122 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 4 
tensive vegetable garden culture (see maps 21, 23), 
which was first studied and described in detail, at 
Solola, in 1932 (McBryde, 1933, pp. 109 ff.). A 
great number of mountain streams, easily diverted, 
supply the needs of irrigation throughout this area, 
which lies within the optimum elevation limits for 
vegetables (1,500-2,200 m., or 4,921-7,218 ft.). 
Almost all of the numerous springs along the steep 
north slopes supply irrigation water to gardens. The 
“tablén culture” (see p. 30) area includes most of 
the municipios of Solola, Panajachel, Concepcion, 
much of San José Chacaya, and a part of southern 
Chichicastenango, adjacent to Solola. In several 
Lake shore villages besides Panajachel, tabldnes, 
mainly planted to onions and cabbages, are cultivated 
on a small scale. 
San Jorge.—The economy of San Jorge, based 
largely upon irrigated vegetable and flower gardens, 
is very similar to that of Solola, of which it is an 
aldea (pl. 12, d). Citrus fruits and jocotes are of 
high quality in San Jorge, since it is near the upper 
elevation limits of their production. San Jorge In- 
dians are also the traditional panela merchants for 
Solola. Though they still retail panela on a large 
scale in the Solola market, they lost their old busi- 
ness of carrying the wholesale panela shipments on 
foot between the Tzanjuyt boat pier and Solola. 
Since the completion of the highway in 1926 it has 
nearly all gone by truck. I was told in 1932 that 
the Jorgefios were still disgruntled about it. At 
that time, agents in Solola received about 160 tons 
of panela a month in addition to about 55 tons a 
month used in the Government-controlled aguardi- 
ente (rum) industry in Solola. Intermediate loca- 
tion on the portion of the Lowland—Highland trade 
route extending between Solola and the Lake once 
was basic to San Jorge’s supplementary occupation of 
transshipping panela, and to some extent this is stil] 
the case. 
The Jorgefios rely now, however, mainly on garden 
culture and finca labor to supplement the products of 
their fields. Besides their tablénes in San Jorge, a 
considerable tract of Lake front vegetable gardens in 
Panajachel was pointed out to me as being owned by 
San Jorge Indians, who come down to the delta to 
cultivate them. Tax recorded 75,000 sq. m. of “for- 
eign-Indian” property (delta) mostly owned by 
Jorgefios in Panajachel. 
San Jorge Indians are almost indistinguishable in 
dress and general appearance from those of Solola, 
Concepcion, and San José Chacaya, all of which 
differ considerably from those of Panajachel (pl. 6). 
Of San Jorge, Francisco Vazquez writes (about 
1675?) that it occupied “twenty years ago” a sandy 
plain, and that it was “destroyed by a flood.” I am 
certain that this was the delta of the Quizcap, where 
tradition still holds that there was an important mar- 
ket “long ago,” and from which the Finca Jaibal 
(caibal means market place in Cakchiquel, Quiché, and 
several other Guatemala Indian languages) was wiped 
away by the great flood of October 1881. The 
finca was rebuilt on higher ground, where it still 
stands. Ponce’s companions described in 1586 the 
old site of San Jorge as a “good distance” from the 
Lake shore (Ponce, 1873, vol. 1, p. 443), so that it 
was probably built well back to avoid Lake flooding, 
but was exposed to overflows of the Rio Quixcap 
(pls. 10, c; 45, f). 
Panajachel: village of tablénes (maps 20, 23; 
pls. 19; 20; 46, a, b).—Panajachel’®* is the most 
important garden center on Lake Atitlan. The 
lower Panajachel River delta,!®® parts of it subject 
to periodic flooding, is nearly covered with scattered 
Indian houses (all except the tourist-hotel section of 
the west corner) and most of this premium land is 
carefully gardened. The river furnishes ample water 
for the network of diversion ditches used for irrigat- 
ing the fertilized 7 tablénes, or plots (map 23; pl. 
20). So inclined are the Panajachelefios to garden- 
ing that even a great amount of corn (unirrigated) 
and some beans are planted in these delta gardens. 
Coffee, mainly in small non-Indian fincas, occupies 
most of what is not gardened. The chief money 
crops are onions and garlic, though there are many 
vegetables of various sorts produced, as well as 
fruits (p. 31).  Pepinos are especially prominent 
from March to July (the harvest months). I was told 
that Solola Indian merchants come down and buy 
onions by the tablén. Both onions and garlic are sold 
in quantity to itinerant merchants in the Panajachel 
plaza. The steep slopes are planted largely to milpa, 
wherever possible, yet the corn produced here is not 
enough to meet local needs. There is practically 
no fishing, and finca labor, as well as industrial pur- 
165 Sol Tax, Carnegie Institution ethnologist, has made a detailed 
study of this community. Other villages of the Lake where he has 
worked intensively are San Marcos and Santa Catarina Palopé. He 
has spent much time also at Santo Tomas Chichicastenango. 
168 T made a physical and economic map of this delta (map 23) in 
September 1936; Tax mapped it, even to land ownership and tenure, 
during the preceding dry season. 
170 These are fertilized mainly with leaf litter from the cafetales 
(coffee groves), though some animal manure is also used. 
