466 
URES TO 
My attentive friends here, particularly Don Fran- 
cisco Yelasco, to whom I feel under great obligations, 
were quite desirous to know my opinion respecting 
the Ceris tribe and their language ; but it was impos- 
sible for me, without a close philological comparison 
with other Indian languages, to arrive at any correct 
conclusion as to whether this people are allied or not 
to other aboriginal tribes. This curiosity arose from a 
notion, which I found to prevail in many parts of So- 
nora, that the Ceris were of Asiatic origin, in proof of 
which, some statements were made too improbable to 
repeat. This idea seems to have originated from the 
resemblance between their name and that given by the 
ancients to the Chinese. 
Hermosillo is the modern name for the old presidio 
of Pitic, which belonged to the company of Horcasi- 
tas. It is thirty leagues distant from the nearest point 
of the shores of the Californian gulf, and thirty-six 
leagues from the port of Guaymas, which lies nearly 
south. It is by far the largest and finest city in the 
State. In 1840, its population was 13,665, including 
about 2000 Yaqui Indians, who are the laborers of the 
town and dependent upon it. It was believed to con- 
tain 4000 more in 1845, when the essay was written 
from which I have obtained these facts. It has a large 
trade with Guaymas ; from there it receives all its 
goods, which are distributed from Hermosillo through- 
out the State ; and in return, the products of the State 
are ehiefly concentrated here for transportation to that 
^ Noticias estadisticas del Estado de Sonora, par Jos6 Francisco 
Velasco. Mexico^ 1850. 
