REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 35 



island had suffered inconvenience from dearth of food and blankets, and had been 

 compelled to devote nearly all their energies to obtaining water from a little tinaja, 

 or water pocket, in the rocks in the interior of the island 6 or 7 miles from the shore. 

 All hope of return of the boat had been abandoned, and when it finally appeared 

 the party were collecting driftwood and branches of the x» a l° bianco — a tree grow- 

 ing sparsely on the mountains in the interior of the island — to build a raft, while 

 one of the party was engaged in making the necessary ropes from provision-bags 

 and clothing. 



On the reassembling of the party the original plans were resumed; the leader 

 visited a score or more of Seri house bowers or rancherias, only to find them aban- 

 doned (though some bore evidence of occupancy within a few hours) while Mr. 

 Johnson continued the topographic surveys. By this time the food supplies were 

 practically exhausted, but were eked out by collecting oysters, clams, and crabs and 

 by a shark taken on the next to the last day of the stay on the island; and, as before, 

 most of the energies of the party were expended in carrying water from 4 to 15 

 miles, for which purpose squads of five or more heavily armed men were requisite, 

 since the danger of ambush was considerable and constant. By these journeys over 

 the jagged rocks, in Avhich Tiburon Island abounds, the shoes of the white men and 

 the sandals of the Indians were worn out; and this condition finally compelled the 

 abandonment of further effort to come into communication with the wary Indians. 

 Considerable collections representing their crude arts, domestic and maritime, were, 

 however, made in their freshly abandoned rancherias, and a fine balsa, or canoe- 

 raft made of canes, was obtained. 



After some delay and danger the strait was recrossed, and the party found them- 

 selves on the mainland, still beset by storms, without food or water, reduced by 

 arduous labor and insufficient food, and practically barefoot in a region abounding 

 in thorns and spines and jagged rocks. Moreover, they were still constantly under 

 the eyes ofSeri warriors watching from a distance and awaiting opportunity for 

 attack. After fully considering the situation, the leader left the party and the boat 

 in charge of Mr. Johnson and skirted the coast on foot for 25 miles to the rendezvous 

 on Kino Bay in the hope of reaching the teamster from the rancho with supplies on 

 the last day of his stay there under the instructions giveu him by Mr. Johnson, on 

 last leaving that point after the wreck. He reached the rendezvous early in the 

 night of December 28, only to find it abandoned by reason of the accidental escape 

 of the stock. Ho at once pushed on across the desert to the rancho, reaching there 

 early in the morning of the 29th, and immediately returning with food and water. 

 The entire party arrived at the rancho on the evening of December 31, and two days 

 lat<r proceeded to Ilermosillo, whence the leader returued directly to "Washington, 

 while Mr. Johnson retraversed the country, thence northward to the Arizona bound- 

 ary, collecting objects and information among the Papago Indians and completing 

 the triangulation and topographic surveys. He reached Tucson about the end of 

 January. 



While the expedition was, by reason of the hostility of the Indians, unsuccessful 

 so far as the anticipated studies of the Seri institutions and beliefs are concerned, 

 Considerable collections representing their arts were obtained. Moreover, the whole 

 of Serilaud, the interior of which was never before trodden by white men, was exam- 

 ined, surveyed, and mapped; and the expedition resulted also in a survey of such 

 oharacter as (o yield the first topographic map of a broad belt in Sonora extending 

 from the international boundary to Sonora River. The area covered by this survey 

 is abonl 10,000 square miles. Forty-seven stations were occupied for control, and a 

 considerably larger number of additional points for topographic sketching. The 

 portion of the map comprising Seriland, being essentially new to geographers, has 

 been published in the National Geographic Magazine (Vol. VII, 1896, PI. xiv). It 

 is a pleasure to say that the work of the expedition was facilitated in all possible 

 ways bj the State officers of Sonora and the federal authorities of tho Republic of 

 Mexico. By special authority of His Excellency Senor Leal, secretario de fomento, 



