82 



MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. 



the whites, they are naturally of a peaceful disposition, energetic, and industrious. 

 Like the Kabyles of Algeria, their young men emigrate every year in large 

 numbers, seeking employment in the farmsteads of Sonora or Sinaloa, or as 

 porters and menials in the towns. But they still remain attached to their homes, 

 and those who are not too far removed make an annual visit to their native valleys. 

 They are said to be excellent musicians, and, like the Hungarian gipsies, learn to 

 play the fiddle, guitar, or harp, merely by listening to the village minstrels. 



The Seri people of Tiburon Island and the neighbourmg mainland appear to 

 form a distinct subdivision, with a few other scattered family groups known by 

 various names. Orozco y Berra has compared them with the Caribs, adding that 



Kg, 33.— Chief Native Populations in Mexico. 

 Pnale 1 : 30,000,000. 



620 MUtc. 



he would not be surprised to find that they belong to the same race. These 

 natives, who are now reduced to a mere fragment, defended their homes and 

 valleys with great vigour ; their poisoned arrows especially were much dreaded, 

 and Spanish expeditions had often carefully to avoid their territory. 



Amongst the numerous north-western populations the Tarahumaras, or 

 Tarumaros, are one of the most remarkable for the tenacit}^ with which they have 

 preserved their ancient customs. The inhabitants of Chihuahua give the name of 

 Tarumaros to all the manses, or " civilised " Indians, of the state ; but the true 

 Tarahumaras, who still number about 40,000, live in seclusion in tlie upland 

 valleys of the Sierra Madre on both the Atlantic and Pacific slopes. Their 

 villages, most of which end in the syllable chic — "place," "town" — are scattered 

 over the highland region of the three states of Chihuahua, Sonora, and Sinaloa, 

 and according to Piraentel penetrate even into Durango. 



