262* THE SERI INDIANS [eth. ann. 17 



pitiful case of Fray Crisostomo Gil, and otliertinics rising explosively 

 beyond the feeble control of the untrained mind; for the impulse of 

 enmity toward aliens is an ever-present possession — or obsession — of 

 the tribe, and a reflection of that race-sense which is their most dis- 

 tinctive attribute. 



Of open warfare and face-to-face fighting there is hardly a germ among 

 the Seri. When themselves ambushed or surrounded, some of their 

 stouter warriors have in a few instances faced tlie foe for a few min- 

 utes at a time, as is shown by the annals of Cerro Prieto; yet this acci- 

 dental attitude but betokens the play of chance rather than the plan 

 of choice. Concordantly, the folk avoid the method of warfare (so com- 

 mon among other Amerind tribes as to be properly considered charac- 

 teristic) involving open duel between chiefs and other warriors; they 

 seem to be devoid of that sense of fairness in fighting which finds 

 expression in the duel; and despite the individual advantages growing 

 out of gigantic stature, immense strength, and superior swiftness, they 

 habitually seek to combine in numbers against panicked or baffled ene- 

 mies, just as their hunters throw themselves mercilessly on surrounded 

 quarry. Of open boldness or confident prowess no trace appears; and 

 the body of facts seems to justify the prevailing Sonoran opinion that 

 the warfare of the Seri is treacherous and cowardly in design, craven 

 and cruel in execution. 



Once begun, the conduct of the fray by the Seri fighters is fairly 

 uniform; the warriors either discharge clouds of arrows from their 

 coigns of vantage, or rush to brain their victims with stones, or to 

 break their necks and limbs and crush in their chests, as in the 

 slaughtering of quarry; and according to the tale of the occasional sur- 

 vivors — Senor Pascual Encinas and his son ]\Ianuel, Don Yguacio 

 Lozania, Don Andres Noriega, Don Jesus Omada of Bacuachito, and 

 Don Ramon Noriega of Pozo Noriega, are among the survivors and 

 informants; also the sturdy Papago fighters, Mariana, Anton, Miguel, 

 and Anton Castillo (whose sister died of dread while he was on the 189.5 

 expedition) — the rushing warriors are transfigured with frenzy; their 

 eyes blaze purple and green, their teeth glisten through snarling lips, 

 their hair half rises in bristling mane, while their huge chests swell 

 and their lithe limbs quiver in a fury sudden and blind and overpower- 

 ing as that of springing puma or charging peccary. Of the successful 

 assaults the ghastly end is rarely recorded, though whispered large in 

 the lore of Sonora; in the unsuccessful assaults recounted by survivors 

 the blood-frenzy burned but brietly and died swiftly as the disappointed 

 warriors skulked silently behind rocks and shrubs, or fled across the 

 sands with inconceivable fleetness. These details of battle precisely 

 parallel the details of butchery of beastly quarry, as recounted by 

 local observers and corroborated by Mashem's recitals. 



So far as can be ascertained the parallelism between frenzied battling 

 and furious butchery in the chase affords the chief basis for the firm 



