236* THE SERI INDIANS [eth.antj.17 



but .sliglitly vesicular aud pulverulent volcanic tuft', pinkish-buff iu 

 color, and weighs 4 pouud.s 1 ounce ( 1.84 kilograms). The form and sur- 

 face are almost wholly natural, save for slight batteriiijj- about the 

 larger end and severer battering, with the dislodyiiient of a tlake, about 

 tlie thinner end; yet the faces are smeared with blood and grease and 

 Hecked with turtle debris, and bear a few marks of hupf blows, as is 

 shown in the reproduction. This si)ecimen was found at a temporary 

 camp of a small party on Punta Miguel, where it had been used iu 

 breaking up a turtle — the camji having been abandoned so precijtitately 

 that a considerable part of the ijuarry, with this hupf, the ahst illus- 

 trated iu plate Liv, the turtle-harpoon shown iu figure I'O, the half-made 

 fire, aud the tire-sticks used in kindling it, were left behind. The speci- 

 men is a good example of the cobbles carried into portions of the terri- 

 tory lacking the material (the cam)) at which it was found was on the 

 great saudspit formiug the eastern barrier of Boca Infierno, several 

 miles from the nearest pebbly shore) ; it is of less specific gravity than 

 the average rocks of the region, and looks still lighter by reason of its 

 color aud texture. Similar cobbles abound along the eastern coast of 

 Tiburon, being derived from the immense volcanic masses of Sierra 

 Ivunkaak. 



About the more permanent rancherias and on many abandoned sites 

 lie ahsts usually too heavy for convenient transportation. Iu the hab- 

 itable Jacales such stones form regular household appurtenances, with- 

 out which the menage is deemed incomplete; though the implement is 

 commonlj' kicked about at random, often buried in debris (perhaps to 

 be (•onii)letely lost, and brought to light only by geologic changes, as 

 demonstrated by the shell-heap of Punta Antigualla), and pressed into 

 service only in case of need. An exceptionally well worn specimen of 

 the kind is illustrated in plate xxxviii (scale one half linear; maximum 

 width measured on base, 9| inches = 23.') cm.). The material is a hard, 

 ferruginous, almost Jaspery quartzite, somewhat obscurely laminated. 

 It weighs 10 pounds 11 ounces (1.85 kilograms). It is a natural slab, 

 evidently from a talus rather than the shore, its native locus being prob- 

 ably the western slope of Sierra Seri. The edges and apex are formed 

 by natural fractures; the most-used face (that shown in the plate) is 

 a natural structure plane; the obverse side is partly a similar plane, 

 partly irregular; while the base is an irregular fracture, evidently due 

 to accident after the specimen had been long in use, though the frac- 

 ture occurred years or decades ago, as indicated by the weathering 

 of the surfaces. The entire face of the slab is worn and more or less 

 polished by use as a metate, the wear culminating toward the center 

 of the base (evidently the center of the original slab), where the hol- 

 lowing reaches some three-sixteenths of an inch (5 mm.); yet even in 

 the depths of the incipient basin the polished surface is broken by 

 irregular pitting of a sort indicating occasional use as an anvil. The 

 edges are quite unworn, but the smoother portion of the obverse is 



