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SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. III. No. 66. 



have persisted long ; for three and a half 

 centuries they have been known as fierce 

 and powerful warriors, tumultuous in battle 

 and swift in retreat; reputed as users of 

 poisoned arrows and perpetrators of repul- 

 sive atrocities in their endless and relentless 

 warfare ; regarded as Ishmaelites harboring 

 in the fastnesses of a desert island (for the 

 insular and continental portions of Seriland 

 have never been clearly discriminated by 

 neighboring j)eoples) , whose bestiality 

 placed them all but beyond the pale of hu- 

 man kind. There are indeed records of 

 attempted conversion and subjugation 

 among the rancherias overflowed from Seri- 

 land proper, but the assemblage of records 

 is either contradictory or indicates that the 

 converted and subjugated tribesmen weak- 

 ened and died under the yoke of a higher cul- 

 ture; an apostate Seri resides in Hermosillo, 

 another in Altar, and a third is said to live 

 in California, but no other trace of Seri 

 flesh or blood was found outside of Seriland. 

 The testimony of ancient works is ac- 

 cordant with that of the writings ; outside 

 of Seriland there are prehistoric ruins indi- 

 cating a succession of more or less distinct 

 populations extending over many centuries ; 

 in Seriland there are no works save such as 

 the Seri now produce, though some of these 

 are impressively ancient. 



While several of the characteristics of the 

 Seri Indians are unusual and some (e. g., 

 their fleetness and endurance, their unique 

 marriage custom, etc.) so singular as to chal- 

 lenge belief, the assemblage of characters is 

 remarkably consistent and harmonious. 

 The physical perfection of the warriors and 

 their vigorous wives and fleet-footed chil- 

 dren is in harmony with their mode of life 

 and militant habit, as with all other char- 

 acters ; indeed they would be unable to sur- 

 vive, to capture strong swift and alert 

 game, to traverse the long waterless stretches 

 in their domain, to cross their bounding 

 desert, without exceptional physique, which 



may thus be ascribed to survival of the fit- 

 test during the generations of development 

 and adjustment to a peculiar environment. 

 Their hereditary blood-thirst is consistent 

 with their enmity toward animal and plant, 

 with their primitive art, with their endog- 

 amy, with their linguistic independence, 

 and with their physical characteristics ; in- 

 deed warfare against other peoples is but an 

 expression of disposition and habit mani- 

 fested in many other ways. Their rigid en- 

 dogamy and rigorous marriage custom are 

 consistent with each other, with the long 

 isolation of the tribe attested by history 

 and archfcology, with their linguistic dis- 

 tinctness, with their continuous warfare, 

 with their abstemious habits, and with all 

 their other characteristics ; indeed their 

 marriage custom would be inexplicable and 

 incredible except in conjunction with their 

 endogamy, while their conjugal relations 

 taken collectively would appear incongru- 

 ous among a more advanced people. Thus 

 the leading characteristics of the tribe are 

 mutually consistent and interrelated in such 

 manner as to form a definite assemblage, of 

 which no one could be modified without 

 affecting the integrity of the whole. So, 

 too, when the characteristics are considered 

 in sequence or phylogenically, it would ap- 

 pear that each stimulates and combines 

 with all the others in such manner as to 

 render the development cumulative ; and 

 also that each feature and the assemblage 

 of features are such as might norraally re- 

 sult from the survival of the fittest in a pe- 

 culiar environment. Finally it would ap- 

 pear that all of the characteristics of the 

 Seri Indians, biotic and demotic alike, are 

 adjusted directly or indirectly to an arid, 

 mountainous land, bordered with a fruitful 

 coast, and protected by a strong natural boun- 

 dary, i. 6., to the actual Seriland, and that 

 they could hardly have been developed un- 

 der a difli'erent environment. 

 On contrasting the Papago and Seri In- 



