CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF SOUTHWEST GUATEMALA—McBRYDE 133 
the natives preferring the more easily caught pescaditos (pls. 
22, d, e; 27, c, d). The only other fauna of economic 
significance in or around the Lake are crabs, which are 
numerous and much in demand, being caught by natives of 
only a few of the shore villages (pl. 22, f, g). All of the 
above-mentioned forms of life have been known in the Lake 
since pre-Columbian time. Climatically, the Lake is in a 
border zone between tropical and mesothermal, winter-dry 
(map 6). Chaparral and oak-pine vegetation predominate 
(map 7), and population is generally sparse except in the 
concentrated villages (map 8). 
Quezaltenango-Totonicapan Valley region —The High- 
land Quezaltenango-Totonicapan Valley region ranges around 
2,350 m. (7,710 ft.), 800 m. (2,625 ft.) higher than Lake 
Atitlan. The rather level floor is composed of recent beds 
of pumiceous ash, across which meander the entrenched 
Salama headwaters (pl. 38, a, f). The area is colder and 
drier than the Lake Basin (map 6); short grass predomi- 
nates in the valley (map 7), bunchgrass on upper slopes; 
trees are few, except for pines on the high surrounding 
mountains (Continental Divide range to the north, young 
volcanic cones to the south) ; most of the land is cultivated, 
settlement is dense (pl. 8), yet extensively scattered; inter- 
communication is easy and people travel freely from village 
to village. 
The Lowlands.—The piedmont between Chicacao and 
Retalhuleu, and the Coastal Plain between Mazatenango and 
Tahuesco, constitute the third region of emphasis. Eleva- 
tions here range from 200 to 1,000 m. (656 to 3,280 ft.). 
Physically, this is a region of mainly unconsolidated volcanic 
eruptives and alluvium, traversed by numerous short rivers, 
roughly parallel, flowing from north to south (maps 1-5). 
The climate is tropical, ranging from savanna to monsoon 
(map 6); natural vegetation, open park-savanna to dense, 
lush monsoon forest (map 7). Shrimp and fish both large 
and small, and all of economic significance, are numerous in 
the streams and lagoons, while iguanas abound in the outer 
Lowlands. Plantation settlements prevail, population is mod- 
erately dense in the piedmont and sparse in the Coastal 
Plain (map 8); and accessibility high. 
