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DESCRIPTION OF MOQUI.—THE SERIS, TIBURONES, AND TEPOCAS. 
2. The Moquinos are the most industrious of the many Indian nations that inhabit and hare 
been discovered in that portion of America. They till the earth with great care, and apply to 
all their fields the manures proper for each crop. The same cereals and pulse ( semillas ) are 
raised by them, that are everywhere produced by the civilized population in our provinces. 
They are attentive to their kitchen gardens, and have all the varieties of fruit-bearing trees it 
has been in their power to procure. The peach-tree yields abundantly. The coarse clothing 
worn by them, they make in their looms. They are a people jealous of their freedom; but 
they do no injury to the Spaniards who travel to their towns, although they are ever careful that 
they soon pass out from them. 
3. The towns are built with great regularity, the streets are Avide, and the dwellings one or 
two stories high. In the construction of them, they raise a wall about a j^ard and a half above 
the pave of the street, on a level with the top of which is the terrace and floor of the lower 
story, to which the owners ascend by a wooden ladder, which they rest thereon, and remove as 
often as they desire to go up or down. On the terrace, upon which all the doors of the lower 
story open, is a ladder whereby to ascend to the upper story, which is divided into a hall and 
two or three rooms; and on that terrace is another ladder, with which to ascend to the roof, or 
to another story, should there be one. 
4. The town is governed by a cacique; and for the defence of it, the inhabitants make com¬ 
mon cause. The people are of a lighter complexion than other Indians; their dress differs but 
little from that Avorn by the Spanish-Americans of those remote provinces, and the fashion of 
their horse trappings is the same. They use the lance and the bow and arrows. 
5. The women dress in a Avoven tunic without sleeves, and in a black, white, or colored shawl, 
formed like a mantilla. The tunic is confined by a sash, that is usually of many tints; they 
make no use of beads or ear-rings. The aged women wear the hair divided into two braids, 
and the young in a knot over each ear. They are fond of dancing, which is their frequent 
diversion. For it, there is no other music than that produced by striking Avith tAvo little sticks 
on a hollowed block, and from a kind of small pastoral flute. At the assemblages, which 
are the occasions of the greatest display, there is not a Moqui, of either sex, whose head is not 
ornamented with beautiful feathers. 
OF THE SERIS, TIBURONES, AND TEPOCAS. 
1. The Seri Indians live towards the coast of Sonora, on the famous Cerro Prieto, and in its 
immediate neighborhood. They are cruel and sanguinary, and at one time formed a numerous 
band, Avhich committed many excesses in that rich province. With their poisoned shafts they 
took the lives of many thousand inhabitants, and rendered unavailing the expedition that Avas 
set on foot against them from Mexico. At this time they are reduced to a small number; have, 
on many occasions, been successfully encountered by our troops; and are kept Avithin bounds by 
the vigilance of the three posts ( 'presidios ) established for the purpose. None of their customs 
approach, at all, to those of civilization; and their notions of religion and marriage exist under 
barbarous forms, such as have before been described in treating of the most savage nations. 
2. The Tiburon* and Tepoca Indians are a more numerous tribe, and Avortliy of greater 
consideration than the Seris; but their bloodthirsty disposition and their customs are the same. 
They ordinarily live on the island of Tiburon, which is connected with the coast of Sonora by 
a narrow inundated isthmus, over which they pass by swimming when the tide is up, and when 
it is down, by wading, as the Avater then only reaches to the waist, or not so high. They come 
on to the continent, over which they make their incursions, and, after the commission of rob¬ 
beries, they return to the island ; on which account, no punishment usually folloAvs their temerity. 
It is now twenty-three or tAventy-four years since the plan Avas approved by his Majesty, and 
ordered to be carried out, of destroying them on their island; but, until the present season, no 
<s The Spanish word for shark. 
