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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY— PUBLICATION NO. 



cockpit in the middle. None are being built along 

 this coast at present owing to inability to obtain 

 motors, but before World War II, it is said, a motor- 

 boat cost about 50 percent more than a sailboat. Its 

 advantage lies, of course, in greater speed, inde- 

 pendence of wind conditions, and ability to operate 

 with smaller crew. 



All boats of the Huanchaco fleet are painted yel- 

 low, to distinguish them from boats based on 

 Salaverry (blue) and Puerto Chicama (white). 

 Iiach boat has a name, often, tliough not invariably, 

 painted on the stern. Following are some of the 

 names. Sailboats : Santa Cecelia, San Gabriel, In- 

 tendente de la Torre, Huascar, Defensor Caliuide, 

 Santa Cruz, San Jose, San Lorenzo, San Andres, 

 San Francisco, Santa Fe. San l\Iiguel, Miguel Grau, 

 Companero del ]\Iar, Santa Lucia, Santa Barbara, 

 San Antonio, and Jesiis del Gran Poder. Motor- 

 boats : Nuestra Senora de Socorro, Santa Rita, 

 Santa Maria, Santa Luiza, and Santa Isabel. Every 

 boat carries a saint's image or picture, even those 

 which do not bear saints' names, usually placed under 

 the w eather cowling at the bow. The saints involved 

 serve as protectors of the boat, and when a boat 

 carries a saint's name it also carries the saint's image 

 and ])nitection. 



As a rule each boat has a single owner, although 

 two (if the motoriioats are owned by a partnership of 

 three men. The owner of the boat sometimes owns 

 one or more nets, but not necessarily so. The proper 

 crew for a sailboat is four men, one of whom is 

 usually the owner of the boat. One of the men (not 

 necessarily the boat owner) is the commander or 

 pa/roii. lie is an expert in managing the boat and 

 the other three crew members take their orders from 

 him. He lias no other privileges except his power to 

 give (jrders and to exact obedience. Failure of a 

 crew member to oliey the patyon results in his ex- 

 clusion from the crew and inability to sail under 

 this patron in the future. Oilier patroiics will also 

 be chary of taking him into their crews. The in- 

 dividuals forming a crew are sometimes relatives, but 

 just as often imt. Election or recognition as a patron 

 is saicl to depend ui)on an innate ability or knack : fre- 

 quently the patron is the youngest man in the boat. 

 Take the boat, Santa Fl, for example. Mercedes 

 Arroyo is patron; he is about 21 years old, and all 

 the other members of the crew are older men. Pedro 

 Pimichumo is owner, but when at sea, takes orders 

 from Mercedes. The other members of the crew are 

 Manuel Arroyo and Antonio Gordillo. Manuel is 



the oldest of the crew and is uncle of Mercedes and 

 Antonio. Pedro, the boat's owner, does not sail 

 every day and when on the beach substitutes his son 

 in the crew. Santa Fe operates four nets. 



The division and counting of the catch also fol- 

 low a peculiar system. Nets belong to individuals, 

 not to boats (although the owner of a boat may also 

 be the owner of one or more nets). There is no 

 definite number of nets which a boat should operate, 

 although 4 for each is regarded as a proper minimum 

 while some boats carry as many as 20. The catch 

 from each net is divided into two parts : one-half of 

 the catch "belongs to the net" (i. e., the owner of the 

 net), while the other half is divided share and share 

 alike among the members of the crew and the boat. 

 Thus, if there are four crew members, the second half 

 of the catch is divided into five parts. The boat re- 

 ceives a share equal to that of one crew member. 

 The patron, or commander of the boat, receives the 

 same share as the other crew members. As each net 

 is drawn up, the fish from it are marked with a 

 knife cut which identifies them as having come from 

 that net. For example, a chip from the left side near 

 the head marks the fish from one net, from the right 

 side near the tail, another net, and so on. When the 

 boat returns to shore, the fish are unloaded from the 

 boat by stringing them through the gills onto large 

 poles of "Guayaquil cane," about 2 inches in diameter 

 and 8 to 9 feet long, which, with their loads, are car- 

 ried between the shoulders of two men. On the 

 beach the fish are first sorted into separate piles be- 

 longing to their respective nets. Each pile is then 

 sorted into separate piles by species of fish ("which 

 approximates sorting b\- size). Division by halves 

 then takes place with the "net's half" being set aside, 

 and the crew's and boat's shares l)eing placed in 

 common piles (according to species or size). After 

 all the net shares have been separated, the crew and 

 boat shares are counted off into jiiles, beginning witii 

 the large fish and working into the smaller ones. 



The whole fleet and the profession are organized 

 informally. I'elipe Carranza, the best patron, is 

 recognized as "chief pilot" of the fleet, and Lino 

 Segura is called "chief of the port" and also primer 

 sargento de los Pescadores (first sergeant of the 

 fishermen). These titles are recognized by the de- 

 partmental government in some vague way, which is 

 not entirely clear to me, but the real authority of 

 the offices depends upon respect accorded to them 

 by the other fishermen. Thus, all boats are bound 

 by the opinion of the chief pilot regarding the 



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