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Show IcSRilmiMTiymlMi y-M III-: Kerl are a dls- II tlnctlve tribe In II habits, customs - and language from n -Jr,u- a" otnr Norlb (( JM American Indians, i Y have been known ' Vv fJvM for considerable ' ..J"""" Icana and Amer- 3Vi. icana, they have re-! re-! maltied unconquer- ! ed and uncivilized up to the present pres-ent time, llburon Island, which ' Is their real home. lies close to ! the coast of Honors, Mexico, In ' the tJulf of California, and Is sep-1 sep-1 arated from the mainland by a narrow strip of sea called 1 In- liernillo, so named because of the i turbulent v.uter nd dangerous rapids that flow between. It Is some thirty miles beautiful, and the fresh verdure soon fades to the neutral tints ci Its accustomed hopeless aridity. A few words must be said about the fauna Tlburon island Is so named because of the Immense number of sharks that swarm the ' sea surrounding It Fearl oysters are found near the Punta Tepopa. but the warlike character of the fieri has prevented any fishery from being established there There are many porpoises and Immense Im-mense numbers of green turtles, while sea-birds of all kinds abound. As regards mammals, there are said to be some sheep In the fieri mountains; but I very much doubt If they descend so far south, but there are one or two scattered bands of antelope and a few doer. To counterbalance this lack of big game, there are thousands of black backed rattlesnakes, side- A7A2AfJ winders. 0 1 1 a i - i , monsters (HIIo- ' ' ' derma horrldum), " .1: 1 V horned toads and - , -CrT"''' ' nts. Hut In trav-J trav-J 'Vry Pl'ng through the ?1 VV country there is 'A. V'JV ,ltUe llfe t0 b' Y f TV-' ' seen except an ft V t : 1 occasional turkey V 1 V7 ''' ' V bustard or a coy- f ; ote .Unking ' ';'U 1 through the cac t V tus. The whole 'J? ,'. ;-, -vM country Is deso ii 'rX rS J and forbld' i f ! ' U ding. Here and M -v'ViJ there are clusters i (--s WJ of ruined buts. I I A. IV sadly reminding I i I vtVii that the fieri I WtfrjX l were once numer ,V ;.s . faBt dying out ' lf , ..- Sp Day by day the f! I Jr sun Pn ,n a I , t 1 blinding splendor L f y V-i! over the pUIni i it'-l over tbe"" V.? ' deserted homes. Axf ' and venlngf.b, r -"- fTnC,'yV . evening the after- M f?Z' 'C ,.; Rlow lay. It long JU-TJ. YV'V-: Anger, of rose sX; -.-r, .nd amethyst J-XLal W I VJ over the land scape, transform- Wfff J 40 XVCe lng the scene for a moment Into evanescent beauty till night wraps It softly In a pall of velvet black oblivion. HE 8AVEO THREE 8TATE8. Result of a Stormy Meeting In Oregon Territory 1. 1 041 long from north to n south and approxl- I mately twenty miles across at the widest W"t part. Due east XstT T across the straits In TJZlt Honor. Is a limited I"TT! . strip of land. In 1 .'T-V5r1 which are situated I tHsi V V tho fieri mountains, SjpX X and here also are I V lA '" :aM found a few sea'- I Y'f tered families be- 1 Ajf 1 longing to the snmo I fjtfj tribe. The whole of 1 lfvlt' their country Is rug- f .l s" -J ged and desolate In TV . tho extreme, con- V 'UiAatA - 'L slstlng chiefly of 1 l- rLTTA desert sand and - SZSL naked mountain rock, with permanent fresh water In one or two-place, two-place, only. Separated from the rest of fionora by an almost Impassable desert, and containing nothing to excite the Interest or cupidity of tho prospector or Mexican, It has remained unexplored unex-plored and unvlslted until quite recent times. Though In the surrounding country there are tunny traces o' no ancient civilization, in fierlland Itself there s j no remains nor any evidence to show that any other race, markedly dimlnct either In habits or customs from Its present Inhabitants, In-habitants, had ever made their home there Hence it may bo assumed that the fieri did not migrate to this part of the world, but are Indl genous to the land. The fieri Indians ore physically physi-cally a fine race, rather above the medium helht, though somewhat slightly made. They are very dark, with long, coarse hair, but when young are by no means ugly. They have low, quiet voices, nnd their language Is much more melodious than that of the Yuma or Papago Indians. Their clothing cloth-ing Is somewhat unusual, for they wear a kind of robe of pelican skins over a short kilt or skirt. These pelican rugs are beautifully made of between be-tween tour and eight skins sewn together with sinew, or deerskin, and are used as bedding at night. Their belts are. of woven human hair or vegetable fiber, though snake and lizard skins are also used for the same purpose. The arms, bust, legs and feet are usually bare. When It Is remembered that these people own no domestic animals of any kind, except dogs that are really coyotes, and do not cultivate or till the land at all. It will he seen that they have to depend entirely en-tirely on hunting to supply them with dress and food. Pelicans are found literally by the thousand, thou-sand, especially round the little lela Tassne, and provide the Indiana with amply sufficient material mate-rial to make all the clothing and blankets the sro likely to need In that hot and almost rainless climate. As regards food, they subsist chiefly on turtles, fish, molluscs and waterfowl, hlch are eaten raw and during the proper seasons they feed on the fruits of the various cacti and mes-qiilte mes-qiilte besns which grow fairly plentifully In the HcH mountains. Scattered over the greater portion por-tion of the Island .re charred oyster shells, which show that they are very partial to this form of food, and that they use fire to open shell flh of sll kinds, as they do not possess any knives. They catch the turtles by hsrpoonlng them with a very primitive kind of Siesr; the latter Is made In two part, connected by fiber rope, to the front one of which a rough point of hardened wood, stone, or. If possible. Iron. Is attached As soon as thy see a turtle they approach noiselessly noise-lessly from behind and thrust the spear thrnuch the shell. The front portion of the spear remains In the animal, but the turtle cannot escape because be-cause of the rope, and It Is soon towed to the shore and there broken open, when it Is roasted cr eaten raw. Fish, which abound In these waters, wa-ters, are caufht by means of a fiber line and primitive book, the latter being very often made from a thorn or piece f bone, thoush sometimes the larger kinds of fish are killed with a bow snd arrow, a weapon much In use among the Serl Their huts are of the most primitive description, being made merely of dried brushwood and roofed with turtle shells and sponges They afford some slight shelter from the sun. which Is their main purpose, for the beat Is always Intense the year round, and I suppose that there are few hotter plscea on earth. The foregoing facts are sufficient to msrk th Perl as very distinct from other North Amerlcsi Indians; but there ar many other curious and peculiar custom, which they da not share with any other tribes. Their rellslon Is exceedingly Interesting, thongh somewhat obscure, and the local character of their gods Is convincing proof of their long residence tn that locality. Their chief deity, for Instance, Is the "Ancient of Pelicans." Peli-cans." a mythical bird of marvelous wisdom and melodious song, and their lesser gods are supernatural super-natural beings In similar familiar forms. Kverv year, before starting out on their annual expedition, expedi-tion, to gather fruit of the cacti, they hold their one Important rHIslou. festival, at which they make many ceremonial offerlnss In order that the supply may be plentiful. Their dead are burte tn their most elaborate garments, with their weapons beside them ander a mound of stones The graves are to be seen .11 over the 8-rl country, and bear eloquent, if .Kent, testimony to the valiant defense they have made aeslnst heir enemies; for of the several thousand Serl Indian, that were known to exist some thirty year ago. thero are but three hundred and seventy sev-enty five left now. of which not more than seventy seven-ty two are adult male Tho country is no less anasnal than Its inhabitant., in-habitant., for It coo tains many remarkable tra tad elaata. It would bo natural to suppose that. V jew f -JjfK ft S-jksii y Jit' jrj practically no rain, vtgeta-r vtgeta-r ttjetr tlon would be very scarce. and the term "desert" generally gen-erally convey, tho Idea of largo .and plains devoid of all plant growth to those who have not seen them. Put this Is quite a wrong impression, for there Is ' hardly a square mile any hero In fierlland where some kind of tree or cactus cannot be found, though there may not be any water for miles arounti. This fact makes the botany of this region a most interesting study, for If the vegetation were not provided with spe clal means of obtaining and storing water, it could not survive. All tho trees and plants are perennials and have enormously long roots. The mesqulte tree (Prosopls Jullflora) and the palo-verde palo-verde ( Parklnsonla torreyana) are the most common, com-mon, and the former bear, a kind of fruit or bean, which the Indians grind Into corn. I remember re-member once when traveling In the "Malpals" of Sonora 1 was obliged to rely for a whole month on these mesqulte beans alone to feed my horses and park animals, for grasls practically absent on these plains except for a very coarse variety called "galleta" by the natives, which Is sometimes some-times found in small patches. It say. much for the nutritive value of tho mesqulte bean that I lost none of my snlmals, and only one mule seemed to be suffering towards the end of the time. Most of the low lying country Is covered with the Sonorsn grease-wood (larrea trlden-lata), trlden-lata), a small green bnfh of no value at all; but It Is ubiquitous throughout Sonora. except in the mountains. Hut the really characteristic plant In Serlland Is the cactus, which abounds In a variety of forms. They all have very long roots, some of which descend thirty feet to fifty feet to reach water. The stem Itself Is formed of pulp, thst crows round a wooden core, and this serves as storehouse for the water they obtain, while they are covered with a kind of glaxed epidermis to prevent evaporation, and are fur nlshed with thorns, which effectually prevent animals from feeding on hem. The "saguarro" or giant cactus (Cereus glganteusl Is the most Imposing, r!lng often to a height of fifty or sixty feet. It may be seen In vast number, over the plains and on the loser part of the mountain sit pes. and it assumes an endless variety of shspes rsnnlng from the slnjle straight atem to when they are In flower, for at the end of each those, centstnlng fifteen or twenty arms To those who see them for the first time they certainly cer-tainly present remarkable night, especially when ihey are in flower, for at the end of each branch they bear a wreath or crown of fragrant yellow, rose or purple flowers No less unusual are the organ plge cactus, or "plthahaya" (Cerous shot-tl. shot-tl. They grow In clumps of eighteen or twenty stems, and reach a height of fifteen feet to twenty feet A rarer csctua Is the blsnaga. smaller form of th ssgiiarro; but It has one peculiar pe-culiar quality, which makes it very valuable both to the Indians nd to travelers In the country, for It is the only plant from which water fit to drink msv be obtslned The best way Is to cut off the top end to crnh the pulp within with a plere of wood cr stone. Two to four pints of water ran then be scooped ont with a cup. the amount depending en th sixe of the plant Except Ex-cept for a rather sickly taste. th wster Is not unpleasant. There Is another ueusual plant also found In this rrrlon tbe "ocotlllo" (Fouquler. spln-denst. spln-denst. This remarkable shrub which sometimes attains a beltht of fifteen feet. Is composed of a nnmber of lg. thin branches, rovered with thorns, and bears the most brilliant- scarlet fowera Once earn year, just after the short summer rsins, the countrv wskea from Its long drought to belated spring Oay-colorM flowers nod among the rocks, and tbe cactus blossoms relieve tbe otherwlae somber Isndsf.p. Pnt this chsnge tn tho face of tbe country I. a. transient as It I. A few word, of hurried conversation between two French settler, had an important part In deciding tho question whether tho far northweat-ern northweat-ern territory, from which tho atate. of Washington, Washing-ton, Oregon and Idaho were formed, ahould bo-long bo-long to Great Urttatn or the United States. A monument at Champoeg. on the Willamette river, now mark, the spot where thi. interesting episode epi-sode took place. Theodore T. Oeer, formerly governor of Oregon, tells about It In hi. book, "Fifty Year. In r-egon." and quote, from the story of F. X. Matthleu, who aaved the day for the United State., say. tho Youth'. Companion On a cloudy May day In 1843 102 settlers and Hudson Pay trappers, coming from near and far. crowded Into a log building at Champoeg, and held a .stormy meeting. Tho American, .tood for an organized government and acquisition of th. territory by the United States. Tho Hudson Tlay men stood a. firmly opposed, and when a vote was taken It was hard to tell which had won. since a good many on both aide, were crowded about the door, unable to push their way Inside. A division was called for. and to make this possible tho men rushed out to the. little half-acre half-acre field In front of the building. There everybody every-body began gesticulating frantically and discus sing the situation with great excitement "All In favor of the organization follow me!" shouted Joe Meek, tbe famous pioneer and hunter, striding to one side. The Americans followed to a man. A count disclosed the fsct that there were 60 men with Meek and 60 opposed, with two men, both Frenchmen, French-men, between the opposing forces, not taking .Ides and engaged In a very earnest conversation. On of these, Ktlenne Lucler. had been led to bo lleve that heavy taxes would bo levied on all property prop-erty If the Americans organized a government Tbe tsx on a single psne of glass, ho had heard, would be 25 cents. The other. F. X. Matthleu (who Is still living In Oregon), wa. In favor of organization. "Anyway." he said to" hi. countryman, "yoo know you have no window glass In your house yet, and won't have for a long time." (Most of the settlers used skins In place of glass I "What difference will It make? And It Isn't so. anyway " The roapense lasted but a few momenta. Then the two men turned and took their place, with the Americans. While hat. were flying In the air and hand shaking was going on the defeated Hudson Pay men mounted their horse, .nd rode sir, leaving the other party to organize a government gov-ernment and later to establish In that wide territory ter-ritory threw great states of tho American Union. |