CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF SOUTHWEST GUATEMALA—McBRYDE 39 
- for occasional purchases by Indians from neighboring 
villages. 
Chiché is probably the most important weekly live- 
stock market of the entire Southwest, not only for 
smaller animals as at San Francisco, but also for 
cattle, horses, and mules. Of all these, little pigs 
are most numerous, and are sold by more individuals. 
Great numbers of them are driven from the Chiché 
market to and beyond the Lake Atitlan region. Many 
are sold in Chichicastenango, Solola, Santiago, and 
as far as Santo Tomas la Unioén and Chocola, in the 
piedmont. To Santiago go Indian men of Quiché, 
usually two at a time, driving about 50 pigs, mostly 
young ones, and Ladinos of Chinique also in two’s, 
with a comparable number of pigs. Trips are made 
at intervals of 2 weeks or so, and the animals, being 
much in demand, are generally all sold in 2 days. 
Full-grown, fattened pigs are driven in various 
parts of the region, generally from lower to higher 
elevations. From Santiago to Solola, for slaughter, 
they are driven up the trail in little herds of 10 or so, 
after they have been transported across the lake in 
dugout canoes manned by Atitecos. Medium-sized 
to large pigs, generally not very fat (at least when 
they reach their destinations), are brought into the 
Quezaltenango animal market (La Democracia) 
every few days, from such distant places, I was told, 
as Jacaltenango, Soloma, and Huehuetenango, in the 
Department of the latter name, and from Cotzal and 
Chajul, in the Department of Quiché. In most of 
these instances, unlike those of the Solola region, 
there is little altitudinal difference between the places 
where the pigs were raised and their destination, 
Quezaltenango. The long-distance trade is apparently 
a result merely of the greater size and importance 
of the latter market. On one occasion I saw 35 large 
pigs on the road between Olintepeque and Quezalte- 
nango, headed for the latter town. Most of them, 
especially the larger ones, were equipped with raw- 
hide sandals to protect their feet from the wear of 
8 days of walking on mountain trails. They had 
come from Soloma, about 70 miles (113 km.) to 
the north, across the high Cuchumatanes Mountains, 
and were driven by two men of that municipio. 
FOWLS 
Chickens and a few ducks and turkeys are com- 
monly kept, mostly for eggs and for home consump- 
tion, with a small surplus for the market. Whitish 
and light brownish turkeys are more often seen than 
the usual darker brown North American types (pl. 
13, b). Most chickens are degenerate crosses. Native 
Muscovy ducks (Cairina moschata) are the common 
type. 
UNDOMESTICATED FOOD ANIMALS 
IGUANAS 
Hunting, fishing, and crabbing activities at Lake 
Atitlan will be described in later sections (pp. 120, 
124). The Lenten importance of non-“flesh” animal 
foods is so great in this Roman Catholic region that 
every source of the desired goods is fully exploited. 
Foremost among these (except for fish) is the iguana, 
a large fierce-looking, but quite shy and innocuous, 
terrestrial-arboreal lizard. 
A great number of early colonial chronicles and 
natural histories dwell upon the iguana at consider- 
able length, many of them including quaint, but 
realistic illustrations. To the early Spaniards this 
reptile was new, and his fierce mien arrested their 
attention; more important, he provided a source of 
animal food during Lent, a fare approved by the 
Church. That the non-“‘flesh” classification of 
iguanas was early may be seen from the account of 
Ponce’s late 16th-century travels, wherein (Ponce, 
1873, vol. 1, p. 379-380) it is stated that since the 
Conquest of Yucatan, “iguanas, though they live on 
land, are eaten on Friday, during Lent, and on other 
days when meat is not eaten.” The same author 
(p. 378) characterized iguana as “‘tender and good 
to eat,” and such comments regarding it were fre- 
quently made in the early literature of New Spain. 
Iguanas are extensively caught for food along the 
Pacific Coastal Lowlands. The reptiles appear in 
greatest numbers in the outer part of the plain, but 
behind the littoral. They are captured by dwellers 
of the piedmont towns and villages, who go out on 
trips of several days’ duration into the wooded, un- 
inhabited sections of the outer Lowlands during the 
laying season. This is between the middle of Jan- 
uary and the middle of March and generally includes 
much of the Lenten period. When iguanas are lay- 
ing they are easily captured, partly because they seek 
sandy tracts, often removed from the protection of 
their high tree refuges, and partly because the egg- 
laden females are incapable of rapid movement. Con- 
sequently, many of the iguanas sold in the markets 
are bulging with eggs, a condition which makes them 
more in demand, for the eggs (iguaxtes) are regarded 
as special delicacies. 
Ordinarily the reptiles are sold in the markets 
alive. Hundreds of them are to be seen in the plazas 
of the larger centers along the piedmont, such as 
Mazatenango and Escuintla, and they are sold on a 
