In 1850, Don Diego Lavandera transmitted to the Mexican Society of Geography and Statistics, through the hands of Señor José F. Ramirez, certain documents, accompanied by a note to the effect that “The tribe of the Seris speak Arabic, and it is understood by the Moors at the first interview”—this note merely expressing a prevailing current opinion. Undertaking to test the opinion, Señor Ramirez sent to Lavandera, in Sonora, a number of words in three Arabic dialects, at the same time asking for the Seri equivalents; and the inquiry yielded a Seri vocabulary (probably the first ever printed) of eleven words. Of these none show the slightest affinity with the Arabic dialects; at least four (horse, chamber, population, wine) express concepts alien to the Seri; and only three or four can be identified with Seri terms recorded in later vocabularies. No reference is made to Señor Lavandera’s aboriginal informant; but there is a strong presumption that it was the official interpreter at Hermosillo and Pueblo Seri—a presumption warranted by coincident historical records and statements of contemporaries still living, to the effect (1) that an official interpreter was there then and for a long time later, (2) that neither then nor later were there other Seri representatives able to furnish vocabularies at Hermosillo, Pueblo Seri, or other towns, and (3) that at that time (as at most others) the relations between the Seri and the whites were such as to prevent amicable communication through casual meeting or otherwise. Proceeding with his discussion, Señor Ramirez sought to correct the allegation of Abbé Hervas that “in the mission of Belen live three nations, called Hiaqui, Seri, and Guaima, who speak _three different languages_.” After quoting a Jesuit manuscript of July, 1730, reporting that “the language of the Seris is the same as that of the Guaimas”, he added a significant statement contained in a manuscript report from the Bishop of Sonora, directed to Don José de Galvez, under date of September 20, 1784, concerning the mission of Belen: “Two nations of Indians, Pimas Bajos and Guaimas, live united, the latter having abandoned their pueblo under the continuous assaults of the Seris. The Pimas use their own language.... The Guaimas use their ancient language.” Summarizing the evidence (of course secondhand and derived from the observations and reports of the missionaries), Señor Ramirez held as proved, first, “the existence of two diverse languages at the mission of Belen—that of the Guaimas and that of the Pimas Bajos”; and second, that “the Guaimas and the Seri are the same”.[175] It would appear that Señor Ramirez hardly appreciated the significance of the statement of sixty-four years before that the Guayma were still using their “ancient” language, with the implication that they were acquiring familiarity with the Piman tongue—a familiarity that may well have misled later inquirers.