CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF SOUTHWEST GUATEMALA—McBRYDE 57 
anything in them, employing cargo frames and sacks 
for this purpose. Usually, they spread their wares 
on the ground, on a cloth or mat (pls. 4, e; 14). 
Open baskets are also used as measures in the market, 
as balance scales, and for fishing (small fish driven 
into baskets). Since most Indian women do not 
wear hats, they sometimes invert open baskets on 
their heads to shelter them from the high midday 
sun (frontispiece ). 
TREE CALABASHES (JICARAS) 
The round or oblong, hard-shelled fruits of the 
calabash tree or jicaro (Crescentia cujete) and morro 
(C. alata) have been prized since ancient times as 
drinking vessels, especially for chocolate (modern 
Span. jicara = “chocolate cup”). Oviedo described 
fine cups of higueras in Darien that had handles of 
gold, “fit to offer to any mighty king to drink out of 
without reproach.’’ They had come in trade, largely 
from Nicaragua, which was a producing area of great 
importance (op. cit., vol. 1, p. 296). Though Oviedo 
describes tree calabashes holding a gallon, the aver- 
age size of those used today in Guatemala is of a 
capacity between one-half and 1 pint. 
The distribution of Crescentia in Guatemala is 
determined primarily by climatic conditions. The 
tree thrives best in a hot, dry or semidry climate, 
such as the tropical savanna of the Pacific Coastal 
Plain, from southern Mexico through Central 
America. It is abundant also in deep, interior val- 
leys and basins, like those of Rabinal, Cubulco, and 
Salama (maps 6, 7). 
The elaboration of jicaras is a speciality of Rabinal, 
which is probably the only place where they are made 
in Guatemala. Izalco, an Indian community near 
Guatemala, in El Salvador, is the center of manu- 
facture in that country. There the tree is called 
guacal. 
The preparation of the common type of black 
jicara consists ordinarily in (1) polishing the calabash 
by wetting it and scouring it, usually with a rough 
leaf, such as an alder; (2) smearing it with a yellow- 
ish waxy substance obtained by boiling a scale insect 
(Llaveia axin) ; (3) applying soot, from smudges of 
pitch pine, and polishing the surface with a cloth; 
and (4) decorating the receptacle with incised de- 
signs made by rotating the jicara in one hand and 
pressing a metal carving tool against it with the other 
(pl. 43). These traceries often include conventional- 
ized flowers, birds, and animals, and they may be col- 
cored or left as white lines. (For fuller discussion of 
this topic, see McBryde, 1943.) Jicaras may be carved 
without being blackened, and most of those sold in 
the markets are uncolored and uncarved. In addi- 
tion to the larger sizes, smaller receptacles, toys, and 
rattles are fashioned of jicaras, usually dyed, elabo- 
rately incised, and colored. 
Ordinarily, it is the oblong calabashes which are 
dyed, one end having been cut off so as to form a 
very deep vessel. The large, round or ovoid morros 
are cut in half and used as bowls. Sometimes these 
are painted inside and out with crude figures and de- 
signs. This work was said to be done chiefly in An- 
tigua for the tourist trade (1936). 
For an exhaustive treatise on jicaras, especially the 
etymology of the word, see Kiddle (1944). 
FOODSTUFFS 
Bread.—Since wheat is an introduced crop, all 
types of bread made from it may be considered as 
exotic, having been brought in by the Spaniards. As 
pointed out earlier, locally grown wheat is milled 
in the principal towns of the Highlands, and sold ~ 
as flour to stores and bakeries. In the Lowlands, 
bread is made in the larger towns, mostly by Ladino 
bakers. Bread, as an Indian product commonly sold 
in the markets, is made in important quantities (for 
export to other municipios) in the following centers : 
Santa Lucia Utatlan, Nahuala, Argueta, Totonicapan, 
San Cristobal Totonicapan, San Francisco el Alto, 
Santa Maria Chiquimula, Santo Tomas Chichicaste- 
nango, Quezaltenango, San Pedro Sacatepequez (La 
Union, San Marcos) (map 9). It is usually baked 
in the form of buns of several sorts: pan Francés 
(4-inch, oblong) without eggs; pan dulce (4-inch, 
round, flat) with eggs, often slightly sweetened; 
small (1-2 inch), ring-shaped panes dulces called 
“rosquitos,’ commonly sold by itinerant Ma-ejios ; 
and occasionally a larger loaf, Xaca, flat and round, 
said to be made of whole wheat, and very dark owing 
to the panela (brown sugar) used. It is a specialty 
of Santa Maria Chiquimula (some made also in San 
Francisco el Alto) and sold in markets of that region. 
Bread is a luxury item among the Indians, however, 
consumed mostly during fiestas. 
Cheese.—Outside of the capital, and a few other 
large towns, the only cheese extensively manufac- 
tured is a rather dry, unseasoned white variety made 
of cow’s milk, in much the same manner that cottage 
cheese is prepared. Sour milk to which hot water 
has been added is strained in a cloth until most of 
the whey has dripped off. Then the curd is molded 
