; and, except on the surface, no trace of roasting was found 

 among the vast accumulations of shells in Punta Antigualla. 



Perhaps second to the clam in frequency of use is the local oyster, 

 which abounds about the more sheltered shores of Tiburon. It is gath- 

 ered with the hands, aided perhaps by a stone or stick for dislodging 

 the shells either from the extended offshore beds at extreme low water, 

 or from the roots of a mangrove like shrub at a medium stage. The 

 shells, like those of the clam, are frequently opened by partial roast- 

 ing; and shells, sometimes scorched, are extensively scattered over the 

 interior, indicating that the oyster is a favorite portable food. The 

 popularity of this bivalve is shared by the iSToah's-ark (Area), to which 

 some mystical significance is apparently ascribed; and the abundant 

 limpets and bivalves and other mollusks are eaten indiscriminately, to 

 judge from the abundance of their shells in the middens. The ordi- 

 nary crab, too, is a favorite article of food, and its claws are numerous 

 in camp and house refuse; while the lobster like deep-water crab is 

 introduced into the menu whenever brought to the surface by storms, 

 as showu by its massive remains in the middens. 



On the whole, shellfish form a conspicuous factor in Seri economy 

 by reason of the considerable consumption of this class of food ; but, 

 viewed in the broader industrial aspect, the produce is notably primi- 

 tive, and significant chiefly as indicating the dearth of mechanical and 

 culinary devices. 



