CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF SOUTHWEST GUATEMALA—McBRYDE 169 
PLATE 22 
a and b, show the steep, rugged slopes surrounding the 
limited favorable terrain upon which the village is 
built. Most of the many trees are jocotes, especially 
petapa and chicha. The church (lower edge of a, 
near center in b) is at the lowest level of any on 
the Lake, at the water’s edge, according to old resi- 
dents, at the end of the 19th century, when the level 
was about 5,100 feet (it was about 5,080 ft. in 
August 1936, when these pictures were taken). The 
rapid rise of the Lake in 1933 inundated most of 
the rushes, used in the once-important mat craft, 
and about 100 yards of good shore land, Attempts 
are being made to plant rushes for mats, but most 
of them are still bought from other municipios. 
c, There are only about a dozen gardens like this at Santa 
Catarina (1936), having a small fraction of the area 
of those of Panajachel; and 7 of these are worked 
by a man from Panajachel, who rents them for 
onions. The light soil, though good for onions, is 
not favorable for garlic. Beyond the garden in this 
Picture are wild cane, left; agave (and flower), 
center; avocado, right. Atitlan and Tomilan vol- 
canoes appear in the left background. 
d, The large split-cane trap on the left is for use at hot 
springs, the nearest of which, in the municipio, was 
inundated too deep to reach after the Lake rose in 
1933 (pl. 18). The small garlitos are baited and 
placed along the shore with, the apex of the split- 
cane funnels pointed outward, and the long cane 
resting on the bank (p. 124). These are used on 
a small scale in all the Lake villages, but especially 
Santa Catarina. Besides a fish trap, the man on the 
right is holding a canoe paddle. In the right back- 
ground is a well-developed giiisquil vine. 
é, These fish are not over 2 inches long, and five are strung 
on each stem (two stems for 1 cent when this pic- 
ture was taken, February 1932). The fish are 
smoked after they are impaled on the stems. This 
is an ancient practice (p. 124). The Solola woman 
at the right is stooping to pick up her basket; the 
coiled cloth to steady it is already on top cf her head. 
"Lake Atitlin crabs caught and sold at about 1 cent each 
by Santa Catarina men. They are tied up with yucca 
leaves in bunches of five; top view, left; rear view, 
right. The section of tape measures 12 inches. 
g, Note cactuses in background: pitahaya (below) and 
tuna. The cane pole held in his right hand is used 
for catching crabs at night. Bait, consisting of a 
piece of meat, small fish, or (best) a live frog, is 
tied on the end with the heavy string attached for 
the purpose. This crabbing is done in dugouts, by 
pitchpine torchlight; hence, it can be done success- 
fully only on fairly calm nights. At his feet Gonzales 
has a small-mouthed crab basket. In his left hand he 
holds a coiled crab line made of three bejucos (fine, 
rubbery vines) having a total length of 16 varas, 
or about 45 feet. This is stored:in the smoke above 
the fire so that the soot will preserve it. Maguey 
cord is not used because it rots rapidly. Bait is tied 
on at intervals and the line is weighted with rocks 
in fairly deep water, preferably where there is a 
good growth of Lake weeds on the bottom. This is 
done in the early morning, without the aid of nets. 
Crabs are caught in this manner also in San Marcos. 
A San Pedro man and his three sons catch crabs 
_in underwater stone enclosures which they build 
about 2 feet square, with a small opening in one 
side (away from the shore). They fill the enclosure 
with Lake weeds; weekly they close the openings and 
trap 1 to 2 dozen crabs in each. 
PLATE 23 
a, Most of the houses of San Antonio are constructed on 
terraces, for the slope of the site is quite steep. The 
trail to Santa Catarina may be seen skirting the 
promontory in the background (p. 102). 
b, The adobe house in the foreground has a common type 
of roof crest (poles laid along either side) (p. 47). 
The church is in the center of the picture. In the 
background are volcanoes Atitlin, left, and Tolim4n, 
right. A spearhead of clouds from the Lowlands 
is just beginning to move up through the gap of 
San Lucas. This is likely to occur during the latter 
part of the morning, any season, when the south 
wind sets in (see Appendix 1, p. 131). 
c, Horses are driven in a circle, often in an enclosed corral, 
There is always a wind to blow the chaff (p. 28). 
d, These men cross the Lake from Santiago (just off of 
left background) in dugouts, which they beach at 
San Antonio. They then climb the steep trail, 500 m. 
to the summit shown here. Note the agave and 
yucca in the right foreground. It is still a long 
journey to Tecpan, where they sell their Lowland 
products and buy quicklime as a return cargo (see 
p. 73). For this hard climb they have discarded 
their shirts, which are draped over their shoulders, 
PLATE 24 
a, Often, as in this case, all of the men paddle, standing 
and facing forward. The stern handles used for 
lifting and beaching canoes may be seen, especially 
in the foreground. Note also how gunwales and © 
prow are built up with wide boards (for a description 
of these canoes, see page 99). In the right back- 
ground is the base of San Pedro volcano, with 
Toliman beyond and Cerro de Oro at the extreme 
left. Submerged treetops appear beyond the canoe. 
b, These are the so-called “pescadores,’ or mail carriers, 
who are also traders. There are four well-filled 
cacastes in the canoe, containing tomatoes to be taken 
to Solola (see also pl. 12, c). 
c, The canoe is being paddled stern-first towards the beach 
for a landing. There are 10 San Pedro paddlers 
and 15 passengers, mostly women. Some are from 
Santa Clara, with four large loads of shallow baskets 
(canastos), packed in the prow of the boat. The 
pyramidal roofs of Atitlan houses are visible beyond. 
In the background are Toliman volcano (left, with 
two summits) and Atitlan (right). 
