292* THE SERI INDIANS [eth.ann.17 



Soon after the death (immediately after the burial, so nearly as could 

 be ascertained) there is an apparently ceremonial mourning, in which 

 the matrons of the clan, and, at leastto some extent, the warriors also, 

 participate. The mourners wail loudly, throw earth and ashes or ordure 

 on their heads, and beat and bruise (but apparently avoid scarifying) 

 their breasts, faces, and arms. This is continued, culminating daily 

 about the hour of interment, for several days — unless the rancheria is 

 sooner abandoned, in which case the period of formal mourning is 

 shortened. 



In addition to the formal mourning of matrons there is a custom of 

 nocturnal wailing after the death of warriors in battle, and, apparently, 

 also, following the death of matrons or nubile maidens, which attracts 

 the notice of frontier rancheros and vaqueros. According to their 

 accounts the iirst note of lamentation may be sounded at any hour of 

 the night by any of the group to which the deceased belonged; it is suc- 

 cessively taken up by other members of the party until all voices are 

 united in a resounding chorus of inarticulate moans, wails, shriller 

 cries, and wild howls, likened by the auditors to the blood-bellowing of 

 cattle; if other groups of the tribesmen are within hearing, they, too, 

 take up the cry, so that the lamentation may extend to the entire tribe 

 and echo throughout practically all Seriland at the same moment. 

 The fierce howling and attendant excitement may rise so high in the 

 group in which the wailing begins that all seem bereft of customary 

 caution; and sometimes they suddenly seize ollas and weapons, and 

 decamp incontinently, perhaps scattering widely' and racing for miles 

 before settling again for sleep or watchful guard. 



The ideas of the i'olk concerning death and concerning the relations 

 between the living and the dead are largely esoteric, and are, moreover, 

 veiled by the nonequivalence of Seri expressions with the terms of 

 alien languages. 



At least an inchoate belief in a life beyond the grave was intimated 

 by Mashcm and his companions at Costa Eica, and their circumspec- 

 tion of speech and mien indicated a strong veneration for, or dread of, 

 the manes ; though the specific expressions were connected with deceased 

 matrons, who alone seemed to be prominent in the minds of the clan- 

 mates. So far as could be gathered the belief seems to be that the 

 dead find their way back to the primordial underworld, whence Earth 

 and Beings were brought up by Pelican and Turtle (or Shark) respec- 

 tively, and are liable to return by night with mischievous intent. 



The direct expressions of the Seri informants are fully corroborated 

 by the association of things in interior Seriland. The burial of water 

 and food, of the jiersonal fetishes and votive objects, and of the highly 

 prized face-paint belonging to the dead matron, attests anticipation of 

 a post-mortuary journey ; while the temporary abandonment of jacales 

 and rancherias and the nocturnal fears and flights alike betoken 



