264* THE SERI INDIANS [ETH.ANN.n 



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fortuitous, or iu general terms more inchoate, than the corresponding 

 condition among most of their contemporaries. Accordingly the war 

 customs, like several other features of the tribe, seem to afford a con- 

 necting link between the habits normal to carnivorous beasts and the 

 well-organized war customs of somewhat higher culture-grades; and 

 thus they contribute toward outlining the course of human development 

 through some of its darker stages. 



Conformably witli their poverty iu offensive devices, the Serf are 

 exceedingly i)oor in devices for defense. It is an imi)ressive fact that 

 a restricted motherland which has been successfully protected against 

 invasion for nearly four centuries of history should be destitute of 

 earthworks, fortifications, barricades, palisades, or other protective 

 structures; yet no such structures exist on any of the natural lines of 

 approach, and none are known anywhere in Seriland save in a single 

 spot — Tinaja Trinchera — where there are a few walls of loose-laid stone, 

 so unlike anything else in Seriland and so like the structures character- 

 istic of Pai)agueria as to strongly indicate (if not to demonstrate) inva- 

 sion and temi)orary occupancy by aliens. The jacales are not fortified in 

 the slightest degree, unless the turtle-shells with which they are some- 

 times shingled be regarded as armor; even the most ancient rancherias 

 are absolutely devoid of contravallations of earth, stone, or other mate- 

 rial; and both the structures themselves and the expressions of the 

 folk concerning them indicate that the jacales are not regarded as 

 fortresses or places of refuge against enemies, but only as comfortable 

 lodges for use in times of peace. Nor are walls like those of the border- 

 land Tinaja Trinchera known in the interior of the tribal territory — e. g., 

 the similarly conditioned Tinaja Anita, which differs only in the greater 

 abundance and permanence of the water-supply, is entirely devoid of 

 artificial structures, not even a pebble or bowlder being artitically 

 placed save perchance by the casual trampling of the pathways. As 

 already noted, the Seri seem to be i)ractically devoid of knife-sense; 

 they are still more completely devoid of fort-sense, although (and evi- 

 dently because) they rely so fully on natural things, including tutelaries 

 and their own fleetness, for safety. 



Although devoid of even the germ of fortification-sense, so far as can 

 be discovered, the Seri are not without a .sort of shield-sense, which is 

 of nuich significance partly by reason of its inchoate character. The 

 ordinary shield is a pelican pelt, or a robe or kilt comprising several 

 skins; it is employed either for confusing the enemy by swift brandish- 

 ing, something after the fashion of the cai)a of the banderillero in the 

 bull ring, or for actual protection of the body against arrows and other 

 missiles or weapons. So far as known it is not backed or otherwise 

 strengthened, the user relying solely on the stout integument and 

 thick feathers — or rather on the mystical properties imputed to the 

 pelt as the mystery-tinged investiture of their chief creative tutelary. 



