216* THE SERI INDIANS [eth.ann.17 



especially as they are reflected in the primitive minds of the local tribe; 

 and careful study of the habits and history of the Seri shows that the 

 dangerous strait has been a potent factor in preserving tribal existence 

 and perpetuating tribal integrity. Naturally the factor operates through 

 navigation ; for it is by means of this art that the tribesmen are able to 

 avoid or to repel the rare invaders of either mainland or insular i)ortions 

 of their province, the overland pioneers from the east being stopped 

 by the strait and the maritime explorers from south and west being 

 unable to maintain themselves long about the stormy shores and never 

 outfitted for pushing far toward the mainland retreats and strongholds; 

 while by means of their light and simple craft the Seri were able to 

 retreat or to advance across the strait as readilj' as over the adjacent 

 lauds to which they were wonted by the experience of generations. In 

 their minds, indeed, El Intiernillo is the nucleus of their province. So 

 the Seri were among the lowliest learners of that lesson of highest state- 

 craft, that lands are not divided but united by intervening sea; and 

 their ill formulated and provincial notions are of much significance in 

 their bearing on autochthonous habits and habitats. 



The water craft of which the Seri make so good use is a balsa, made 

 of three bundles of carrizal or cane lashed together alongside, "meas- 

 uring barely -k feet abeam, 1^ feet in depth, and some 30 feet in length 

 over all. A fine specimen (except for a slight injury at one end) is 

 shown in plan and protile in plate xxxi. It was obtained near Boca 

 Infierno in 1805, partly towed and partly paddled thence to Embiir- 

 cadero Andrade, wagoned laboriously across Desierto Encinas and on 

 to Hermosillo, conveyed in an iron sheathed box on two gondolas of 

 the narrow-gage Ferrocarril de Sonora to the international frontier, 

 and finally freighted to the United States National Museum, where (in 

 the Mall just outside tlie building) the photographs reproduced in the 

 plate were taken. 



The manufacture of the balsa has never been seen by Caucasian eyes, 

 but the processes are safely inferred from the structure, whose testimony 

 is corroborated in part by Mashem's imperfect descriptions. The first 

 step is thegathering of the carrizal from one of the patches growing about 

 the three or four permanent fresh waters of Seriland, thecanes being care- 

 fully selected for straightness, symmetry, and uniformity in size; these 

 are then denuded of leaves and tassels, tied in bundles of convenient 

 size (one seen on Tiburon contained 40 or 50 canes), and carried to the 

 shore. In actual construction the canes are laid butt to butt, but over- 

 lapping 2 or 3 feet, the overlap being shifted this way and that with 

 successive additions, so that the aggregate length of overlapping in the 

 bundle reaches 10 or 12 feet — i. e., the full length of the body of the 

 finished craft. The growing bundle is wrapped from time to time with 

 lashings of mesqnite root or maguey fiber, and kei)t in cylindrical form 

 by constant rolling and by means of the lashing; though the cord used 

 for the purpose is so slender as to do little more than serve the purposes 



