CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF SOUTHWEST GUATEMALA—McBRYDE 173 
six black at the right. This is sometimes done also 
by cotton weavers at Salcaja4. The spindles all turn 
together as they feed the warping frame simultane- 
ously. From the frame the threads are transferred 
to the yarn beam. The elder Barrera in the back- 
ground continues spooling thread as in c. For other 
steps in wool weaving, see plates 34 and 37; pp. 63-65. 
The small chair in the foreground is characteristic 
of those used by Guatemala Highland Indians, adults 
as well as children (pl. 43, b, c). Sitting on small 
chairs and low stools is the closest approach to 
squatting on the ground, as the Indians still do much 
of the time. Before the Conquest small hollowed 
log sections were probably used. These are frequently 
seen today, cut out of “pfito,’ Erythrina sp. (e.g., at 
Chalchitan), with a little straight handle left at one 
end. The Indians have adopted but little of European 
furniture. 
e, This blanket has a unique feature in the row of bars 
and openings near each end (seen at the knees of 
each of the men). It is a large, heavy blanket, of 
good quality, worth $3.50 in 1936. Though mostly 
black and white, it has bars of purple and green 
in a large plaid. Scotch plaids, of red, blues, and 
greens are common. 
Pate 34 
a, The man in the center of the inset has his hands braced 
against a rock while he treads a blanket with his feet 
against another rock as the men are doing in e. The 
man at the right in the inset is swinging a blanket 
down with force against a rock. Both blankets have 
been soaked in the hot springs. 
b, The woman in the center cards the white wool from 
the basket beside her, while the woman at the right 
behind her spins white yarn. The loom, behind the 
seated woman, is operated by her husband. The yarn 
beam, with wide black and white bands, appears 
just above the head. They are working in a special 
shed behind their dwelling; in some cases the loom 
is under the same roof in a separate room. 
c, Two women are selling palo amarillo (bright yellow 
wood, foreground), brasil, reddish wood (woman at 
left seated on it), and campeche, purplish wood at 
right, from the vicinity of San Pedro Carcha (see 
p. 65). Momostecos are buying it rapidly. The 
woman in the center (from Coban) is weighing 
wood in a balance. Note filled cargo net, right fore- 
ground. The woman at the left is a Momosteca, 
with white huipil and white-checked blue skirt; the 
typical huipil is dark red cotton with fine black 
horizcntal lines: local foot-loom work. A checked 
cloth is often tied on the head (pls. 33, e; 34, b) as 
at San Francisco el Alto. 
d, The men are at the stream which flows by the village. 
They have soaked the blankets in water heated in 
the heavy San Cristébal vessel in the background 
(pl. 41, a.). 
e, The same men as in d at the scene shown in d. Special 
racks are built of poles to give the men support as 
they tread and knead and twist, manipulating their 
feet with remarkable agility. 
f, From this belfry the rolls of blue woollen goods for 
coats appear in an unbroken line on both sides of 
the street for a distance of over two city blocks. 
Most of the tailoring of the coats for the Southwest 
is done in Quezaltenango. The tower of the municipal 
building is at the right. Note the stripped pines 
in the right background. 
g, These are the largest, heaviest, and best felted blankets 
made in Guatemala. Colors of figures are generally 
browns, blues, reds, yellows, greens, and_ black. 
Dolls and animals are worked in with short weft 
threads, using cardboard cut-outs as guides. These 
blankets more than any are well teaseled before 
being washed (teasels grow in abundance in cantons 
Xecanaya and Jutaca, and are sold in the market). 
Then they are well worked afterward, as in d and 
e. They are made chiefly on the south side of 
the town, in the cantons of Los Cipréses and Tierra 
Colorado. Most of the blankets with jaspe patterns 
are also made here (see p. 64). 
Prate 35 
a, The church faces upon this square, which was probably 
once the main, central plaza (p. 87). It is used now 
mainly for drying blankets, when there is no religious 
festival with dances and carnivals. Of about 85 
blankets visible here, nearly 80 have large plaid pat- 
terns, mostly black and white. Scale may be de- 
termined from the gray-looking blankets at the lower 
left (and three others at the lower right), which 
have fine bluish checks on white. Note from the 
shadows the directness of the noon sun (May 1, 1936). 
b, Since San Francisco is like a deserted village on Sunday 
and teems with life every Friday, which is market 
day, the big attendance at Mass is naturally on Friday 
(p. 127). The afternoon sunlight streams through 
narrow windows, making bluish beams in the smoky 
air. Many candles are being burned by the wor- 
shippers, who are mostly Indians. The great altar 
in the background, almost completely covered with 
gold leaf, had been painted over for centuries, until 
Padre Carlos Knittel discovered its true nature, 
about 1934, and painstakingly directed its restoration. 
d, Here in the feria (upper right in c) wool may be seen 
in all of its stages. Black and white sheep appear 
at the left; netloads of raw wool, black and white, 
in the center; and plaid blankets, of black and white 
wool, drying in the foreground. Blankets are usually 
brought to market wet, fresh from felting. In the 
middle distance is the white roof of the church, from 
the right end of which plates 35, c, and 36 were 
taken. The upper Samala Valley lies beyond, with 
Cerra Quemado and Santa Maria volcanos on the 
horizon. 
PLATE 36 
In the right foreground are Quiché hats and Coban ropes. 
Large sacks of dried chile from Asuncién Mita, 
in eastern Guatemala, are sold just beyond the open- 
