130 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY PUBLICATION NO. 13 



up trade; he undersells, and at least one family 

 has bought a mill from him at $75 pesos. 



The frame on which the mill stands is not 

 included in the above price. The supports are 61 

 any hard wood, such as chijol, sapote, or moral 

 (Nos. 176, 191, 324), and any Totonac handy with 

 tools is able to mount a mill in about 3 days. 



When sufficient cane has been crushed to fill 

 the receptacle with juice, the latter is emptied 

 into a large copper vessel, to be boiled. This is 

 an almost hemispherical cauldron, with two large 

 loop handles at the rim, opposite each other. 

 There are various sizes of copper vats, and the 

 juice from four donkey loads of cane is considered 

 sufficient to fill one whose capacity is ten 5-gallon 

 tins. 



Nowadays, a 50-gallon copper cauldron costs 

 about $300 pesos. The best containers are said 

 to be from Santa Clara — presumably Santa Clara 

 del Cobre, in Michoacan. Formerly, they were 

 sold by an itinerant merchant, one Enrique Or- 

 tigosa, of Cuetzalan, Puebla. Evidently local bus- 

 iness prospered, for he and a son have established 

 themselves in Papantla, where they make copper 

 kettles, said to be inferior to those of Santa Clara. 



Before the copper vat is filled with juice, a fire 

 is started in a specially prepared "oven" (pi. 8, 

 e, f) adjacent to the mill. Generally this is located 

 on a slight rise. A circular subterranean fire- 

 box is excavated, with an opening in the side of 

 the slope, through which fuel is fed. The floor 

 slopes slightly toward the opening, so that the 

 ashes may be raked out with greater ease. Over 

 the fire chamber is built a low, partial dome of 

 masonry, open at the top in such a manner that the 

 cauldron fits into the aperture (pi. 8, /). On the 

 ground, at the base of the dome, is left a small 

 opening at each side which provides draught for 

 the fire. The dome is built of smooth stone slabs, 

 set like a false arch, in mortar of mud or of lime 

 and sand. For the lower courses, some use equal 

 parts of lime and sand, but near the summit, add 

 more lime, so that the structure will not fall with 

 the weight of the cauldron. Often, a simple roof 

 of palm, supported by forked posts, protects the 

 "oven" from sun and rain. 



As fuel, laurel, sapote, pimienta, and huesillo 

 (Nos. 130, 191, 30, 330) are preferred. If the 

 "oven" is cold, two donkey loads of wood per 

 cauldron of juice are required. However, only 



half that amount is necessary, if the oven already 

 is hot and the problem is to retain the heat. It is 

 said that one tarea of wood is sufficient for five 

 cauldrons of cane juice. 



The copper cauldron with the sirup is placed 

 over the fire to boil. In October and November, 

 after continuous rains, the sirup is watery and 

 the flavor insipid. To correct this, a few handfuls 

 of sifted wood ash are added. They are placed 

 in a calabash shell and a small amount of the hot 

 sirup poured over them. "The force of the ash 

 rises," and the liquid is returned to the cauldron ; 

 the sediment is thrown away. In precisely the 

 same manner, regardless of season, a small quan- 

 tity of lime usually is added, so that the sugar may 

 be light-colored. 



"In May there is much sun," and ash is not re- 

 quired, except for cane which has been grown in 

 low, level fields with poor drainage. In fact, 

 usually the cane juice is so concentrated in the 

 spring that it is advisable to dilute it with water. 

 For example, if the cauldron is of 12 tins (60 gal- 

 lons), half a tin (2.5 gallons) of water may be 

 added. 



The hot sirup is skimmed frequently with a 

 leaf of sugarcane. As it begins to boil, a special 

 colander (pichanchxi, liakaqlukni 2 ) is used for 

 skimming. It is a simple copper plate or bowl 

 or a shallow gourd, with many perforations, which 

 is tied to the fork of a long, straight pole (fig. 

 15, g, A,). Since laurel (No. 130) weighs little, 

 it is preferred. The scum removed from the sur- 

 face is known as cachaza; ordinarily, it is thrown 

 on the ground, but should anyone eat it, he be- 

 comes excessively sleepy and "cannot be aroused 

 for hours." 



As it boils, the sirup rises, and usually some is 

 removed from the cauldron to prevent spilling. 

 When the liquid is relatively free of impurities, 

 a copper cone (copa), open top and bottom, may 

 be placed over the boiling sirup. The base fits into 

 the cauldron, and as the liquid boils, it comes 

 through the peak of the cone and runs down the 

 exterior, back into the cauldron. Those who do 

 not have a cone, dip the sirup constantly with the 

 handled colander, to keep it from boiling over. 



In the course of several hours, the liquid 

 thickens, 58 and when it is about the consistency 



58 Sometimes, owing to the evil eye, the sirup may "refuse to 

 thicken," in which case a few leaves of aguacate Oloroso (No. 

 248) are tossed into the vessel. 



