The fruits of this palm are boiled in water until the 
shell comes off. The mass is then worked with the hands 
and the corn sweet (e ti hua) added. This mixture is 
again boiled and broken up with the hands, after which 
it is strained through a sieve. After standing in pots for 
two days it is ready to be drunk. Natives claim that this 
chicha is stronger than that made from maize alone. 
Chicha made from the palm fruits alone without adding 
the corn sweet is weaker and is seldom prepared. 
On the western margin of the Bolivian Chaco near 
Camiri and Lagunillas, the Chiriguano Indians make 
chicha by simply mixing boiled and masticated grains of 
maize with hot water and allowing this to ferment. In 
Santa Cruz, plain ground corn is sometimes mixed with 
hot water and left to ferment. This makes a weak chicha 
which must be consumed as soon as it has fermented. 
According to Métraux (1946), the Indians near the Pil- 
comayo River in the Chaco of Bolivia and Paraguay use 
the fruits of algarroba (Prosopis spp.), chanar (Gourliea 
spinosa (Mol.) Skeels), and tusca (Acacia aroma Gill.) 
in the preparation of alcoholic drinks. These fruits, par- 
ticularly algarroba, are usually masticated as a prelim- 
inary step in the process. 
These observations on the manufacture of chicha in 
Bolivia are presented as introductory material to a pos- 
sible future study of native American beverages. A com- 
plete report on the manufacture and use of such beverages 
together with their associated ceremonies and supersti- 
tions would yield valuable information as to the spread 
of food plants and customs. Before such a study can be 
made, however, it will be necessary for the student to go 
into the field and collect his own data, since the infor- 
mation available in the literature, and even in the note- 
books of ethnologists, will not suffice for more than the 
roughest of outlines. 
[ 59 | 
