14 INTRODUCTION. 



in this connection, though it seems very probable that what is called the 

 Malay element has always been confined to or near the coast in its migra- 

 tions,* and, in reality, probably consists simply of the forced migration of 

 one branch of the descendants of the primitive race. It is also very prob- 

 able that while the dispersion of the tribes of the second or Asiatic branch, 

 after its development on this continent, was mainly north, east, south, and 

 southeast from the Columbia valley, there was also a route of migration 

 westward over the Sierras,* and southward through California, the descend- 

 ants of tribes following this route meeting those which had taken the route 

 down the Colorado valley at the head of the Gulf of California. 



A very strong argument in favor of such a line of migration, and also 

 of its having been very early in time, is the absence of the art of pottery- 

 makingf by the tribes of Southern California, while those of the Colorado 

 valley have the highest development in this art of all the tribes north of 

 Mexico. Had the migration been a late one from the Colorado valley and 

 extended to the Pacific coast, it is hardly probable that if these tribes had 

 once learned the art of making pottery it would have become a lost art 

 without leaving some trace in the many ancient burial places which have 



* One cannot read the early accounts of the Indians of Florida without being impressed with the 

 many resemblances between them and the Southern Californians. The habit of cutting off the limbs 

 and heads of enemies is a very marked instance. The only skull yet known from the lower portions of 

 the shellheaps of Florida more nearly resembles that of a Californian Indian than it does those from tho 

 burial-mounds of Florida. 



t In the large collections made by Dr. Yarrow's party, and by Mr. Schumacher, only two vessels 

 of clay were obtained, both by Mr. Schumacher. One from the island of San Clemente, -where many 

 articles of Spanish manufacture were also obtained, is a small and plain pint bowl. It has the appear- 

 ance of wheel-mado pottery, and was very likely obtained from the Missions. Tho other, which I have 

 not seen, was from Ni-po-mo, near San Luis Obispo. Mr. Bowers has also obtained a few small articles 

 of pottery of a similar character, judging from the few pieces I have seen, which consist of fragments 

 of a small bowl found on the island of San Miguel. Dr. Yarrow also informs me that Mr. Bowers states 

 that ho has found fragments of pottery at four places on the mainland, at one of which, a burial-place 

 on the Santa Inez River, he also obtained "a round vessel with a somewhat flattened bottom, which 

 would hold about a gallon." The "hunting-whistle of baked clay" found by Mr. Bowers, and the 

 "spindle- wheel of pottery" mentioned by Mr. Powers, are so decidedly Mexican in character as to lead 

 me to the belief that they were originally from that country. As we know from the statements in the 

 narrative of Cabrillo's voyage, and from other evidence, that the Indians of the coast had intercourse 

 with tho tribes of the interior, small articles of pottery may have been obtained by barter with them, 

 but, as stated in the test, there is not yet sufficient evidence to class the coast tribes as potters. 



Since the above was written a report has gained credence that Mr. Alphonse Pinart, during his 

 explorations on the mainland about Santa Barbara, excavated at a greater depth than the former 

 explorers and found articles of pottery. Should this report be confirmed, and the articles of pottery 

 numerous, it may be necessary to slightly modify the statement in the text so far as to account for the 

 presence of pottery at an early time. If the art ever existed on the coast it was evidently a lost art there 

 at the time of Spanish contact. 



