CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF SOUTHWEST GUATEMALA—McBRYDE 69 
(religious societies) or other esoteric Indian organ- 
izations, for the dances which form a vital part of 
their fiesta celebrations (pl. 17, f). The conquistador 
dance, in which the participants dress like the Spanish 
conquerors and dance in the open, to the accompani- 
ment of drum, fife, and marimba, is the most wide- 
spread and best-known ceremonial (pl. 17, g). Since 
the fiestas come at different times for the various 
villages (the fiesta titular, for example, on the day of 
the patron saint after whom the settlement is named), 
the costumes and masks are taken to various parts 
of the country at different seasons, constituting color- 
ful cargoes on the trail, and bringing a handsome rev- 
enue to their owners. 
LUMBER 
(Map 18) 
It is common to see as many as 25 Totonicapenos 
and 8 Nahualefios!®§ in small groups on the road to 
Quezaltenango, carrying six white pine boards, 
usually about 1 by 10 inches and 8 feet long, or four 
beams, 3 by 3 inches and 12 feet long. Always loaded 
crosswise on the back, they make an unwieldy burden. 
Many of the Totonicapefios also have mules (often 
15 or 20 in all) loaded with six boards on each side. 
This hewn lumber is sold mainly to Quezaltenango 
carpenters, who depend upon these sources for their 
construction wood. Good stands of large white pine 
are still to be found in the high mountains between 
Totonicapan and Nahuala. 
FURNITURE 
(Map 18) 
Carpenters of Totonicapan (Argueta in particular) 
fashion chests, chairs, tables, beds, carrying frames 
(cacastes) and other articles of furniture from the 
soft pine which abounds at those high altitudes. The 
chests are generally painted red and yellow (some- 
times black), and they may be covered with geometric 
designs made by scraping the wet red paint off the 
dried yellow surface underneath. (For diagram illus- 
trating this negative technique, see Lemos, 1941, p. 
35). They appear in many markets throughout South- 
western Guatemala, especially during fiestas, and are 
essential to most Indian households. Textiles and 
clothing in particular are stored in them. Various 
items of furniture are generally to be seen for sale by 
Totonicapan merchants in Quezaltenango, San Fran- 
cisco el Alto, and often Solola and Chichicastenango. 
1°8 Counts were made for most days between July 25 and August 15, 
1936. 
The most widely disseminated articles are chairs, 
which are taken periodically by Totonicapan (espe- 
cially Argueta) merchants going as far as Guatemala 
City. Mules are frequently used to transport them, 
but men generally carry large loads themselves. 
ROPES 
(Map 17) 
The four principal sources of supply of maguey 
(agave or Furcraea sp.) fiber goods to South- 
west Guatemala are, in order of importance, the 
Coban area (San Cristobal), the western shores of 
Lake Atitlan (San Pedro—San Juan—Pablo), Comi- 
tancillo, and Colotenango (map 17). Though ropes 
are the most important and widely sold sisal products, 
cargo nets (especially for corn ears), cinches, halters, 
hammocks, carrying-bags (morrales), and other ar- 
ticles are also sold by rope workers. In San Juan, 
relatively more of these seem to be made. Merchants 
in the markets may sell rope work alone or combined 
with hats, baskets, or miscellaneous goods. 
My study of the rope industry was confined to San 
Pedro la Laguna, which may be taken as illustrative 
of Lake Atitlan techniques in general, though the 
notes here refer strictly only to San Pedro.1°® The 
large-sized ropes (sogas, usually about 54 of an inch 
in diameter and 22 ft. long) sold in great quantities, 
especially in grazing areas, for leading horses and 
cattle, are made in the following manner. Maguey 
leaves are cut from the abundant plants growing on 
the lava slopes and put to soak along the edge of the 
lake, weighted by large stones and protected from 
wave disturbance by stake enclosures. After 2 weeks 
in the water to soften the flesh, they are taken out, 
laid on a board, and one at a time rasped with flat, 
oarlike paddles, pressed down and forward (pl. 26, 
d). Sometimes the scraping process is preceded by 
pounding with a heavy wooden implement used like 
a pestle. The fleshy part of the leaf is thus removed, 
leaving only the tough, white fiber. Sometimes 
freshly cut leaves are scraped, but as a rule they are 
soaked first. 
The apparatus used in making ropes consists of a 
simple wooden spinner (usually of oak) made in two 
parts: (1) The flat rotary piece about 10 by 11%4 
by % inch, tapered and notched at one end for attach- 
ment of the fiber, with a hole not over an inch in 
from the notch; and (2) a stick handle, about 10 
inches long and one-half inch in diameter, which 
10 For a brief description of ropemaking at San Pablo, see also 
Lothrop, 1929, p. 2. 
