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ANDES AND THE AMAZON

ACROSS THE CONTINENT OF SOUTH AMERICA.

By JAMES OETON, M.A.,

PEOFF.B80E OF NATTTRAL HISTORY IN VA68AII COLLEGE, POrGHKEEPSIE, N. Y., AND OOE-
EESPONDING MEMBEE OF TUE ACADEMY OF NATUEAL SCIENCES, PHILADELPHIA.

WITH A NEW MAP OF EQUATORIAL AMERICA AND NUMEROUS
ILLUSTRATIONS.

NEW YORK:

HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,

FEANKLIN 8 Q U A E E.
1870.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1 8 G 9, by

Harper & Brothers,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the
Southern District of New York.

J)

^ CHARLES DARWm, M.A., F.R.S., F.L.S., F.G.S.,

0.

/ y WHOSE PROFOUND RESEARCHES

y HAVE THROWN SO MUCH LIGHT UPON EVERY DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE,

AND

WHOSE CHARMING " VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE " HAS SO PLEASANTLY

ASSOCIATED HIS NAME WITH OUR SOUTHERN CONTINENT,

THESE SKETCHES OF THE ANDES AND THE AMAZON ARE, BY PERMISSION,
MOST RESPECTFULLY

BeDfcatetr.

"Among the scenes which are deeply impressed ou my mind, none exceed in
sublimity the primeval forests undefaced by the hand of man ; whether those of
Brazil, where the powers of Life are predominant, or those of Terra del Fuego,
where Death and Decay prevail. Both are temples filled with the varied produc-
tions of the God of Nature : no one can stand in these solitudes unmoved, and
not feel that there is more in man than the mere breath of his body."— Darwin's
Journal, p. 503.

PREFACE.

This volume is one result of a scientific expedition to
the equatorial Andes and the river Amazon. The expedi-
tion was made under the auspices of the Smithsonian In-
stitution, and consisted of the following gentlemen besides
the writer : Colonel Staunton, of Ingham University, Le-
roy, :N'. Y. ; F. S. Williams, Esq., of Albany, K Y. ; and
Messrs. P. V. Myers and A. Bushnell, of Williams College.
We sailed from New York July 1, 1867; and, after cross-
ing the Isthmus of Panama and touching at Paita, Peru,
om- general route was from Guayaquil to Quito, over the
Eastern Cordillera; thence over the Western Cordillera,
and through the forest on foot to ITapo ; down the Rio
N'apo by canoe to Pebas, on {he Maranon ; and thence by
steamer to Para. "

I^early the entire region traversed by the expedition is
strangely misrepresented by the most recent geographical

* Another division, consisting of Messrs. H. M. Myers, R. H. Forbes,
and W. Gilbert, of Williams College, proceeded to Venezuela, and after
exploring the vicinity of Lake Valencia, the two former traversed the llanos
to Pao, descended the Apure and ascended the Orinoco to Yavita, crossed
the portage of Pimichin (a low, level tract, nine miles M-ide, separating the
waters of the Orinoco from those of the Amazon), and descended the Negro
to Manaos, making a vogage by canoe of over 2000 miles through a little-
known but deeply-interesting region. A narrative of this expedition will
soon be given to the public.

xu

Preface.

works. On the Andes of Ecuador we have little besides
the travels of Humboldt ; on tlie ^NTapo, nothing ; while the
Maranon is less known to IN'orth Americans than the Kile.
Many of the following pages first appeared in the New
York Evening Post. The author has also published
"Physical Observations on the Andes and the Amazon"
and " Geological Notes on the Ecuadorian Andes " in the
American Journal of Science, an article on the great earth-
quake of 1868 in the Kochester Democrat, and a paper On
theValley of the Amazon read before the American Asso-
ciation at Salem. These papers have been revised and ex-
tended, though the popular form has been retained. It
has been the effort of the wiiter to present a condensed
but faithful picture of the physical aspect; the resources,
and the inhabitants of this vast country, which is destined
to become an important field for commercial enterprise.
For detailed descriptions of the collections in natural his-
tory, the scienfific reader is referred to the various reports
of the following gentlemen, to whom the specimens were
committed by the Smithsonian Institution :

Volcanic Rocks D.r. T. Sterry Hunt, F. R. S. , Montreal .

Plants Dr. Asa Gray, Cambridge.

Land and Fresh-water Shells. M. Crosse, Paris, and Thomas Bland, Esq.,

New York.

Marine Shells Rev. Dr. E. R. Beadle, Philadelphia.

Fossil " W. M. Gabb, Esq., Philadelphia.

Hemiptera Prof. P. R. Uhler, Baltimore.

Orthoptera S. H. Scudder, Esq., Boston.

Hymenoptera and Nocturnal

Lepidoptera Dr. A. S. Packard, Jr. , Salem.

Diurnal Lepidoptera Tryon Reakirt, Esq. , Philadelphia.

Coleoptera George D. Smith, Esq. , Boston.

Phalangia and Pedipalpi Dr. H. C.Wood, Jr., Philadelphia.

Fishes Dr. Theodore Gill, Washington.

Reptiles Piof. E. D. Cope, Philadelphia.

Preface. xiii

Birds John Cassin, Esq,.* Philadelphia.

Bats Dr. H. Allen, Philadelphia.

Mammalian Fossils Dr. Joseph Leidy, Philadelphia.

Many of the type specimens are deposited in the mu-
seums of the Smithsonian Institution, the Philadelphia
Academy of Natural Science, the Boston Society of ISTat-
ural History, the Peabody Academy of Science, and Yas-
sar College ; but the bulk of the collection was purchased
by Ingham University, Leroy, New York.

The Map of Equatorial America was drawn with great
care after original observations and the surveys of Hum-
boldt and "VYisse on the Andes, and of Azevedo, Castlenau,
and Bates on the Amazon.f The names of Indian tribes
are in small capitals. Most of the illustrations are after
photographs or drawings made on the ground, and can be
relied upon. The portrait of Humboldt, which is for the
first time presented to the public, was photographed from
the original painting in the possession of Sr. Aguirre, Qui-
to. Unlike the usual portrait — an old man, in Berlin —
this presents him as a young man in Prussian uniform,
traveling on the Andes.

We desire to express our grateful acknowledgments to
the Smithsonian Institution, Hon. "William H. Seward, and
Hon. James A. Garfield, of Washington ; to Cyrus W.
Field, Esq., and William Pitt Palmer, Esq., of Xew York ;
to C. P. Williams, Esq., of Albany ; to Eev. J. C. Fletcher,

* This eminent ornithologist died in the midst of his examination. Mr.
George N. Lawrence, of New York, has identified the remainder, including
all the hummers.

t We have retained the common orthography of this word, though Ajjio-
zons, used by Bates, is doubtless more correct, as more akin to the Brazil-
ian name Amazonas.

xiv Peeface.

now United States Consul at Oporto ; to Chaplain Jones,
of Philadelphia ; to Dr. William Jameson, of the Univer-
sity of Quito ; to J. F. Eeeve, Esq., and Captain Lee, of
Guayaquil ; to the Pacific Mail Steamship, Panama Eail-
road, and South Pacific Steam I^avigation companies ; to
the officers of the Peruvian and Brazilian steamers on the
Amazon ; and to the eminent naturalists who have exam-
ined the results of the expedition.

Note. — Osculati has alone preceded us, so far as we can learn, in obtain-
ing a vocabulary of Zaparo words ; but, as his work is not to be found in
this country, we have not had the pleasure of making a comparison.

INTRODUCTION

Rev. J. C. FLETCHER,

AUTHOK OF "brazil AND BBAZILIANI

In this day of many voyages, in the Old World and the
New, it is refreshing to find an luitrodden path. Central
Africa has been more fully explored than that region of
Equatorial America which lies in the midst of the Western
Andes and upon the slopes of these mountain monarchs
which look toward the Atlantic. In this century one can
almost count upon his hand the travelers who have written
of their journeys in this unknown region. Our own Hern-
don and Gibbon descended — the one the Peruvian and the
other the Bolivian waters — the affluents of the Amazon,
beginning their voyage where the streams were mere* chan-
nels for canoes, and finishing it where the great river ap-
pears a fresh-water ocean. Mr. Church, the artist, made
the sketches for his famous "Heart of the Andes" where
the headwaters of the Amazon are rivulets. But no one
whose language is the English has journeyed down and
described the voyage from the plateaux of Ecuador to the
Atlantic Ocean until Professor Orton and his party accom-
]:>lished this feat in 1868. Yet it was over this very route
that the King of Waters (as the Amazon is called by tlie
aborigines) was originally discovered. The auri sacra
fatnes^ which in 1541 urged the adventurous Gonzalo Pi-

xvi Intkoduction.

zaiTO to hunt for the fabled city of El Dorado in the
depths of the South American forests, led to the descent
of the great river by Orellana, a knight of Truxillo. The
fabled women- warriors were said to have been seen in this
notable voyage, and hence the name of the yts^^y Amazon^
a name which in Spanish and Portuguese is in the plural.
It was not until nearly one hundred years after Orellana
was in his grave that a voyage of discovery ascended the
river. In 1637 Pedro Teixeira started from Para with an
expedition of nearly tw^o thousand (all but seventy of whom
were natives), and wdth varied experiences, by water and
by land, the explorer in eight months reached the city of
Quito, where he was received wdtli distinguished honor.
Two hundred years ago the result of this expedition was
published.

The Amazon was from that time, at rare intervals, the
highway of Spanish and Portuguese priests and friars, who
thus went to their distant charges among the Indians. In
1745 the French academician De la Condamine descended
from Quito to Para, and gave the most accurate idea of
the great valley w^liich we had until the first quarter of
this century.

The narrow policy of Spain and Portugal was most un-
fruitful in its results to South America. A jealous eye
guarded that great region, of which it can be so well said
there are

"Realms unknown and blooming wilds,
And fruitful deserts, worlds of solitude,
"Where the sun smiles and seasons teem in vain."

Now, the making known to the world of any portion of
these "fi'uitful deserts" is performing a service for the

Introduction. xvii

world. This Professor Orton has done. His interesting
and valuable volume hardly needs any introduction or
commendation, for its intrinsic merit will exact the appro-
bation of every reader. Scientific men, and tourists who
seek for new routes of travel, will appreciate it at once ;
and I trust that the time is near at hand when our mer-
cantile men, by the perusal of such a work, will see how
wide a field lies before them for future commercial enter-
prise. This portion of the tropics abounds in natural re-
sources which only need the stimulus of capital to draw
them forth to the light-; to create among the natives a de-
sire for articles of civilization in exchange for the crude
productions of the forest ; and to stimulate emigration to
a healthy region of perpetual summer.

It seems as if Providence were opening the way for a
great change in the Yalley of the Amazon. That immense
region drained by the great river is as large as all the
United States east of the States of California and Oregon
and the Territory of Washington, and yet it has been so
secluded, mainly by the old monopolistic policy of Portu-
gal, that that vast space has not a population equal to the
single city of Eio de Janeiro or of Brookl^ai. Two mil-
lion five hundred thousand square miles are drained by
the Amazon. Three fourths of Brazil, one half of Bolivia,
two thirds of Peru, three fourths of Ecuador, and a por-
tion of Venezuela are watered by this river. Kiches, min-
eral and vegetable, of inexhaustible supply have been here
locked up for centuries. Brazil held the key, but it was
not until under the rule of their present constitutional
monarch, Don Pedro II., that the Brazilians awoke to the
necessity of opening this glorious region. Steamers were

xviii Introduction.

introdnced in 1853, subsidized by the government. But
it is to a young Brazilian statesman, Sr. A. C. Tavares Bas-
tos, tliat belongs the credit of having agitated, in the press
and in the national parliament, the opening of the Ama-
zon, until public opinion, thus acted upon, produced the
desired result. On another occasion, in May, 1868, 1 gave
several indices of a more enlightened policy in Brazil, and
stated^ that the opening of the Amazon, which occurred on
the 7th of September, 1867, and by which the great river
is free to the flags of all nations, fi-om the Atlantic to Peru,
and the abrogation of the monopoly of the coast-trade from
the Amazon to the Rio Grande do Sul, whereby 4000
miles of Brazilian sea-coast are open to the vessels of every
country, can not fail not only to develop the resources of
Brazil, but will prove of great benefit to the bordering
Hispano-American republics and to the maritime nations
of the earth. The opening of the Amazon is the most sig-
nificant indication that the leaven of the narrov;^ monopo-
listic Portuguese conservatism has at last worked out.
Portugal would not allow Humboldt to enter the Amazon
Yalley in Brazil. The result of the new policy is beyond
the most sanguine expectation. The exports and imports
for Para for October and Xovember, 1867, were double
those of 1866. This is but the beginning. Soon it will
be found that it is cheaper for Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and
'New Granada, east of the Andes, to receive their goods
from, and to export their India-rubber, cinchona, etc., to
the United States and Europe, via the great water high-
way which discharges into the Atlantic, than by the long,
circuitous route of Cape Horn or the trans-Isthmian route
of Panama.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

Guayaquil. — First and Last Impressions. — Climate. — Commerce. — The
Malecon. — Glimpse of the Andes. — Scenes on the Guayas. — Bodegas. —
Mounted for Quito. — La Mona. — A Tropical Forest Page 25

CHAPTER n.

Our Tambo. — Ascending the Andes. — Camino Real. — Magnificent Views. —
Guaranda. — Cinchona. — The Summit. — Chimborazo. — Over the Andes, —
Chuquipoyo the Wretched. — Ambato. — A Stupid City. — Cotopaxi. — The
Vale of Machachi. — Arrival at Quito 40

CHAPTER III.
Early History of Quito. — Its Splendor under the Incas. — Crushed by Spain.
— Dying now. — Situation. — Altitude. — Streets. — Buildings 56

CHAPTER IV.
Population of Quito. — Dress. — Manners. — Character. — Commerce. — Agri-
culture.— Manufactures. — Arts. — Education. — ^Amusements.- Quito La-
dies 68

CHAPTER V.

Ecuador. — Extent. — Government. — Religion. — A Protestant Cemetery in
Quito. — Climate. — Regularity of Tropical Nature. — Diseases on the High-
lands 85

CHAPTER VI.

Astronomic Virtues of Quito. — Flora and Fauna of the Valley of Quito. —
Primeval Inhabitants of the Andes.— Quichua Indians 97

CHAPTER VII.

Geological History of South America. — Rise of the Andes. — Creation of the
Amazon. — Characteristic Features of the Continent. — Andean Chain. —
The Equatorial Volcanoes 114

XX Contents.

CHAPTER vni.

The Volcanoes of Ecuador. — Western Cordillera. — Chimborazo. — Iliniza.—
Corazon. — Pichincha. — Descent into its Crater Page 127

CHAPTER IX.

The Volcanoes of Ecuador. — Eastern Cordillera. — Imbabura. — Cayambi. —
Antisana. — Cotopaxi. — Llanganati. — Tunguragua. — Altar. — Sangai. 143

CHAPTER X.

The Valley of Quito.— Riobamba.— A Bed of "Fossil Giants. "—Chillo Ha-
cienda.— Otovalo and Ibarra. — The Great Earthquake of 1868 152

CHAPTER XI.

"The Province of the Orient," or the Wild Napo Country. — The Napos,Za-
paros, and Jivaros Indians. — Preparations to cross the Continent 164

CHAPTER XII.

Departure from Quito. — Itulcachi. — A Night in a Bread-tray. — Crossing the
Cordillera. — Guamani. — Papallacta. — Domiciled at the Governor's. — An
Indian Aristides. — Our Peon Train. — In the Wilderness 177

CHAPTER XIII.

Baeza. — The Forest. — Crossing the Cosanga. — Cm-i-urcu. — Archidona. —
Appearance, Customs, and Belief of the Natives. — Napo and Kapo Riv-
er 187

CHAPTER XIV.

Afloat on the Napo. — Down the Rapids. — Santa Rosa and its mulish Al-
calde.— Pratt on Discipline. — Forest Music. — Coca. — Our Craft and Crew.
— Storm on the Napo 200

CHAPTER XV.

Sea-Cows and Turtles' Eggs. — The Forest. — Peccaries. — Indian Tribes on
the Lower Napo. — Anacondas and Howling Monkeys. — Insect Pests. —
Battle with Ants. — Barometric Anomaly. — First View of the Amazon. —
Pebas 215

CHAPTER XVI.

Down the Amazon. — Steam on the Great River. — Loreto. — San Antonio. —
Tabatinga. — BraziHan Steamers. — Scenery on the Amazon. — Tocantins. —
Fonte Boa. — Ega. — Rio Negi'o. — Manaog 230

Contents. xxi

CHAPTER XVII.

Down the Amazon. — Serpa. — Villa Nova. — Obidos. — Santarem. — A Colony
of Southerners. — Monte Alegre. — Porto do Moz, — Leaving the Amazon.
— Breves. — Para River. — The City of Para. — Legislation and Currency.
— Religion and Education. — Nonpareil Climate Page 247

CHAPTER XVIII.
The River Amazon. — Its Source and Magnitude. — Tributaries and Tints. —
Volume and Current. —Rise and Fall. — Navigation. — Expeditions on the
Great River 264

CHAPTER XIX.

The Valley of the Amazon. — Its Physical Geography. — Geology. — Cli-
mate.— Vegetation. 280

CHAPTER XX.

Life within the Great River. — Fishes. — Alligators. — Turtles. — Porpoises
and Manatis 295

CHAPTER XXI.

Life around the Great River. — Insects. — Reptiles. — Birds. — Mammals. 300

CHAPTER XXIL
Life around the Great River. — Origin of the Red Man. — General Character-
istics of the Amazonian Indians. — Their Languages, Costumes, and Hab-
itations.— Principal Tribes. — Mixed Breeds. — Brazilians and Brazil. 315

CHAPTER XXIII.

How to Travel in South America. — Routes. — Expenses. — Outfit. — Precau-
tions.— Dangers 325

CHAPTER XXIV.
In Memoriam .,, 334

APPENDICES.

APPENDIX A.

Barometrical Measurements across South America Page 338

APPENDIX B.

Vocabularies from the Quichua, Zaparo, Yagua, and Campas Languages 340

APPENDIX C.
Commerce of the Amazon 344

Addenda 347

INDEX '. 349

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Palms on the Middle Amazon Frontispiece.

Cathedral of Guayaquil Page 27

Equipped for the Andes 37

Ascending the Andes 42

Quito from the Korth 61

Water-carriers 62

Street in Quito 63

Capitol at Quito 66

Indian Dwellings 78

Washerwomen 83

Ecclesiastics 88

Profiles of Ecuadorian Volcanoes 123

Crater of Pichincha 135

Humboldt in 1802 156

Ibarra 158

Napo Peon 184

Autograph of an Indian 185

Papaya-tree , 202

Trapiche, or Sugar-mill 208

Our Craft on the Napo 211

Hunting Turtle-eggs 217

A Howler 223

Kitchen on the Amazon 238

Natives on the Middle Amazon 241

A Siesta 244

Santarem 250

Para 255

Pruit-peddlers 259

Igarape, or Canoe-path 265

Coca-plant 293

Iguana 305

Toucans 307

xxiv Illusteations.

Brazilian Hummers p^gg 3Q9

Capybara oiq

Jaguar 01,

Native Comb 017

Colonel Staunton Tofacepage 334

Map of Equatorial America ^^^

THE ANDES AND THE AMAZON.

CHAPTER I.

Guayaquil. — First and Last Impressions. — Climate. — Commerce. — The
Malecon. — Glimpse of the Andes. — Scenes on the Guayas. — Bodegas. —
Mounted for Quito. — La Mona. — A Tropical Forest.

Late in the evening of the 19th of July, 1867, the steam-
er " Favorita" dropped anchor in front of the city of Giiay-
aquiL The first view awakened visions of Oriental splen-
dor. Before us was the Malecon, stretching along the riv-
er, two miles in length — at once the most beautiful and the
most busy street in the emporium of Ecuador. In the cen-
tre rose the Government House, with its quaint old tower,
bearing aloft the city clock. On either hand were long
rows of massive, apparently marble, three-storied buildings,
each occupying an entire square, and as elegant as they
were massive. Each story was blessed with a balcony, the
upper one hung with canvas curtains now rolled up, the
other protruding over the sidewalk to form a lengthened
arcade like that of the Eue de Eivoli in imp'erial Paris.
In this lower story were the gay shops of Guayaquil, filled
with the prints, and silks, and fancy articles of England
and France. As this is the promenade street as well as the
Broadway of commerce, crowds of Ecuadorians, who never
do business in the evening, leisurely paced the magnificent
arcade ; hatless ladies sparkling with fire-flies* instead of

* The P7/rophorus noctilucus^ or " cucujo," found also in Mexico and the
West Indies. It resembles our large spring-beetle. The light proceeds from
two eye-like spots on the thorax and from the segments underneath. It feeds

26 The Andes and the Amazon.

diamonds, and far more brilliant than koh-i-noors, swept
the pavement with their long trains ; martial music floated
on the gentle breeze from the barracks or some festive hall,
and a thousand gas-lights along the levee and in the city,
doubling their number by reflection from the river, beto-
kened wealth and civilization.

We landed in the morning to find our vision a dissolving
view in the light of the rising sun. The princely mansions
turned out to be hollow squares of wood-work, plastered
within and without, and roofed with red tiles. Even the
"squares" were only distant approximations; not a right
angle could we find in our hotel. All the edifices are
built (very properly in this climate) to admit air instead
of excluding- it, and the architects have wonderfully suc-
ceeded ; but with the air is wafted many an odor not so
pleasing as the spicy breezes fi'om Ceylon's isle. The ca-
thedral is of elegant design. Its photograph is more im-
posing than l^otre Dame, and a Latin inscription tells us
that it is the Gate of Heaven. But a near approach re-
veals a shabby structure, and the pewless interior is made
hideous by paintings and images which certainly must be
caricatures. A few genuine works of art imported from
Italy alone relieve the mind of the visitor. Excepting a
few houses on the Malecon, and not excepting the cathe-
dral, the majority of the buildings have a tumble-down ap-
pearance, which is not altogether due to the frequent earth-
quakes which have troubled this city ; while the habitations
in the outskirts are exceedingly primitive, floored and wall-
ed with split cane and thatched with leaves, the first story
occupied by domestic animals and the second by their own-
ers. The city is quite regularly laid out, the main streets

on the sugar-cane. On the Upper Amazon vre found the P. clarus, P. pellu-
cens, and P. tuherculatus. At Bahia, on. the opposite coast, Darwin found
P. lu7ninosus, the most common luminous insect.

The City of Guayaquil. 27

running parallel to tlie river. A few streets * are rudely
paved, many are shockingly filtliy, and all of them yield
grass to the delight of stray donkeys and goats. A num-
ber of mule-carts, half a dozen carriages, one omnibus, and
a hand-car on the Malecon, sum up the wheeled vehicles of
Guayaquil. The population is twenty-two thousand, the
same for thirty years past. Of these, about twenty are
from the United States, and perhaps twenty-five can com-
mand $100,000. No foreigner has had reason to complain

Cathedral of Guayaquil.

that Guayaquilians lacked the virtues of politeness and hos-
pitality. The ladies dress in excellent taste, and are pro-
verbial for their beauty. Spanish, Indian, and IN'egro blood
mingle in the lower classes. The city supports two small
papers, Los Andes and La Patria, but they are usually
issued about ten days behind date. The hourly cry of the
night-watchman is quite as musical as that of the muezzin
in Constantinople. At eleven o'clock, for example, they
sing '^Ave Maria jpurissima ! los once han dedo, noche
clara y serena. Viva la Patria P^

28 The Axdes akd the Amazon.

The full name of the city is Santiago de Guayaquil.* It
is so called, first, because the conquest of the province was
finished on the 25th of July (the day of St. James), 1533;
and, secondly, after Guayas, a feudatory cacique of Atahu-
allpa. It wa^ created a city by Charles Y., October 6, 1535.
It has suffered much in its subsequent history by fires and
earthquakes, pirates and pestilence. It is situated on the
right bank of the Kiver Guayas, sixty miles from the ocean,
and but a few feet above its level. Though the most west-
ern city in South America, it is only two degrees west of
the longitude of Washington, and it is the same distance
below the equator — Orion sailing directly overhead, and
the Southern Cross taking the place of the Great Dipper.
The mean annual temperature, according to our observa-
tions, is 83°. There are two seasons, the wet, or invierno,
and the dry, or verano. The xerano is called the summer,
although astronomically it is winter; it begins in June
and terminates in. November.f The heavy rains come on
about Christmas. March is the rainiest month in the year,
and July the coldest. It is at the close of the invierno
(May) that fevers most abound. The climate of Guaya-
quil during the dry season is nearly perfect. At daybreak
there is a cool easterly breeze ; at sunrise a brief lull, and
then a gentle variable wind ; at 3 p.m. a southwest ^vind,
at first in gusts, then in a sustained current ; at sunset the
same softened down to a gentle breeze, increasing about T
P.M., and dying away about 3 a.m. Notwithstanding heaps
of filth and green-mantled pools, sufficient to start a pes-

* The ancient name was Culenta.

t The continuity of the dry season is broken by a rainy fit commencing a
few days after the autumnal equinox, and called el Cordonazo de San Fran-
cisco. ' ' Throughout South America (observes Mr. Spruce) the periodical al-
ternations of dry and rainy weather are laid to the account of those saints
whose ' days' coincide nearly with the epochs of change. But if the Aveather
be rainy when it ought to be fair, or if the rains of winter be heavier than or-
dinary, the blame is invariably laid on the moon."

Commerce of Guayaquil. 29

tilence if transported to New York, the city is usually
healthy, due in great part, no doubt, to countless flocks of
buzzards which greedily wait upon decay. These carrion-
hawks enjoy the protection of law, a heavy fine being im-
posed for wantonly killing one."^ It is during the rainy
season that this port earns the reputation of being one of
the most, pestiferous spots on the globe. The air is then
hot and oppressive, reminding the geologist of the steaming
atmosphere in the carboniferous period ; the surrounding
plains are flooded with water, and the roads, even some of
the streets of the city, become impassable ; intolerable mus-
quitoes, huge cockroaches, disgusting, centipedes, venomous
scorpions, and still more deadly serpents, keep the human
species circumspect, and fevers and dysenteries do the work
of death.

The Guayas is the largest river on the Pacific coast ; and
Guayaquil monopolizes the commerce of Ecuador, for it is
the only port. Esmeraldas and Peylon are not to be men-
tioned. Through its custom-house passes nearly eveiy im-
port and export. The green banks of the Guayas, covered
with an exuberant growth, are in strong contrast mth the
sterile coast of Peru, and the possession of Guayaquil has
been a coveted prize since the days of Pizarro. Few spots
between the tropics can vie with this lowland in richness
and vigor of vegetation. Immense quantities of cacao —
second only to that of Caracas — are produced, though but
a fraction is gathered, owing to the scarcity of laborers, so
many Ecuadorians have been exiled or killed in senseless
revolutions. Twenty million pounds are ansually exj)ort-
ed, chiefly to Spain ; and two million pounds of excellent
coffee, which often finds its way into New York under the
name of " pure Java." There are thi-ee or four kinds of

* The turkey-buzzard, the "John Crow" of the West Indies, is not a social
bird, though a score are often seen together : each comes and goes by himself.

30 The Andes and the Amazon.

indigenous cacao on this coast, all richly deserving the ge-
neric title Theohroma, or " food for the gods." The best
grows in Esmeraldas, as it contains the largest amount of
oil and has the most pleasant flavor. But very little of it
is exported, because it rots in about six months. The cacao
de arriba, from up the Kiver G-uayas, is the best to export,
as it keeps two years without damage. K'ext in order is
the cacao de ahajo^ from down the river, as Machala, Santa
Rosa, Balao, and Manabi, below Guayaquil. A still richer
nut is the mountain cacao, but it is never cultivated. It is
small and white, and almost pm^e oil. This oil, called ca-
cao-butter, is used by, the natives for bm-ns, sores, and many
cutaneous diseases. Cacao contributes more to the com-
merce of the republic than any other production of its soil.
The flowers and fruit grow directly out of the trunk and
branches. " A more striking example (says Humboldt) of
the expansive powers of life could hardly be met with in
organic nature." The fruit is yellowish-red, and of oblong
shape, and the seeds (from which chocolate is prepared) are
enveloped in a mass of white pulp. The tree resembles
our lilac in size and shape, and yields three crops a year —
in March, June, and September. Spain is the largest con-
sumer of cacao. The Mexican chocolalt is the origin of our
word chocolate. Tucker gives the following comparative
analysis of unshelled beans fi'om Guayaquil and Caracas :

Guayaquil. Caracas.

Theobromine 0.63 0.55

Cacao-red : 4.56 6.18

Cacao-butter 36.38 35.08

Gluten 2.96 3.21

Starch 0.53 0.62

Gum 1.58 1.19

Extractive matter 3.44 6.22

Humic acid 8.57 9.28

Cellulose 30.50 28.66

Ash 3.03 2.91

Water 6.20 5.58

98.38 99.48

COMMEECE OF GUAYAQUIL. 31

The coffee-tree is about eight feet high, and has dark green
leaves, white blossoms, and green, red, and purple berries
at the same time. Each tree yields on an average two
pounds annually.

The other chief articles of exportation are hides, cotton,
"Panama hats," manufactured at Indian villages on the
coast, cinchona bark, caucho, tobacco, orchilla weed, sarsa-
parilla, and tamarinds."^ The hats are usually made of the
" Toquilla" (Carludovica jpalmatd)^ an arborescent plant
about five feet high, resembling the palm. The leaf, which
is a yard long, is plaited lilvc a fan, and is borne on a three-
cornered stalk. It is cut while young, the stiff parallel
veins removed, then slit into shreds by wliipping it, and im-
mersed in boiling water, and finally bleached in the sun.
The same " straw" is used in the interior. The " Mocora,"
which grows like a cocoa-nut tree, with a very smooth, hard,
thorny bark, is rarely used, as it is difiicult to work. The
leaves are from eight to twelve feet in length, so that the
" straws" will finish a hat without splicing. Such hats re-
quire two or three months, and bring sometimes §150 ; but
they will last a lifetime. They can be packed away in a
vest pocket, and they can be tm-ned inside out and worn,
the inside surface being as smooth and well finished as the
outside. " Toquilla" hats are whiter than the " mocora."

The exports from Guayaquil bear no proj)ortion to the
capabilities of the country ; Ecuador has no excuse for be-
ing bankrupt. Most of the imports are of English origin ;
lard comes fi'om the United States, and flour from Chile.

The Malecon and river present a lively scene all the
year round ; the rest of the city appears deserted in com-

* In 1867 there were exported to Europe of cacao, 197,260 quintals ; cot-
ton, 10,247 do.; caucho, 8911 do.; sarsaparilla, 149 do.; orchilla, 10,247
packages; quinine, 5000 do. ; tobacco, 2000 do. ; coffee, 1611 do.; tama-
rinds, 65 bbls. ; sides of leather, 22,514 ; hats, 8397.

32 The Akdes akd the Aiviazon.

parison. The British steamers from Panama and Payta
arrive weekly ; Yankee steam-boats make regular trips up
and down the Guayas and its tributaries ; half a dozen sail-
ing vessels, principally French, are usually lying in the
stream, which is here six fathoms deep ; and hundreds of
canoes are gliding to and fro. But the halsas are the
most original, and, therefore, the most attractive sight.
These are rafts made of light balsa wood, so buoyant as
to be used in coasting voyages. They were invented by
the old Peruvians, and are the homes of a literally floating
population. By these and the smaller craft are brought
to the mole of the Malecon, besides articles for exportation,
a boundless variety of fruits — pine-apples (whose quality
has made Guayaquil famous), oranges, lemons, limes, plan-
tains, bananas, cocoa-nuts, alligator pears, papayas, mangos,
guavas, melons, etc. ; many an undescribed species of fish
known only to the epicure, and barrels or jars of water
from a distant point up the river, out of the reach of the
tide and the city sewers. Ice is frequently brought from
Chimborazo, and sold for $1 per pound. A flag hoisted
at a favorite cafe announces that snow has arrived from
the mountains, and that ice-cream can be had. The mar-
ket, held every morning by the river side, is an animated
scene. The strife of the half -naked fishmongers, the cry
of the swarthy fruit-dealers — "Pinas!" "Naranjas!" etc.,
and the song of the itinerant dulce-peddler — " Tamales !"
mingled with the bray of the water-bearing donkeys as they
trot through the town, never fail to arrest the attention of
every traveler.

But there is another sight more attractive still — one
worth a long voyage, for Nature nowhere else repeats the
picture. From the balconies of Guayaquil can be seen on
a clear day the long, towering range of the Andes. We
may forget all the incidents in our subsequent journey, but

Glimpse of the Andes. 33

the impression produced by that glorious view is unfading.
The sun had nearly touched the Pacific when the clouds,
which for days had wrapped the Cordilleras^ in misty robes,
suddenly rose like a curtain. There stood, in inconceivable
grandeur, one of the stupendous products of the last great
revolution of the earth's crust, as a geologist would say,
but, in the language of history, the lofty home of the In-
cas, made illustrious by tlie sword of Pizarro and the pen
of Prescott. On the right a sea of hills rose higher and
higher, till they culminated in the purple mountains of As-
suay. Far to the left, one hundred miles northeasterly,
the peerless Chimborazo lifted its untrodden and unap-
proachable summit above its fellows — an imposing back-
ground to lesser mountains and stately forests. The great
dome reflected dazzlingly the last blushes of the west, its
croT\Ti of snow fringed with black lines, which were the
steep and sharp edges of precipitous rocks. It was inter-
esting to watch the mellowing tints on the summit as the
shadows crept upward : gold, vermilion, violet, purple, were
followed by a momentary " glory ;" then darkness covered
the earth, and a host of stars, "trembling with excess of
light," burst suddenly into view over the peaks of the An-
des.

Bidding " adios" to our Guayaquilian friends, we took
passage in one of Captain Lee's little steamers to Bodegas,
seventy miles up the river. The Ecuadorian government,
strange to say, does not patronize these steamers, but car-
lies the Quito mail in a canoe. The Guayas is a sluggish
stream, its turbid watere starting from the slope of the

* Cordillera (pronounced Cor-de-yer-ra), literally a long ridge, is usually
applied to a longitudinal subdivision of the Andes, as the east and west Cor-
dilleras inclosing the valley of Quito ; Sierra (from the Spanish for saw or
Arabic sehrah, an uncultivated tract) is a jagged spur of the Andes ; Cerro,
"a hog-backed hill. " Paramo (a desert) is the treeless, uninhabited, uncul-
tivated rolling steppes just below the snow-limit.

c"

34: The Andes a^^d the Amazon.

Andes, and flowing through a low, level tract, covered with
varied forms of vegetable life. Forests of the broad-leaved
plantain and banana line the banks. The fruit is the most
common article of food in equatorial America, and is eaten
raw, roasted, baked, boiled, and fri^d. It grows on a suc-
culent stem formed of sheath-hke leaf-stalks rolled over
one another, and terminating in enormous light green,
glossy blades nearly ten feet long by two feet wide, so del-
icate that the slightest wind will tear them transversely.
Each tree (vulgarly called " the tree of paradise^') produces
fruit but once, and then dies. A single bunch often weighs
60 or 70 pounds ; and Humboldt calculated that 33 pounds
of wheat and 99 pounds of potatoes require the same space
of ground as will produce 4000 pounds of bananas. They
really save more labor than steam, giving the greatest
amount of food fi'om a given piece of ground with the
least labor. They are always found where the palm is ;
but their original home is the foot of the Himalayas. The
banana (by some botanists considered a different species
from the plantain) is about f om' inches long, and cylindric-
al, and is eaten raw. The plantain is twice as large and
prismatic, and uncooked is unliealthy. There is another
Y8irietj, platanos de Otaheite, which resembles the banana
in size and quality, but is prismatic.

A belt of jungle and impenetrable brushwood intervenes,
and then cacao and coffee plantations, vast in extent, ar-
rest the eye. Passing these, the steamer brings you along-
side of broad fields covered with the low, prickly pine-apple
plant ; the air is fragrant with a rich perfume wafted from
a neighboring grove of oranges and lemons ; the mango
spreads its dense, splendid f ohage, and bears a golden fi-uit,
which, though praised by many, tastes to us like a mixture
of tow and turpentine ; the exotic bread-tree waves its fig-
like leaves and pendent fruit ; while high over all the beau-

Babahoyo. — IIosPIT^^xITy. 35

tiful cocoarpalm lifts its crown of gloiy.^ Animal life
does not compare with this luxuriant growth. The steam-
er-bound traveler may see a few monkeys, a group of galli-
nazos, and many brilliant, though songless birds ; but the
chief representative is the lazy, ugly alhgator. Large num-
bers of these monsters may be seen on the mud-bank bask-
ing in the hot sun, or asleep with their mouths wide open.
Eio'ht hours after lea\dnoc the Malecon we arrived at Bo-
degas, a httle village of two thousand souls, rejoicing in
the s}Tionym of Babahoyo. This has been a place of de-
posit for the interior fi*om the earliest times. In the rainy
season the whole site is iiooded, and only the upper stories
are habitable. Cock-fighting seems to be the chief amuse-
ment. We brealvfasted with the governor, a portly gentle-
man w^ho kept a little dry-goods store. His excellency,
without waiting for a formal introduction, and with a cor-
diality and courtesy almost confined to the Latin nations,
received us into his own house, and honored us with a seat
at his private table, spread with the choicest viands of his
kingdom, ser\dng them himself with a grace to which we
can not do justice. Much as we find to condemn in tropic-
al society, we can not forget the kindness of these simple-
hearted people. Though we may portray, in the coming
pages, many faults and failings according to a Kew York
standard, we wish it to be understood that there is another
side to the picture ; that there are virtues on the Andes to
which the North is well-nigh a stranger. "How many
times (says an American resident of ten years) I have ar-

* The mango of Asia is superior in size and flavor to that of America. It
is eaten largely in Brazil by negroes and cattle. The cocoa-palm is also of
Asiatic origin, and is most abundant in Ceylon. It has a swollen stem when
young, but becomes straight and tall when mature. The flowers burst into a
long plume of soft, cream-colored blossoms. It is worthy of remembrance
that the most beautiful forms of vegetation in the tropics are at the same time
most useful to man.

36 The Axdes and the Amazon.

rived at a miserable hut in the heart of the mountains, tired
and hungry, after traveling all day without any other com-
panion than the arriero, to receive a warm-hearted wel-
come, the best, perhaps the only chair or hammock offered
to me, the fattest chicken in the yard killed on my account,
and more than once they have compelled me by force to
take the only good bed, because I must be tired, and should
have a good night's rest. A man may travel fi'om one end
of the Andes to the other, depending altogether on the
good people he meets."

At Bodegas travelers take to mules or horses for the
mountains, hiring one set for Guaranda and another at
tliat village for Quito ; muleteers seldom allow their ani-
mals to pass from one altitude to the other. These arrie-
ros, or muleteers, form a very important class in Ecuador.
Their little caravans are the only baggage and express
trains in the republic ; there is not a single regularly estab-
lished public conveyance in the land. The arriei'os and
their servants {jyeons) are Indians or half-breeds. They
wear a straw or felt hat, a poncho striped like an Arab's
blanket, and cotton breeches ending at the knees. For
food they carry a bag of parched corn, another bag of
roasted barley-meal {mashka), and a few red peppers.
The beasts are thin, decrepit jades, which threaten to give
out the first day ; yet they must carry you halfway up the
Andes. The distance to the capital is nearly two hundred
miles. The time required is usually eight or nine days ;
but officials often travel it in fom'.

We left Bodegas at noon. It was impossible to start
the muleteer a moment earlier, though he had promised. to
be ready at seven. Patience is a necessary qualification in
a South American traveler. In our company were a Jesuit
priest, with three attendants, going to Riobamba, and a
young Quito merchant, with his mother — the mother of

Bound for Quito.

37

only twenty-five children. This merchant had traveled in
the United States, and could not help contrasting the thrift
and enterprise of our country with the beggary and lazi-

ness of his own, adding, with a show of sincerity, " I am
sorry I have Spanish blood in my veins." The suburbs of
Bodegas reminded us of the outskirts of Caii'o ; but the
road soon entered a broad savannah instead of a sandy

38 The Andes and the Amazon.

desert. At 3 p.m. we passed through La Mona, a village of
twenty-five bamboo huts, all on stilts, for in the rainy sea-
son the whole town is under water. Signs of indolence
and neglect were every where visible. Idle men, mth an
uncertain mixture of European, Negro, and Indian blood ;
sad-looldng Quichua women, carrying a naked infant or
a red water-jar on the back ; black hogs and lean poultry
wandering at will into the houses — such is the picture of
the motley life in the inland villages. Strange was the
contrast between human poverty and natm-al wealth. We
were on the borders of a virgin forest, and the overpower-
ing beauty of the vegetation soon erased all memory of the
squalor and lifelessness of La Mona. Our road — a mere
path, suddenly entered this seemingly impenetrable forest,
where the branches crossed overhead, producing a delight-
ful shade. The curious forms of tropical life were all at-
tractive to one who had recently rambled over the com-
paratively bleak hills of Xew England. Delight is a weak
term to express the feehngs of a naturalist who for the
first time wanders in a South American forest. The su-
perb banana, the great charm of equatorial vegetation,
tossed out luxuriantly its glossy green leaves, eight feet in
length ; the slender but graceful bamboo shot heavenward,
straight as an arrow ; and many species of palm bore aloft
their feathery heads, inexpressibly liglit and elegant. On
the branches of the independent trees sat tufts of parasites,
many of them orchids, which are here epiphytal; and
countless creeping plants, whose long fiexible stems en-
twined snake-like around the trunks, or formed gigantic
loops and coils among the limbs. Beneath this world of
foliage above, thick beds of mimosse covered the ground,
and a boundless variety of ferns attracted the eye by their
beautifid patterns.* It is easy to specify the individual

* Ferns constitute one sixth of the flora of South America; Spruce counted

A Tropical Forest. 39

objects of admiration in these grand scenes, but it is
not possible to give an adequate idea of the higher feel-
ings of wonder, astonishment, and devotion which fill and
elevate the mind. This road to the Andes is a paradise to
the contemplative man. " There is something in a tropic-
al forest (says Bates) akin to the ocean in its effects on the
mind. Man feels so completely his insignificance, and the
vastness of nature." The German traveler Burmeister ob-
serves that " the contemplation of a Brazilian forest pro-
duced on him a painful impression, on account of the
vegetation displaying a spirit of restless selfishness, eager
emulation, and craftiness." He thought the softness, ear-
nestness, and repose of European woodland scenery were
far more pleasing, and that these formed one of the causes
of the superior moral character of European nations. Live
and let live is certainly not the maxim taught in these
tropical forests, and it is equally clear that selfishness is
not wanting among the people. Here, in view of so much
competition among organized beings, is the spot to study
Darwin's " Origin of Species." We have thought that the
vegetation under the equator was a fitter emblem of the
human world than the forests of our temperate zone.
There is here no set time for decay and death, but we
stand amid the living and the dead ; flowers and leaves
are falling, while fresh ones are budding into life. Then,
too, the numerous parasitic plants, making use of their
neighbors as instruments for their own advancement, not
inaptly represent a certain human class.

140 species within the space of three square miles. Their limits of growth
are 500 and 7000 feet above the sea.

40 The Andes aito the Amazon.

CHAPTEE II.

Our Tambo. — Ascending the Andes. — Camino Real. — Magnificent Views. —
Guaranda. — Cinchona. — The Summit. — Chimboi-azo. — Over the Andes. —
Chuquipoyo the Wretched. — Ambato. — A Stupid City. — Cotopaxi. — The
Vale of Machachi. — Arrival at Quito.

We reached Savaneta at 5 p.m. This little Yillas^e of
hardly twenty houses becomes the Bodegas, or place of de-
posit for the mountains six months in the year, for in the
invierno the roads are flooded, and canoes take the place
of mules from Savaneta to Babahoyo. Even in the dry
season the dampness of this wilderness is so great that the
traveler's sugar and chocolate are melted into one, and en-
velopes seal themselves. We put up at a tamho, or way-
side inn, a simple tw^o-storied bamboo hovel, thatched w^ith
plantain leaves without and plastered with cobwebs with-
in, yet a palace compared ^\dth what sheltered us afterward.
The only habitable part was the second story, wliich was
reached by a couple of notched bamboo sticks. A ham-
mock, two earthen kettles, two plates, and a few calabashes
constituted the household furniture. The dormitory was
well ventilated, for two sides were open. Our lodging,
however, cost us nothing ; travelers only pay for yerha for
their beasts. Though this has been the royal road to Quito
for three centuries, there is but onQjjosada between Guay-
aquil and Ambato, a distance of one hundred and fifty
miles ; travelers must carry their own bedding and provi-
sions.

Leaving Savaneta at dawm, and breakfasting at a wayside
hut owned by an old negro, we struck about noon the Eio
Charriguajaco, dashing do^\m the mountains in hot haste
for the Guayas. It was refreshing to look upon living wa-

Ascending the Andes.

Up the Andes. 43

ters for the first time since leaving the hills of onr native
country. Fording this stream we know not how many
times, and winding through the dense forest in narrow
paths often blockaded by laden donkeys that doggedly dis-
puted the passage, we soon found ourselves slowly creeping
up the Andes. We frequently met mountaineers on their
way to Bodegas with loads of potatoes, peas, barley, fowls,
eggs, etc. They are generally accompanied by their wives
or daughters, who ride like the men, but with the knees
tucked up higher. On the slippeiy tracks wliicli traverse
this western slope, bulls are often used as beasts of burden,
the cloven hoofs enabling them to descend with great secu-
rity. But mules are better than horses or asses. " That a
hybrid (muses Darwin) should possess more reason, memo-
ry, obstinacy, social affection, powers of muscular endur-
ance, and length of life than either of its parents, seems to
indicate that art has here outdone nature."

Toward- evening the ascent became rapid and the road
horrible beyond conception, growing narrower and rough-
er as we advanced. Indeed, our way had long since ceased
to be a road. In the dense forest, where sunshine never
comes, rocks, mud, and fallen trees in rapid alternation
macadamize the path, save where it turns up the bed of a
babbling brook. In the comparatively level tracts, the
equable step of the beasts has worn the soil into deep
transverse ridges, called camellones, from their resemblance
to the humps on a camel's back. In the precipitous parts
the road is only a gully worn by the transit of men and
beasts for ages, aided by torrents of water in the rainy sea-
son. As we ascend, this changes to a rocky staircase, so
strait that one must throw up his legs to sa^^ them from
being crushed, and so steep that horse and rider run the
risk of turning a somersault. It is fearful to meet in a
narrow defile, or where the road winds around the edge of

44 The Andes and the Amazon.

a precipice, a drove of reckless donkeys and mules descend-
ing the mountain, urged 'on by the cries and lashes of the
muleteers behind. Yet this has been the highway of Ecu-
adorian commerce for three hundred years. In vain we
tried to reach the httle village of Camino Keal on the
crest of the ridge ; but the night was advancing rapidly,
and crawling up such a road by starlight was not a little
dangerous. So we put up at a miserable tambo^ Pogyos by
name. It was a mud hut of the rudest kind, windowless
and unfloored; very clean, if it had been left to nature,
but man and beast had rendered it intolerably filthy. Our
hostess, a Quichua woman, with tattered garments, and hair
disheveled and standing up as if electrified, set a kettle on
three stones, and, making a fire under it, prepared for us a
calabash of chicken and locro. Locro, the national dish in
the mountains, is in i)lain English simply potato soup. Sit-
ting on the ground, we partook of this refreshment by the
aid of fingers and wooden spoons, enticing our appetites by
the reflection that potato soup would support life. The
unkempt Indian by our side, grinning in conscious pride
over her successful cookery, did not aid us in this matter.
Fire is used in Ecuador solely for culinary purposes, not
for warmth. It is made at no particular spot on the mud
floor, and there is no particular orifice for the exit of the
smoke save the chinks in the wall. There is not a chim-
ney in the whole republic. As the spare room in the es-
tablishment belonged to the women, we gentlemen slept on
the ground outside, or on beds made of round poles. The
night was piercingly cold. The wished-for morning came
at last, and long before the smi looked over the mountains
we were on our march. It was the same terrible road,
running zigzag, or " quingo" fashion, up to Camino Eeal,
where it was suddenly converted into a royal highway.
We were now fairly out of the swamps of the lowlands.

Chimboeazo. 45

and, though under the equator, out of the tropics too. The
fresh mountain breeze and the chilly mists announced a
change of climate.* Fevers and dysenteries, snakes and
musquitoes, the plantain and the palm, we had left behind.
Camino Real is a huddle of eight or ten dwellings perch-
ed on the summit of a sierra a thousand feet higher than
the top of Momit Washington. The views from this stand-
point compensate for all past troubles. The wild chaos of
mountains on every side, broken by profound ravines, the
heaps of ruins piled up during the lapse of geologic ages,
the intense azure of the sky, and the kingly condor majes-
tically wheeling around the still higher pinnacles, make up
a picture rarely to be seen. Westward, the mountains tum-
ble down into hills and spread out into plains, which, in the
far distant horizon, dip into the great Pacific. The setting
sun turns the ocean into a sheet of liquid fire. Long col-
umns of purple light shoot up to the zenith, and as the last
point of the sun sinks beneath the horizon, the stars rush
out in full splendor ; for at the equator day gives place to
night with only an hour and twenty minutes of twilight.
The mountains are Alpine, yet grander than the Alps ; not
so ragged as the granite peaks of Switzerland, but with
rounder heads. The prospect down this occidental slope is
diversified by deep valleys, landslides, and flowering trees.
Magnificent are the views eastward,

" Where Andes, giant of the western star,
Looks from his throne of clouds o'er half the world."

The majestic dome of Chimboi-azo was entirely uncovered
of clouds, and presented a most splendid spectacle. There
it stood, its snow-white summit, unsullied by the foot of
man, towering up twice as high as Etna. For many years

* The altitude of 7000 feet is the usual limit of the rain-line on the west
slope of the Andes. The condensation which produces rain takes place at
the equator two or three times higher than in our latitude.

46 The Aot)es akd the A:mazon.

it received the homage of the world as the highest point in
America; but now the Aconcagua of Chile claims the
palm. Stillj what a panorama from the top of Chimbo-
razo, could one reach it, for the eje would command ten
thousand square miles !

Our road gently winds down the sierra, giving us at ev-
ery turn sublime ideas of what natm-e can do in tossing uj)
the thin crust of our glol)e. But sublimity is at a discount
here — there is too much of it. Suddenly we are looking
down into the enchanting valley of Chimbo. This ro-
mantic and secluded spot is one of those forgotten corners
of the earth which, barricaded against the march of civ-
ilization by almost impassable mountains, and inhabited
by a thriftless race, has been left far behind in the prog-
ress of mankind. Distance lends enchantment to the view.
We are reminded of the pastoral vales of New England.
Wheat takes the place of the sugar-cane, barley of cacao,
potatoes of plantains, and turnips of oranges. Bamboo
sheds have given way to neatly whitewashed \illages, and
the fields are fenced with rows of aloe. But, drawing
nearer, we find the habitations are in reality miserable mud
hovels, without windows, and tenanted by vermin and rag-
ged poverty. There are herds of cattle and fields of grain ;
yet we shall not find a quart of milk or a loaf of bread for
sale. The descent into the valley is very precipitous, and,
after a rain, alarmingly slippery. Mules, drawing their
legs together, slide down with startling velocity, and follow
the windings with marvelous dexterity.

We arrived at Guaranda at 5 p.m. on the tliird day
after leaving Bodegas. This is a desolate town of two
thousand souls, dwelling in low dilapidated huts made of
the most common building material in the Andes — adohe^
or sun-dried blocks of mud mingled with straw.* The

* From adouh^ an Egyptian word still used by the Copts ; carried by the

GUAEANDA. 47

streets are rudely paved, and pitch to the centre, to form
an aqueduct, like the streets of old Sychar. The inhabit-
ants are in happy ignorance of the outside world. They
pass the day without a thought of work, standing on the
Plaza, or in front of some public office, staring vacantly
into space, or gossiping. A cock-fight will soonest rouse
them from their lethargy. They seem to have no purpose
in life but to keep warm under their ponchos and to eat
when they are hungry. Guaranda is a healthy locality, ly-
ing in a deep valley on the west bank of the Chimbo, at an
elevation, according to our barometer, of 8840 feet, and
having a mean temperature slightly less than that of Quito.
It is a place of importance, inasmuch as it is the resting-
place before ascending or after descending the still loftier
ranges, and much more because it is the capital of the re-
gion which yields the invaluable cincliona^ or Peruvian
bark.* This tree is indigenous to the Andes, where it is
found on the western slope between the altitudes of two
thousand and nine thousand feet, the species richest in alka-
loids occupying the higher elevations, where the air is moist.
Dr. Weddell enumerates twenty-one species, seven of which
are now found in Ecuador, but the only one of value is the
the C. siocciricbra (the ccdisaya has run out), and this is no^v
nearly extinct, as the trees have been destroyed to obtain
the bark. This species is a beautiful tree, having large,
broadly oval, deep green, shining leaves, white, fragrant
flowers, and red bark, and sometimes, though rarely, attains
the height of sixty feet. A tree five feet in circumference

Moors to Spain, thence to America ; and from America the word has gone
to the Sandwich Islands.

* This celebrated febrifuge was first taken to Europe about the middle of
the seventeenth century, and was named after the Countess of Chinchon, who
had been cured of intermittent. fever at Lima. Afterward, when Cardinal de
Lugo spread the knowledge of the remedy through France, and recommend-
ed it to Cardinal Mazaiin, it received the name of Jesuits' Bark. The French
chemists, Pelletier and Caverton, discovered quinine in 1820.

48 The Andes and the Amazon.

will yield fifteen hundred pounds of green bark, or eight
hundred of the dry. The roots contain the most alkaloid,
though the branches are usually barked for commerce.
The true cinchona barks, containing quinine, quinidine, and
cinchonine, are distinguished from the false by their splin-
tery-fibrous texture, the latter being pre-eminently corky.
The cascarilleros begin to hunt for bark in August. Dr. Tay-
lor, of Riobamba, found one tree which gave $3600 worth
of quinine. The general yield is from three to 'G.ye pounds
to a quintal of bark. The tree has been successfully trans-
planted to the United States, and particularly to India,
where there are now over a million of plants. It was in-
troduced into India by Markham in 1861. The bark is
said to be stronger than that from Ecuador, yielding twice
as much alkaloid, or eleven per cent. The quinine of
commerce will doubtless come hereafter from the slopes
of the Himalayas instead of the Andes. In 1867 only five
thousand poimds of bark were exported from Guayaquil.
The Indians use the bark of another tree, the Maravilla,
which is said to yield a much stronger alkaloid than cin-
chona. It grows near Pallatanga.

We left Guaranda at 5 a.m. by the light of Yenus and
Orion, having exchanged our horses for the sure-footed
mule. It was a romantip ride. From a neighboring stand-
point Church took one of his celebrated views of "The
Heart of the Andes." But the road, as aforetime, was a
mere fiirrow, made and kept by the tread of beasts. For
a long distance the track runs over the projecting and jag-
ged edges of steeply-inclined strata of slate, which nobody
has had the energy to smooth down. At many places on
the road side were human skulls, set in niches in the bank,
telling tales of suffering in their ghastly silence ; while here
and there a narrow passage was blocked up by the skeleton
or carcass of a beast that had borne its last burden. At

The Top of the Andes. 49

nine o'clock we came out on a narrow, grassy ridge called
the Ensillada, or Saddleback, where there were three straw
huts, with roofs resting on the ground, and there we break-
fasted on locro. Dui-ing our stay the Indians killed a pig,
and before the creature was fairly dead dry grass was heap-
ed upon it and set on fire. This is the ordinary method of
removing the bristles.

Still ascending, we lose sight of the valley of the Cliim-
bo, and find ourselves in a wilderness of crags and treeless
mountains clothed with the long, dreary -looking paramo
grass called Jpobja. But we are face to face with " the mon-
arch of the Andes-," and we shall have its company the rest
of the day. The snowy dome is flooded with the gold-
en light of heaven; delicate clouds of softest hues float
around its breast ; while, far below, its feet are wrapped in
the baser mists of earth. We attained the summit of the
pass at 11 A.M. All travelers strive to reach it early in the
morning, for in the afternoon it is swept by violent winds
which render it uncomfortable, if not dangerous. This
part of the road is called the " Arenal," from the sand and
gravel which cover it. It is about a league in length, and
crosses the side of Chimborazo at an elevation of more than
fourteen thousand feet. Chimborazo stands on the left of
the traveler. How tantalizing its summit ! It appears so
easy of access ; and yet many a valiant philosopher, from
Humboldt down, has panted for the glory and failed. The
depth of the snow and numerous precipices are the chief
obstacles ; but the excessively rarefied air is another liin-
derance. Even in crossing the Arenal, a native of the low-
lands complains of violent headache, a proj)ensity to vomit,
and a difiiculty of breathing. The Arenal is often swept
by snow-storms ; and history has it that some of the Span-
ish conquerors were here frozen to death. The pale ^^ellow
gravel is considered by some geologists as the moraine of a

D

50 The Andes and the Amazon.

glacier. It is spread out like a broad gravel walk, so that,
without exaggeration, one of the best roads in Ecuador has
been made by Nature's hand on the crest of the Andes.

It was interesting to trace the different hypsometrical
zones by the change of vegetation from Bodegas to this
lofty spot. The laws of the decrease of heat are plainly
written on the rapid slopes of the Cordilleras. On the hot,
steaming lowlands of the coast reign bananas and pahns.
As these thin out, tree-ferns take their place. Losing these,
we found the cinchona bedewed by the cool clouds of
Guaranda ; and last of all, among the trees, the polylepis.
The twisted, gnarled trunk of this tree, as well as its size
and silvery fohage, reminded us of the olive, but the bark
resembles that of the birch. It reaches the greatest eleva-
tion of any tree on the globe. Then followed shrubby
fuchsia, calceolaria, eupatoria, and red and purple gen-
tians ; around and on the Arenal, a uniform mantle of
monocotyledonous plants, with scattered tufts of Valeriana,
viola, and geranium, all with rigid leaves in the character-
istic rosettes of super-alpine vegetation; and on the por-
phyritic and trachytic sides of Chimborazo, lichens alone.
Snow tlien covers the last effort of vegetable life.* The
change in the architecture of the houses indicated, like-
wise, a change of altitude. The open bamboo huts, shin-
gled with banana leaves, were followed by warmer adobe
houses, and these, in turn, by the straw hovels of the
mountain-top, made entirely of the long, wiry grass of the
paramos.

* According to Sir J. Hooker, among the flowers which adorn the slopes
of the Himalayas, rhododendrons occupy the most prominent place, and
primroses next. There are no orchids, neither red gentians, but blue. Or-
ganic life ceases 3000 feet lower than on the Andes ; yet it is affirmed that
flowering plants occm* at the height of 18,460 feet, which is equivalent to the
summit of Chimborazo in point of temperature I The polylepis (P. racemosa)
is one of the Sanguisorhacece ; in Quichua it is Sachaqianoa.

Chuqijipoyo. 51

Leaving the Arenal, we rapidly descended by the usual
style of road — stone stairs. But down we went, as all the
good^ for Quito, " the grand capital," have done since the
Spanish Conquest. The old road from Beirut to Damas-
cus is royal in comparison. The general aspect of the
eastern slope is that of a gray, barren waste, overgrown
with jpaja ; but now and then we crossed deep guUeys,
whose sides were lined with mosses and sprinkled with
calceolarias, lupines, etc. In our descent we had before us
the magnificent Yalley of Quito, and beyond it the east-
ern Cordillera. Below us was Biobamba, and far away to
the right the deep gorge of the Pastassa. IS^evertheless,
this is one of the loneliest rides earth can fm-nish." Not a
tree nor human habitation is in sight. Icy rivulets and
mule-trains are the only moving objects on this melan-
choly heath. Even " Drake's Plantation Bitters," painted
on the volcanic cliffs of Chimborazo, would be a relief.

At last we reached our rude accommodations for the
night. It was a solitary mud tambo, glor^dng in the eu-
phonious name of Chuquipoyo. The court-yard was a sea
of mud and manure, for this is the halting-place for all
the caravans between Quito and the coast. Our room was
a horrid hole, dark, dirty, damp, and cold, without a win-
dow or a fire. There was one old rickety bedstead, but
as that belonged to the lady in our party, the rest betook
themselves to benches, table, and floor. We filled our
stomachs with an unpalatable potato soup containing
cheese and eggs, and laid down — to wait for the morning.
Grass is the only fuel here ; but this is not the chief reason
why it is so diflicult to make good tea or cook potatoes at
this wretched tambo. Water boils at 190°, or before it is
fairly hot : it is well the potatoes are small. The mule-
teers slept with their beasts outside, though the niglit was
fearfully cold, for Chuquipoyo lies on the frigid side of

52 The Andes and the Amazon.

Chimborazo, at an elevation of over twelve thousand feet
above the sea. As Johnson said to Boswell, " This is a
dolorous place."

Gladly we left this cheerless tambo, though a cold, heav}-
mist was f alhng as we rode northward, over the seemingly
endless paramo of Sanancajas. Here, as throughout the
highlands of Ecuador, ditches are used for fences ; so that,
should the traveler wander from the path, he finds himself
stopped by an impassable gulf. In two hours and a half
we readied Mocha, a lifeless pueblo under the shadow of
Carguairazo. Slowly descending from our high altitude,
we gradually entered a more congenial climate — the zone
of wheat and barley, till, finally, signs of an eternal spring
were all around us — ripening corn on one side, and blos-
soming peas on the other.

Late in the afternoon the road led us through a sandy,
sterile tract, till suddenly we came in sight of Ambato,
beautifully situated in a deep ravine, eight thousand ^xe
hundred and fifty feet above the Pacific. The city ranks
next to Quito in beauty. It is certainly an oasis, the green
foliage of its numerous shade-trees and orchards contrast-
ing witii the barren hills around. It is two degrees warm-
er than Quito, and is famous for its fruit and fine climate.
It is the Lynn of Ecuador, the chief articles of manufac-
ture being boots and shoes — cheap, but of poor quality.
It was destroyed by an earthquake in 1698. The houses
are built of sun-dried brick, and whitewashed. The streets,
with gutters in the centre, are at right angles, and paved,
and adorned mth numerous cypress-looking trees, called
sauce, a species of willow. The Plaza, which contains a
useful if not ornamental fountain, presents a lively scene
on Sunday, the great market-day. The inn is a fair speci-
men of a public house in Spanish America. Ai'ound the
court-yard, where the beasts are fed, are three or four

CuNCHEBAJklBA. — LatACUNGA. 53

rooms to let. They are ventilated only when opened for
travelers. The floor is of brick, but alive with fleas ; the
w^alls are plastered, but veiled with cobwebs. The furni-
ture, of primitive make and covered with dust, consists of
a chair or two, a table, and a bed of boards covered with
a thin straw mat. There is not a hotel in Ecuador where
sheets and towels are furnished. The landlords are sel-
dom seen ; the entire management of the concern is left
to a slovenly Indian boy, who is both cook and hostler.
No amount of bribery will secure a meal in less than two
hours. Ten years ago there was not a posada in the coun-
try; now there is entertainment for man and beast at
Guayaquil, Guaranda, Mocha, Ambato, Tacunga, Macha-
chi, and Quito. Riobamba has a billiard saloon, but no inn.
Leaving Ambato, we breakfasted at Cunchebamba, an In-
dian village of half a dozen straw huts. Thence the road
for a long distance winds through vast deposits of volcanic
debris, the only sign of vegetation being hedges of aloe and
cactus. Arid hills and dreary plains, covered with plutonic
rocks and pumice dust, tell us we are approaching the most
terrible volcano on the earth. Crossing the sources of the
Pastassa, we entered Latacunga,* situated on a beautiful
plain at the foot of Cotopaxi, seven hundred feet higher
than Ambato. Its average temperature is 59°. The pop-
ulation, chiefly Indians, numbers about fifteen thousand. It
is the dullest city in Ecuador, without the show of enter-
-prise or business. Kot even grass grows in the streets —
the usual sign of life in the Spanish towns. It is also one
of the filthiest ; and though it has been many times thor-
oughly shaken by earthquakes, and buried under showers
of volcanic dust, it is still the paradise of fleas, which have
survived every revolution. Ida Pfeiffer says that, after a

* This is shortened in parlance to Tacunga. The full name, according to
La Condaraine, is Llacta-cunga, llacta meaning country, and cunga, neck.

54 The Andes akd the Amazon.

night's rest in Latacmiga, she awoke with her skin marked
all over with red spots, as if from an eruptive disease. We
can certify that we have been tattoed without the night's
rest. The town has a most stupid and forlorn aspect.
Half of it is in ruins. It was four times destroyed between
1698 and 1797. In 1756 the Jesuit church was thrown
down, though its walls were 'Qye feet thick. The houses
are of one story, and built of pumice, widely different from
the palaces and temples which are said to have stood here
in the palmy days of the Incas. Cotopaxi stands threaten-
ingly near, and its rumbling thunder is the source of con-
stant alarm.

From Latacunga to Quito there is a very fine carriage
road, the result of one man's administration — Senor G.
Garcia Moreno. For many miles it passes over an unculti-
vated plateau, strewn with volcanic fragments. The farms
are confined to the slopes of the Cordilleras, and, as every
where else, the tumbling haciendas indicate the increasing
poverty of the owner. Superstition and indolence go hand
in hand. On a great rock rising out of the sandy plain they
show a print of the foot of St. Bartholomew, who alighted
here on a visit — sm-ely to the volcanoes, as it was long be-
fore the red man had found this valley. Abreast of Coto-
paxi the road cuts through high hills of fine pumice inter-
stratified with black earth, and rapidly ascends till it reach-
es Tiupullo, eleven thousand five hundred feet above the
sea. This high ridge,^ stretching across the valley from
Cotopaxi to Iliniza, is a part of the great water-shed of
the continent — the waters on the southern slope fiowing
through the Pastassa and Amazon to the Atlantic, those
on the north finding their way to the Pacific by the Pio
Esmeraldas. At this bleak place we breakfasted on punch
and guinea-pig.

* Sometimes called Chisinche.

Beautiful Yiew. 55

As soon as we began to descend, the glittering cone of
Cotopaxi, and the gloomy plain it has so often devastated,
passed out of view, and before us was a green valley ex-
ceedingly rich and well cultivated, girt by a wall of moun-
tains, the towers of which were the peaks of Corazon and
Eumiiiagui. Loathsome lepers by the wayside alone dis-
turbed the pleasing impression. Three hours more of trav-
el brought us to the straggling village of Machachi, stand-
ing in the centre of the beautiful plain, at an altitude of
nine thousand nine hundred feet. Nature designed tliis
spot for a home of plenty and comfort, but the habitations
of the wretched proprietors are windowless adobe hovels,
thatched with dried grass, and notorious for their filth.

We must needs make one more ascent, for the ridge of
Tambillo hides the goal of our journey. The moment we
reached the summit, views unparalleled in the Andes or
any wdiere else met our astonished vision wliithersoever we
looked. Far away to the south stretched the two Cordil-
leras, till they were lost in the mist which enshrouded Chim-
borazo and Tunguragua. Turning to the north, we beheld
the city of Quito at our feet, and Pichincha and Antisana
standing like gallant sentinels on either side of the proud
capital. Beautiful Avere the towering mountains, and al-
most as delightful now are the memories of that hour. A
broad, well-traveled road, gentlemen on horseback clad in
rich ponchos, droves of Indians bowed under their heav}^
bm'dens, and long lines of laden donkeys hm-rying to and
fro, indicate our approach to a great city. Winding with
the road through green pastures and fields of ripening
grain, and crossing the Machangara by an elegant bridge,
we enter the city of tlie Incas.

56 The Andes and the Ajviazon.

CHAPTER III.

Early History of Quito. — Its Splendor under the Incas. — Crushed by Spain.
— Dying now. — Situation. — Altitude. — Streets. — Buildings.

Quito is better known than Ecuador. Its primeval his-
tory, however, is lost in obscurity. In the language of
Prescott, " the mists of fable have settled as darkly round
its history as round that of any nation, ancient or modern,
in the Old World." Founded, nobody knows when, by the
kings of the Quitus, it was conquered about the year 1000
by a more civilized race, the Cara nation, who added to it
by conquest and alliance. The fame of the region excited
the cupidity of the Incas of Peru, and during the reign of
Cacha (1475), Huayna-Capac the Great moved his army
from Cuzco, and by the celebrated battle of Hatuntaqui, in
which Cacha was killed, Quito was added to the realm of
the Incas. Huapia-Capac made Quito his residence, and
reigned there thirty-eight years — the most brilliant epoch
in the annals of the city. At his death his kingdom was
divided, one son, Atahuallpa,"^ reigning in Quito, and Huas-
car at Cuzco. Civil war ensued, in which the latter was
defeated, and Atahuallpa was chosen Inca of the whole em-
.pire, 1532. During this war Pizarro arrived at Tumbez.
Every body knows what followed. Strangled at Caxamar-
ca, the body of Atahuallpa was carried to Quito, the city of
his birth, in compliance with his dying wish, and buried
there with imposing obsequies. Eefounded by Benalcazar

* The son of his Quito love. The name was first written AtauhuaJlpa,
meaning fortunate in war; after the fratricide, he was C2i\\Qdi Atahvallpa, or
game-cock. He was the Boabdil of this occidental Granada. He is called
traitor by Peruvian writers, and is not admitted by them into the list of their
Incas.

Spanish Quito. 57

in 1534, Quito was created an imperial city by Charles Y.
seven years later. It formed part of Peru till 1710 ; then
of Santa Fe till 1722 ; and again of Peru till its independ-
ence. The power of Spain in South America was destroy-
ed at the battle of Ayacucho, Dec. 9, 1824. In 1830 Yen-
ezuela separated from Colombia, and Ecuador followed the
same year. The first Congress was held in Piobamba ; but
Quito has ever since been the political focus. The first pres-
ident was General Flores.

Under the diadem of the Incas, Quito assumed a mag-
nificence wliicli it never saw before and has not displayed
since. It was the worthy metropolis of a vast empire
stretching from the equator to the desert of Atacama, and
walled in by the grandest group of mountains in the world.
On this lofty site, which amid the Alps would be buried in
an avalanche of snow, but within the tropics enjoys an eter-
nal spring, palaces more beautiful than the Alhambra were
erected, glittering with the gold and emerald of the Andes.
But all this splendor passed away with the sceptre of Ata-
huallpa. Wliere the pavilion of the Inca stood is now a
gloomy convent, and a wheat-field takes the place of the
Temple of the Sun.

The colonial history of this favored spot is as lifeless as
the history of Sahara. 'Not a single event occurred of
which even Spain can be proud ; not a monument was
raised which reflects any credit upon the mother country.
Every thing was prescribed by law, and all law emanated
from a tribunal five thousand miles distant. There was no
relation of private life Avith which the government did not
interfere : what the colonist should plant and what trade
he should follow ; where he should buy and where he
should sell ; how much he should import and export ; and
where and when he should marry, were regulated by the
" Council of the Indies" and the Inquisition. In tlie words

58 The Andes and the Amazon.

of a native writer, " The great majority of the people knew
nothing of sciences, events, or men. Their religion con-
sisted of outward observances, and an imperfect knowledge
of the papal bulls ; their morality, in asceticism and devo-
tion to their king ; their philosophy, in the subtleties of
Aristotle ; their history, in the history of the mother coun-
try ; their geography, in the maps of Spanish America and
of Spain ; their press, in what sufliced to print bill-heads
and blank forms ; their commerce, in an insignificant coast-
ing trade ; their ambition and highest aspirations, in titles
of nobility ; their amusements, in bull-fights. The arrival
of a mail was an event of great moment, and with ringing of
bells was received the cajon de Espana which announced
the health of the sovereigns. Thus, while Europe was pass-
ing through the stormy times of Louis XIY. ; while the
philosophical writings of the illustrious men of those times
found their way into the remotest corners of the globe;
while the English colonies of North America conquered
their independence ; while the Old World was drenched in
blood to propagate the ideas which the French Revolution
had proclaimed, the Presidency of Quito, walled in by its
immense Cordilleras and the ocean, and ruled by monkish
ignorance and bigotry, knew as little of men and events as
we now know of men and events in the moon.""^

From an iron despotism which existed for three centu-
ries, Quito passed to a state of unbridled licentiousness.
Without any. political experience whatever, the people at-
tempted to lay the foundation of a new system of govern-
ment and society. With head and hearts perverted by
monkish superstition and Spanish tyranny, yet set on fire
by the French Revolution, what did they know of liberty !

* Geografia de la Repuhlica del Ecuador, por Dr. Villavicencio. This work
abounds with erroneous and exaggerated statements, but it is nevertheless a
valuable contribution to Ecuadorian literature.

" The Navel of the World." 59

Endless civil wars have followed independence. " Politic-
al ambition," says a late United States minister, " personal
jealousies, impracticable theories, official venahty, reckless
disregard of individual rights and legal obligations, foolish
meddling and empirical legislation, and an absolute want
of political morality, form the principal featm-es of their
republican history."^^ To-day they tread on the dust of an
ancient race whose government was in every respect a most
complete contrast to their own.

At the foot of volcanic Pichincha, only ^ve hours' travel
from its smoking crater, lies " the city above the clouds,"
" the navel of the world," " magnificent Quito." On the
north is the plain of Rumibamba, the battle-field where
Gonzalo Pizarro routed the first viceroy of Peru, and the
scene, two centuries later, of the nobler achievements of La
Condamine, which made it the classic ground of astronomy.
On the southern edge of the city rises Panecillo, remind-
ing one of Momit Tabor by its symmetrical form, and over-
looking the beautiful and well-watered plain of Turubam-
ba. On the east fiows the Rio Machangara, and just be-
yond it stand the Puengasi hills hiding the Chillo valley,
while the weary sun goes early to rest behind the towering
peaks of Pichincha. So encircled is this sequestered spot,
the traveler, approaching by the Guayaquil road, sees only
a part of it, and is disappointed ; and even when standing
on Panecillo, with the entire city spread out before him, he
is not wholly satisfied. Buried between treeless, sombre
sierras, and isolated from the rest of the world by impass-
able roads and gigantic Cordilleras, Quito appears to us of
the commercial nineteenth century as useless as the old feu-
dal towns perched on the mountains of Middle Europe.

* Four Years among Spanish Americans, by Hon. F. HassaureJc : a truthful
work, to which we refer the reader for details, especially concerning Ecuado-
rian life and manners.

60 The Andes and the xImazon.

IS'ot a chimney rises above tlie red-tiled roofs, telling of
homely hearths beneath. 'No busy hum greets the ear;
there ^ are bugles instead of spindles, and jingling church
bells in place of rattling carriages. The wandering eye
does not look, for a railroad or a telegraph, for even the
highways, such as they are, seem deserted, and, save the
music made for soldiers and saints, all is silent. The very
mountains, too, with their snow-mantled heads, and their
sides scarred by volcanic eruptions and ruptured by earth-
quake shocks, have a melancholy look. In the words of a
great artist, " They look like a world from wdiich not only
the human, but the spiritual presences had perished, and the
last of the archangels, building the great Andes for their
monuments, had laid themselves down to eternal rest, each
in his snow-white shroud."

But let us enter. Passing the ruined chapel " Del Senor
del buen pasaje," and crossing by a substantial stone bridge
the little Machangara hastening to pay tribute to the Pa-
cific, we leave behind us the dirty, dilapidated suburbs of
the capital. Soon we cross another bridge — the Bridge of
Buzzards — spanning a deep ravine, and gallop through the
Plaza de Santo Domingo. Yery different are the sights
and sounds from the stir and style of Central Park. The
scene has a semi-oriental cast — half Indian, half Egyptian,
as if this were the confluence of the Maranon and Mle.
Groups of men — not crowds, for there is plenty of elbow-
room in Ecuador — in gay ponchos stand chatting in front
of little shops, or lean against the wall to enjoy the sun-
shine ; beggars in rags or sackcloth stretch forth their lep-
rous hands for charity; monks in white, and canons in
black, walk in the shade of immense hats ; shoeless soldiers
saunter to and fro ; Indians fi'om the mountains in every
variety of costume cluster around heaps of vegetables for
sale; women in red, brown, and blue frocks are peddling

Quito, from the North. . 61

■^iaiiiiiiSii

oranges and alligator pears, or bearing huge bnrdens on
their heads ; children, guiltless of clothing, and obtuse don-
keys, wander whithersoever they will ; and water-carriers,
filling their jars at the fountain, start off on a dog-trot.

We cross the Plaza diagonally, pass down the Calle de
San Fernando, up the Calle del Algodon, and through the
busy Calle del Correo, till we reach the Casa Frances^ op-
posite the mansion of the late General Flores. This is our

62

The Andes and the Amazon.

hotel — owned by a Frenchman, but kept by an Indian. We
ride under the low archway, bowing with ill grace, like all
republicans unaccustomed to royalty, tie our beasts in the
court-yard, ascend to our spacious quarters on the second
floor, and, ordering coffee, seat ourselves in the beautiful
balcony to talk of Quito and Quitonians.

Water-carriers.

Quito, though not the highest city on the globe, is two
thousand feet higher than the Hospice of Great St. Bernard
on the Alps, which is the only permanent place of abode in
Europe above six thousand five hundred feet. When Mr.
Hassaurek was appointed United States Minister to Ecua-
dor, he thanked Mr. Lincoln for conferring upon him the
highest gift in his power. The mean result of our numer-
ous observations with Green's standard barometer places

Situation of Quito.

63

the Grand Plaza nine thousand five hundred and twenty
feet above the sea, or fifty feet lower than the calculation
of Humboldt. Water boils at lOtt^.S. Cuzco and Potosi
may surpass it in altitude, but there is not a city in the
world which can show at once such a genial climate, such
magnificent views, and such a checkered history. It is
unique likewise in its latitude, lying only fifteen miles be-
low the equator ; no other capital comes within three hun-
dred miles of the equinoctial line.

Street iii Quito.

Whatever may have been the plan of Quito in the days
of Huayna-Capac, it is evident that the Sj^anish founders
were guided more by the spurs of Pichincha than by as-

64 The Andes and the Amazon.

tronomy. The streets make an angle of f orty-jS.ve degrees
with the meridian, so that not a single public building faces
any one of the four cardinal points of the compass. Two
deep ravines come down the mountain, and traverse the
city from west to east. They are mostly covered by arches,
on which the houses rest ; but where they are open, they
disclose as fit representatives of the place of torment as the^^
Yalley of Hinnom. The outline of the city is as irregular
as its surface. It incloses one square mile. Twenty streets,
all of them straiter than the apostolic one in Damascus,
cross one another very nearly at right angles. None of
them are too wide, and the walks are painfully narrow ;
but, thanks to Garcia Moreno, they are well paved. The
inequality of the site, and its elevation above the Machan-
gara, render the drainage perfect.* The streets are dimly
lighted by tallow candles, every householder being obliged
to hang out a lantern at 7 p.m., unless there is moonshine.
The candles, however, usually expire about ten o'clock.
There are three " squares" — Plaza Mayor, Plaza de San
Francisco, and Plaza de Santo Domingo. The first is three
hundred feet square, and adorned with trees and fiowers ;
the others are dusty and unpaved, being used as market-
places, where Indians and donkeys most do congregate.
All the plazas have fountains fed with pm-e water from
Pichincha.

Few buildings 'can boast of architectural beauty, yet
Quito looks palatial to the traveler who has just emerged

* The following quotation, however, is true to the letter, and will apply
equally well to Guayaquil and to Madrid — the mother of them both : " There
is another want still more embarrassing in Quito than the want of hotels — it
is the want of water-closets and privies, which are not considered as neces-
sary fixtures of private residences. Men, women, and children, of all ages
and colors, may be seen in the middle of the street, in broad daylight, mak-
ing privies of the most public thoroughfares ; and while thus engaged, they
will stare into the faces of passers-by with a shamelessness that beggars de-
scription. " — Hassaureh.

The Ecuadoeian Capitol. 65

from the dense forest on the coast, " crossing bridgeless riv-
ers, floundering over bottomless roads, and ascending and
descending immense mountains." He is astonished to find
such elegant edifices and such a proud aristocracy in this
lofty lap of the Andes. The Indian habitations which gir-
dle the city have no more architectural pretensions than
an Ai-ab dwelling. They are low mud hovels, the scene
within and without of dirt and disorder.

As we approach the Grand Plaza, the centre of the city,
the buildings increase in size, style, and finish. The ordi-
nary material is adobe, not only because it is cheap, but
also because it best resists earthquake shocks. Fear of a
terremoto has likewise led to a massiveness in construction
which is slightly ludicrous when we see the poverty which
it protects; the walls are often two or three feet thick.
The ground floor is occupied by servants, whose rooms —
small enough to be called niches — surround the paved
court-yard, which is entered from the street by a broad
doorway. Within this court is sometimes a fountain or
flower-plot. Around it are arches or pillars supporting a
gallery, which is the passage-way to the apartments of the
second story. All the rooms are floored with large square
bricks. With few exceptions, the only windows are fold-
ing glass doors leading to balconies overhanging the pave-
ment. The tiled roofs project far over into the street, and
from these project still further uncouth water-spouts, such
as used to be seen in Kio Janeiro, but have now been ban-
ished to the antiquarian museum. Only thi'ee or four pri-
vate residences rise above two stories. The shops are
small affairs — akin to the cupboards of Damascene mer-
chants ; half a dozen modern ladies can keep out any more
customers. The door serves as entrance, exit, window, and
show-case. The finest structures cluster around the plazas.
Here are the public buildings, some of them dating back

E

m

The Andes and the Amazon.

to the times of Philip II. Thej are modeled after the old
Spanish style ; there is scarcely a fragment of Gothic ar-
chitecture. They are built of large brick, or a dark vol-
canic stone from Pichincha.

The Government House, which serves at once as "White
House" and Capitol, is an imposing edifice fronting the

PaLvcio cle Gobieiuu— C ipitol

Grand Plaza, and adorned with a fine colonnade. On its
right rises the cathedral ; on the left stands the unpretend-
ing palace of the nuncio. The former would be called
beautiful were it kept in repair ; it has a splendid marble
porch, and a terrace with carved stone balustrade. The
view above was taken from this terrace. The finest f agade
is presented by the old Jesuit church, which has an elabo-
rate front of porphyry. The Church of San Francisco,

The Church of San Feancisco. 67

built by tlie treasures of Atahuallpa, discovered by an In-
dian named Catuna, is the richest. It is surmounted by
two lofty towers, and the interior is a perfect blaze of gild-
ing. The monastery attached to it is one of the largest in
the world, but the greater part of it is in ruins, and one of
the wings is used as a barrack. Those unsightly, unadorn-
ed convents, which cling to every church save the cathe-
dral, have neutralized nearly all architectural effect.

6S The Andes and the Amazon.

CHAPTER TV.

Population of Quito. — Dress. — Manners. — Character. — Commerce. — Agri-
culture. — Manufactures. — Aits, — Education. — Amusements. — Quito La-
dies.

QuiTONiANS claim for their capital eighty thousand in-
habitants ; but when we consider that one fourth of the city
is covered with ecclesiastical buildings, and that the dwell-
ing-houses are but two stories high, we see that there is not
room for more than half that number. From thirty thou-
sand to forty thousand is the estimate of the venerable Dr.
Jameson, who has resided here for a generation.* Census
taking is as difficult as in Constantinople ; the people hide
themselves to escape taxation. The women far outnumber
the men. The white population — a stiff aristocracy of
eight thousand souls — is of Spanish descent, but not more
than half a dozen can boast of pure blood. The coarse
black hair, prominent cheek-bones, and low foreheads, re-
veal an Indian alliance. This is the governing class ; from
its ranks come those uneasy politicians who make laws for
other people to obey, and hatch revolutions when a rival
party is in power. They are blessed with fair mental ca-
pacity, quick perception, and uncommon civility ; but they
lack education and industry, energy and perseverance.
Their wealth, which is not great, consists mainly in haci-
endas, yielding grain, cotton, and cattle. The Aguirre fam-
ily is one of the noblest and wealthiest in the city ; their

* Spanish rhetoric is given to exaggeration. "All their geese are SAvans."
A Peruvian assured us that Cuzco contained 200,000 souls. It is, in fact,
about as large as Quito ; Gibbon says 20,000.

QUITONIANS. 69

mansion is on the Grand Plaza, facing the Capitol. The
pure Indians of Quito number perhaps 10,000; not all
those seen in the city are citizens, as many serranos, or
mountaineers, come in to sell produce. They are the serfs
that do the drudgery of the republic ; they are the tillers
of the soil, and beasts of bm-den. Many sell themselves
for money in advance, and then are ever kept in debt.
Excepting a few Zambos (the children of Indians and Ne-
groes), and a very few foreigners and Negroes, the remain-
der, constituting the bulk of the population, are Cholos —
the. offspring of whites and Indians. They are not strict-
ly half-breeds, for the Indian element stands out most
prominent. Though a mixed race, they are far superior
to their progenitors in enterprise and intelligence. They
are the soldiers, artisans, and tradesmen who keep up the
only signs of life in Quito. " I know not the reason," says
Darwin, " but men of such origin seldom have a good ex-
pression of countenance." This may be true on the pam-
pas, but Quito, where there is every imaginable mixture of
Indian and Spaniard, is wonderfully fi-ee from ugly feat-
ures. It may be owing to the more peaceful and civilized
history of this mountain city.

As to dress, black is the color of etiquette, but is not so
national as in Madrid. The upper class follow la mode de
Paris, gentlemen adding the classic cloak of Old Spain.
This modern toga fits an Ecuadorian admirably ; it favors
habits of inactivity, preventing the arms from doing any
thing, and covers a multitude of sins, especially pride and
poverty. The jponcho, so peculiar to the West Coast and to
the Gauchos of Buenos Ayres, is a piece of cloth of divers
colors, with a slit in the centre, through wliich the head
is passed. It is the only variable article of the wardrobe.
It is an excellent riding habit, and is made of lieavy^ wool-
en for mountain travel, and of silk or cotton for warmer al-

70 The Akdes and the Amazon.

titudes. Ko gentleman will be seen walking in the streets
of Quito under a poncho. Hence citizens are divided into
men with ponchos, and gentlemen with cloaks. The pan-
uelon is the most essential article of female gear. It an-
swers to the mantilla of the mother country, though it is
not worn so gracefully as on the banks of the Tagus. An-
dean ladies are not troubled with the distressing fluctua-
tions in the style of hats ; a bonnet in Quito is as much
out of place as a turban in jSTew York. When the daugh-
ter of our late minister resident appeared in the cathedral
with one, the innovation was the subject of severe remark.
The Spanish hair is the glory of the sex. It is thick and
black (red, being a rarity, is considered a beauty), and is
braided in two long tresses. A silk dress, satin shoes, and
fancy jewehy complete the visible attire of the belles of
Quito.

The ordinary costume of the Indians and Cholos con-
sists of a coarse cotton shirt and drawers, and silk, cotton,
or woolen poncho of native manufacture, the females add-
ing a short petticoat, generally of a light bine or " butter-
nut" color, belted around the waist with a figured woolen
belt woven by themselves. The head, arms, legs, and feet
are often bare, but, by those who can afford it, the head is
covered with a straw or white felt broad-brim, and the feet
protected by sandals, called cdjpargates^ made of the fibres
of the aloe. They are very fond of bracelets and neck-
laces. Infants are usually swathed from neck to feet with
a broad strip of cloth, so that they look like live mummies.

Quitonians put us to shame by their unequaled courte-
sy, cordiality, and good-nature, and are not far below the
grave and decorous Castilian in dignified politeness.*

* "I must express my admiration at the natm-al politeness of almost ev-
ery Chileno. We met, near ISIendoza, a little and very fat negress, riding
astride on a mule. She had a goitre so enormous that it was scarcely possi-

QUITOKTAN ChAEACTEK. Tl

Rudeness, which some Northerners fancy is a proof of
equality and independence, we never met with, and duels
and street quarrels are almost unknown. We detected
none of the touchy sensitiveness of the punctilious Span-
ish hidalgos. Their compliments and promises are with-
out end"; and, made in the magnificent and ceremoni-
ous language of Spain,* are overwhelming to a stranger.
Thus a fair Quitonian sends by her servant the following
message to another lady : " Go to the Senorita Fulana de
Tal, and tell her that she is my heart and the dear little
friend of my soul ; tell her that I am dying for not having
seen her, and ask her why she does not come to see me ;
tell her that I have been waiting for her more than a week,
and that I send her my best respects and considerations ;
and ask her how she is, and how her husband is, and how
her children are, and whether they are all well in the fam-
ily ; and tell her she is my little love, and ask her whether
she will be kind enough to send me that pattern which she
promised me the other day."t This highly important mes-
sage the servant delivers like a parrot, not omitting a sin-
gle compliment, but rather adding thereto. •

A newly-arrived foreigner is covered with promises:
houses, horses, servants, yea, every thing is at his disposal.
But, alas! the traveler soon finds that this ceremony of
words does not extend to deeds. He is never expected to
call for the services so pompously proffered. So long as

ble to avoid gazing at her for a moment ; but my two companions almost
instantly, by way ^ apology, made the common salute of the country by
taking off their hats. Where would one of the lower or higher classes in
Em'ope have sho^vTi such feeHng poUteness to a poor and miserable object of
a degraded race?" — Daricins Naturalises Voyage.

* The Spanish tongue is the manly son of the Latin, as the Itahan is the
fau' daughter ; a language in Avhich, as Charles V, said, "God ought alone
to be addressed in prayer." It is spoken in America with an Andalusian
rather than Toledan pronunciation.

t "We are indebted to Mr. Hassaurek for this capital illustration. Every
lady, married or unmarried, is addressed Senorita, or Miss.

72 The Andes and the Amazon.

he stays in Quito he will not lose sight of the contrast be-
tween big promise and beggarly performance. This out-
ward civihty, however, is not hypocritical ; it is mere me-
chanical prattle ; the speaker does not expect to be taken
at his word. The love of superlatives and the want of
good faith may be considered as prominent characteristics.
"The readiness with which they break a promise or an
agreement (wrote Colonel Hall forty years ago) can only
be equaled by the sophistical ingenuity with which they
defend themselves for having done so." The Quitonians,
who are sensible of their shortcomings, have this standing
apology : " Om' vices we owe to Spain ; our ^drtues to om--
selves."^

Such is the mutual distrust, partnerships are almost un-
known ; we : do not remember a single commercial firm,
save a few made up of brothers, or father and son. With
this moral debility is joined the procrastinating spirit of
the oriental. Mariana (to-morrow), like the Bouhra of
the Arabs, is the universal winding up of promises. And
very often, if one promises a thing to-morrow, he means
the day after that. It is impossible to start a man into
prompt compliance ; he will not commence a piece of work
when you -^ash nor when he promises. Xo amount of ca-
jolery, bribery, or threats will induce a Quitonian to do
any thing or be any where in season. If there were a rail-
road in Ecuador, every body would be too late for the first
train. There are only one or two watch-tmkers in the
great city, and, as may be inferred, very few watches are
in running order. As a consequence, the people have veiy
little idea of time. But this is not the sole reason for their

* "TMien speaking of these counti-ies, the manner in which they have been
brought up by their unnatural parent, Spain, should always be borne in mind.
On the whole, perhaps, more credit is due for what has been done, than
blame for that which may be deficient." — Darwin s Journal of Researches,
p. 158.

Indiffeeence of the People. 73

dilatoriness ; tliey are indifferent. Xobody seems to want
to make money (though all are in sad need of it) ; nobody
is in a hurry; nobody is busy save the tailors, who mani-
fest a commendable diligence. Contempt for labor, a
Spanish inlieritance, and lack of energy, are traits which
stand out in alto relievo.

One can form his own judgment of the spiritless people
from the single statement which we have from Dr. Jame-
son, that during the last forty years not ten Quitonians
have visited the grand crater of Pichincha, though it is
possible to ride horseback to its very edge. Plenty of gen-
tlemen by profession walk the streets and cathedral ter-
race, proud as a Roman senator under his toga, yet not
ashamed to beg a cup of coffee at the door of a more for-
tunate fellow-citizen. Society is in a constant struggle
between ostentation and w^ant.

^N'ature has done more for Ecuador than for Ecuadori-
ans. She laid out this beautiful valley for an Elysian
field ; " de Quito al Cielo" (from Quito to Heaven) is not
an empty adage ; and it is painful to look upon tottering
walls and impassable roads, upon neglected fields and an
idle population — poor as poverty in the lap of boundless
natural wealth. The only really live man in the republic
is the president, Senor G. Garcia Moreno, a man of wide
views and great energy, standing in these respects head
and shoulders above his fellow-citizens. Quito and Quito
Yalley owe nearly all their improvements to this one man.

It is easy to say what would be the industry of a people
who spend much of their time repeating traditions of treas-
m-es buried by the Incas, and stories of gold deposits in the
mountains. Of commerce there is scarcely enough to de-
serve the name. Quito is an ecclesiastical city, and is near-
ly supported by Guayaquil. Without capital, without en-
ergy, without business habits, Quitonians never embark

74 The Andes and the Amazon.

in grand commercial schemes and industrial enterprises.
There is not a highway for commerce in any direction,
only a natural path (called by the innocent natives a road),
which rises to the altitude of fourteen thousand feet, by
which the beasts of burden pick their way over the Cor-
dillera. And this is open only six months in the year.
Should a box designed for Quito arrive at Guayaquil at the
beginning of the rainy season, it must tarry half a year till
Nature makes the road passable.

The unstable condition of the country does not encour-
age great undertakings ; all business is periodically para-
lyzed by revolution. Merchants generally buy their goods
in Lima, to which city and Guayaquil the fabrics of En-
gland and France are brought by foreigners in foreign
ships. The shops of Quito, as we have remarked, are very
small, without windows, and with only one wooden door.
The door is double, and is fastened by a ponderous padlock.
They are open from 7 a.m. till sunset, excepting between
nine and ten and between three and four, when the stores
are closed for breakfast and dinner ; the merchants never
trusting their clerks, even when they have any, which is not
usually the case. They have no fixed price, but get what
they can. The majority know nothing of w^holesale, and
refuse to sell by the quantity, fearing a cheat. An Indian
woman will sell you a real's worth of oranges any number
of times, but she would object to parting with a dollar's
worth — her arithmetic can not comprehend it.

In the ^portals or arcades of the Aguirre mansion and
the nuncio's palace are the stalls of the haberdashers. Ar-
ticles are not wrapped in paper ; customers must get them
home the best way they can. Ladies of the higher class sel-
dom go out shopping, but send for samples. It is consider-
ed disgraceful to either sex to be seen carrying any thing
through the streets of Quito. The common people buy

Com. — Andean Agkiculture. 76

only for immediate wants — a dose of medicine, or a hand-
ful of potatoes at a time. Nearly all liquids, kerosene as
well as wine, are sold by the bottle.

There was no bank in Quito in 186Y, but an attempt has
just been made to establish one. The paper money of
Guayaquil is often at nine per cent, discount in the capital.
The currency is silver adulterated with one third of copper.
The smallest coin, the cale, is worth about two and a half
cents. Above that are medios (five cents), reals (ten cents),
two, four, and eight reals. Eight reals make a soft dollar
($0 80) ; ten reals, a hard dollar ($1 00). There is no cop-
per coin — oranges and loaves of bread are sometimes used
to make change ; and nearly all the gold in circulation are
Kew Granada co7idors and Peruvian onzas. Many of the
silver pieces have large holes cut in the centre, so that they
resemble rings. Government set the example (and the peo-
ple followed) on the plea that it would prevent the export-
ation of coin. The plan has succeeded, for it does not pass
out of the valley.

ISTearly the only sign of progress is the late introduction
of the grape and silk- worm ; and these give so much prom-
ise of success that the threadbare nobility have already be-
gun to count their coming fortunes. Husbandry is more
pastoral than agricultural. Thousands of cattle are raised
on the paramos, but almost wholly for beef. " A dislike
to milk (observes Humboldt), or at least the absence of its
use before the arrival of Europeans, was, generally speak-
ing, a feature common to all nations of the New Continent,
as likewise to the inhabitants of China." Some cheese
(mostly unpressed curd) and a little butter are made, but in
the patriarchal style. Only one American churn is in op-
eration ; the people insist upon first boiling the milk and
then stirring with a spoon. Custom is omnipotent here,
and its effects hereditary. Milking is done at any hour of

76 The Andes and the Amazon.

the day, or whenever milk is wanted. The operation is a
formidable one to these bull-fighting people. Stopping at
a hacienda near Pelileo for a drink of milk, we were eye-
witness of a comical sight. A mild-looking cow was driven
up to the door ; the woman, e^idently the bravest member
of the household, seized the beast by the horns ; a boy tied
the hind legs with a long rope, and held on to one end of it
at a respectful distance ; while the father, with outstretch-
ed arms, milked into a calabash.

Agricultural machinery is not in use. The first thresh-
ing-machine Quito ever saw was made in 1867 by some
California miners, but it remained unsold when we last saw
it. The spade is not known ; the nearest approach to it is
a crowbar flattened at one end. Hoes are clumsy and awk-
ward. Yankee plows are bought more as curiosities than
for use. Many a crooked stick is seen scratching the land,
as in Egypt, which the cattle drag by their horns. Some-
times a number of sharp-nosed hogs are tied together and
let into a field, and driven from place to place till the
whole is rooted up. Corn is planted by making holes in
the ground with a stick, and dropping in the seed. The
soil and climate of Ecuador, so infinitely varied, offer a
home to almost every useful plant. The productions of
either India could be natm-alized on the lowlands, while
the highlands would welcome the grains and fruits of Eu-
rope. But intertropical people do not subdue natm-e like
the civilized men of the Korth ; they only pick up a liveli-
hood.

Spanish Americans, like Castilians on the banks of the
Tagus, have a singular antipathy to trees. * When Garcia
Moreno made a park of the dusty Plaza Mayor, he was
ridiculed, even threatened. To plant a fruit or shade tree
(a thing of foresight and forethought for others) in a land
where people live for self, and from hand to mouth, is con-

"EVERGKEEN QuiTO." MaNUFACTUEES. Y7

sidered downright folly in theory and practice. A large
portion of the valley, left treeless, is becoming less favora-
ble for cultivation.

Yet, as it is, the traveler is charmed by the emerald ver-
dure of the coast, and by " evergreen Quito" — more beau-
tiful than the hanging gardens of Babylon — suspended far
above the ordinary elevation of the clouds. In the San
Francisco market we find wheat, barley, maize, beans, peas,
potatoes, cabbages, beets, salads, pine-apples, chirimoyas,
guavas, oranges, lemons, pears, quinces, peaches, apricots,
melons, and strawberries — the last all the year round.
Most of these are exotics ; the early discoverers found not
a cereal grain of the Old World, not an orange or apple,
no sugar-cane or strawberries.*

There is but little manufacturins; industrv in the interior
of Ecuador, but much more than on the coast. The chief
articles manufactured are straw hats, shoes, baskets, car-
pets, embroidery, tape, thread, ponchos, coarse woolen and
cotton cloth, saddles, sandals, soap, sugar, cigars, aguardi-
ente, powder, sweetmeats, carved images, paints, and pot-
tery. "Wines, crockery, glassware, cutlery, silks, and fine
cloth are imported. There are three cotton mills in the
country; one in Chillo (established by Senors Aguirre in
1842), another in Otovalo (built by Senor Parija in 1859),
and a third in Cuenca (1861). The machinery of the Chil-
lo factory came fi'om England ; that of Otovalo from Pat-
terson, N. J. The latter was utterly destroyed in the late
great earthquake, and the proprietor Idlled. The cotton is
inferior to that of Xew Orleans ; it is not " fat," as me-
chanics say ; the seeds yield only two per cent, of oil. But
it is whiter than American cotton, though coai-se, and can

* The vase is still shown in which Father Rixi brought the first Avheat from
Europe. It was sown in what is now the San Francisco PlaZa, the chief
market-place of the city.

78

The Andes and the Amazon.

be used only for very ordinary fabrics. The average length
is Rye eighths of an inch. One pod mil produce on an av-
erage three pennyweights. The mills of Chillo and Oto-
valo consume 425,000 pounds annually. The first sugar-
mill was erected by the Aguirres in 1840 at ISTanegal.

Quito is more than a century behind this age of steam
and lightning. To form an adequate idea of the mechanic
and fine arts in that " city of the kings," we must transport
ourselves to the Saxon period of European civilization.
Both the material and the construction of the houses would
craze Sir Christopher Wren. With fine quarries close at
hand, they must build with mud mixed with stones, or plas-
tered on w^attles, like the Druses of Mount Lebanon. Liv-

ludiau Dwellings.

ing on the equatorial line and on the meridian so accurate-
ly measured by the highest mathematics of France and
Spain, Quitonians must needs leave out every right angle
or straight line in the walls, and every square beam and
rafter. Except on the grand road from Quito to Ambato,
commenced by President Moreno, there is not a wheel-
barrow to be seen ; paving-stones, lime, brick, and dirt, are

Music. — Liteeatuke. 79

usually carried on human backs. Saint Crispin never had
the fortitude to do penance in the shoes of Quito, and the
huge nails which enter into the hoofs of the quadrupedants
remind one of the Cyclops. There are not six carts in Qui-
to. If you wish to move, you must coax a dozen Indians,
who care little for your money or your threats. Ilorse-
hire, peonage, and most mechanical w^ork must be paid for
in advance. Carriages — antique vehicles, of which there
are two or three in the city — are drawn by mules. Tlie
first was introduced by Senor Aguirre so late as 1859, and
he was fined by the police for the privilege of riding in it.
Quitonians are not a traveling people, and they are pain-
fully ignorant of their o^\ti country. The most enterpris-
ing merchant ignores every thing but Quito and the road
to Guayaquil.

We can not praise the musical talent of Spanish Amer-
icans ; their intonation is too nasal, while in their jumpings
and chirpings they take after the grasshopper. A resident
Englishman, who has traveled in many countries, and sings
the songs of nearly every nation, told us he eould not re-
member one of Ecuador. Pianos they have brought over
the mountains at great expense ; but they are more at home
with the guitar. The embroidery and lace, wood carving
and portrait painting of Quito, are commendable ; but the
grandeur of the Andes, like the beauty of the Alps, w^as
never sketched by a native.

Ecuador boasts of one University and eleven colleges ;
yet the people are not educated. Literature, science, phi-
losophy, law, medicine, are only names. ISTearly all young
gentlemen are doctors of something; but their education
is strangely dwarfed, defective, and distorted ; and their
knowledge, such as they have, is without power, as it is
without practice. The University of Quito has two hun-
dred and eighty-five students, of whom thirty-five are pur-

80 The Andes and the Amazon.

suing law, and eighteen medicine. There are eleven pro-
fessors. They receive no fees from the students, but an
annual salary of §300. The library contains eleven thou-
sand volumes, nearly all old Latin, Spanish, and French
works. The cabinet is a bushel of stones cast into one cor-
ner of a lumber-room, covered with dust, and crying out in
vain for a man in the University to name them. The Col-
lege of Tacunga has forty-five students ; a fine chemical
and philosophical apparatus, but no one to handle it ; and
a set of rocks from Europe, but only a handful from Ecua-
dor. The College of Riobamba has four professors, and
one hundred and twenty students. In the common schools,
the pupils study in concert aloud, Arab fashion. There are
four papers in the republic ; two in Guayaquil, one in Cu-
enca, and one in Quito. El Nacional^ of the capital, is an
ofiicial organ, not a newspaper ; it contains fourteen duo-
decimo pages, and is published occasionally by the Minis-
ter of the Interior. Like the Gazeta of Madrid, it is one
of the greatest satires ever deliberately published by any
people on itself. There is likewise but one paper in Cuzco,
El Triumfo del Pueblo.

The amusements of Quito are few, and not very amus-
ing. Indo-Castilian blood runs too slowly for merry-mak-
ing. There are no operas or concerts, no theatres or lec-
tures, no museums or menageries. For dramas they have
revolutions ; for menageries, bull-baitings. A bull-bait is
not a bull-fight. There is no coliseum or amphitheatre ; no
matador gives the scientific death-wound. Unlike their
fraternity in the ring of Seville, where they are doomed to
die, the animals are only doomed to be pothered ; they are
" scotched, not killed." They are teased and tormented by
yelling crowds, barking dogs, brass bands, red ponchos, tail-
pulling, fire-crackers, wooden lances, and such like. The
Plaza de Toros is the Plaza de San Francisco. This sj)ort

Cock-fights. — Quito Ladies. 81

is*reserved for the most notable days in the calendar:
Christmas, Xew Year's, Inauguration-day, and Independ-
ence-day— the 10th of August.

Cock-fights come next in popularity, and are hona fide
fights. Often the roosters are so heroic that both leave
their blood in the arena, and never crow again. Little
knives are fastened to the natural spurs, with which the
fowls cut each other up frightfully. The interesting scene
takes place on Sundays and Thursdays, near the Church of
Santa Cataliua, and is regulated by a municipal tribunal.
The admission fee of five cents, and the tax of two per cent,
on bets, yield the city a monthly revenue of $100.

Other pastimes are carnivals and masquerades. Carnival
is observed by pelting one another with eggs and sprink-
ling with water. Whoever invented this prelude to Lent
should be canonized. Masquerades occur during the holi-
days, when all classes, in disguise or fancy dress, get up a
little fun at each other's exj)ense. The monotony of social
life is more frequently disturbed by fashionable funerals
than by these amusements ; and, as the principal families
are inter-related, the rules of condolence keep the best part
of society in mourning, and the best pianos and guitars si-
lent for at least six months in the year.

A word about the ladies of Quito. "We concur in the
remark of our minister, Mr. Hassaurek, that " their natural
dignity, gracefulness, and politeness, their entire self-pos-
session, their elegant but unaffected bearing, and the choice-
ness of their language, would enable them to make a cred-
itable appearance in any foreign drawing-room." Their
natural talents are of a high order ; but we must add that
the senoras are imeducated, and are incapable of either
great ^^ces or great virtues. Their minds, like the soil of
their native country, are fertile, but uncultivated ; and their
hearts, like the climate, are of a mean temperature. Pray-

F

82 The Andes and the Amazon.

er-books and French novels (imported, as wanted, for the-re
is not a book-store in the city) are the alpha and the omega
of their literature ; Paris is considered the centre of civili-
zation. They are comely, but not beautiful ; Yenus has
given her girdle of fascination to few. Sensible of this,
they paint.

Holinski gives his impressions by contrasting the fair
Quitonians with the fairer Guayaquilians : " Les yeux vif s
et ardent, le pied fine et mignon, les teintes chaudes et do-
rees" distinguish the latter. In the ladies of the high cap-
ital there is nothing of this : " Les yeux ne lancent pas de
flammes, le pied est sans gentillesse, I'epiderme ne reflete
pas les rayons <iu soliel." The ladies on the coast take all
possible pains to preserve the small size of the foot ; a large
foot is held in horror. Yon Tschudi once overheard some
ladies extolling in high terms the beauty of an English
lady ; all their praise, however, ending w^ith this exclama-
tion, " But what a foot ! Good heavens ! it is like a great
boat !" Gibbon is continually talking of beautiful seiioras
and senoritas on the Andes; surely the lieutenant is in
sport. ^

The ladies of Quito give few entertainments for lack of
ready money. They spend much of their time in needle-
work and gossip, sitting like Turkish sultanas on divans or.
the floor. They do not rise at your entrance or departure.
They converse in a very loud, unmusical voice. We never
detected bashfulness in the street or parlor. They go to
mass every morning, and make visits of etiquette on Sun-
days. They take more interest in political than in domes-
tic affairs. Dust and cobwebs are unmistakable signs of
indifference. Brooms are rarities ; such as exist are besoms

* ' ' The young ladies of Ci;zco are, in general, very beautiful, with regular
features, fresh olive complexions, bright eyes full of intelligence, furnished
Aviih long lashes, and masses of black hair plaited in two tails." — Markham.

Seky^^js^ts. — Wasuekwomen.

83

made of split stick. Since our retm-n, we have sent to a
Quitonian gentleman, by request, a package of broom-corn
seed, which, we trust, will be the forerunner of a harvest of
brooms and cleaner floors in the high city. ISTot only the
lords, but also the ladies, are inveterate smokers. Little
mats are used for spittoons.

Washerwomen.

Perhaps Quitonian ladies have too many Indian servants
about them to keep tidy; seven or eight is the average
number for a family. These are married, and occupy the
ground floor, which swarms with nude children. They are
cheap, thievish, lazy, and filthy. Xo class, pure-blood or
half-breed, is given to ablution, though there are two pub-
lic baths in the city. Washerwomen repair to the Machan-
gara, wliere they beat the dirty linen of Quito over the

84 The Andes and the Aaiazon.

smooth rocks. We remember but two or three table-cloths
which entirely covered the table, and only one which was
clean. There are but two daily meals ; one does not feel
the need of more ; they are partaken at nine and three, or
an hour earher than in Guayaquil. When two unwashed,
uncombed cooks bend over a charcoal fire, which is fanned
by a third unkempt individual, and all three blinded by
smoke (for there is no chimney), so that it is not their
fault if capillaries and something worse are mingled with
the stew, with onions to right of them, onions to left of
them, onions in front of them, and achote already in the
pot in spite of your repeated anathemas and expostulations
— achote, the same red coloring matter which tlie wild
Indians use for painting their bodies and dyeing their
cloth — and with several aboriginal wee ones romping about
the kitchen, keen must be the appetite that will take hold
with alacrity as the dishes are brought on by the most
slovenly waiter imagination can body forth.* The aim of
Ecuadorian cookery is to eradicate all natural flavor ; you
wouldn't know you were eating chicken except by the
bones. Even coffee and chocolate somehow lose their fine
Guayaquilian aroma in this high altitude, and the very pies
are stuffed with onions. But the beef, minus the garlic, is
most excellent, and the dulce unapproachable.

* We noticed at Kiobamba a custom which formerly prevailed also at
Quito. As soon as the guests have finished, and before they have risen, the
Indian waiter kneels devoutly do^\^^ beside the table, and offers thanks in a
very solemn, touching tone.

EcuADOE. — Government. 85

CHAPTEK Y.

Ecuador. — Extent.— Government. — Keligion. — A Protestant Cemetery in
Quito. — Climate. — Kegularity of Tropical Nature. — Diseases on the High-
lands.

The republic of Ecuador looks like a wedge driven into
the continent between the Maranon and the Putumayo.
It has 1200 miles of Pacific coast, and an area of about
two hundred thousand square miles, including the Gala-
pagos Islands. Peru, however, claims the oriental half,
drawing her northern boundary fi'om Tumbez through
Canelos and Archidona ; and she is entitled to much of it,
for she has established a regular hue of steamers on the
Maranon, while the Quito government has not developed
an acre east of the Andes. Ecuador is hung between and
upon two Cordilleras, which naturally divide it into three
parts: tlie western slope, the Quitonian valley, and the
IN'apo region. The fluvial system is mainly made up of
the Napo, Pastassa, and Santiago, tributaries of the Mar-
anon, and the Mira, Esmeraldas, and Guayaquil, flowing
westward into the Pacific. There are no lakes proper, but
the natives enumerate fifty-five lagunes, the largest of
which, Capucuy, is not over five miles long.

Yillavicencio tells tlie world that his country has a total
population of 1,308,042. But Dr. Jameson believes it does
not exceed Y00,000. The government is based on the
Constitution of 18453 amended in 1853. The president is
chosen by a plurality of votes, holds his ofiice for four
years, and has a salary of $12,000. He can not be re-elect-

86 The Andes and the Amazon.

ed,* nor can he exercise his functions more than twenty-five
miles from the cajDitaL But the law is often set aside by
those in power. During the administration of Garcia
Moreno, prominent citizens were shot or banished by his
order, without trial by jury. To every plea for mercy the
stern president replied, that as he could not save the coun-
try according to the Constitution, he should govern it ac-
cording to his own views of public necessity.

Congress assembles on the 15th of September every
other year, and consists of eighteen senators and thirty
representatives. The chambers are small, and literally bar-
ren of ornament. The members sit in two rows facing
each other, have no desks, and give an affirmative vote by
a silent bow. Politics has less to do with principles and
parties than with personalities. Often it has a financial
aspect ; and the natural expression on learning of a revo-
lution is, " Somebody is out of money." The party in
feathers its nest as fast as possible ; there is scarcely a pub-
lic officer who is not open to bribery. The party out plots
a premature resurrection to power by the ladders of cor-
ruption, slander, and revolution.f Ee volution has so rap-
idly followed revolution that history has ceased to count
them ; and it may be said of them what Milton wrote of
the wars of the Saxon Heptarchy, " that they are not more
worthy of being recorded than the skirmishes of crows and
kites." The Grand Plaza, the heart where all the great
arteries of circulation meet and diverge, is where the high
tides of Quito affairs ebb and flow.

* Since this was written, Garcica Moreno has been re-elected to the jn-esi-
dency and the Constitution revised.

t Government has more than once paid its debts by repudiation. Con-
gress lately voted to pay only seven per cent, of the claims against the state
which are dated prior to a certain year. Among the sufferers is the vener-
able Dr. Jameson, a distinguished foreigner, who has served this country
faithfully for forty years, first as assayer, then as director of the mint, and
always by his scientific position.

The Akmy. — IIevenue. 87

The Supreme Court consists of five judges. Criminal
cases only are tried by jury; and an attorney is not permit-
ted to question a witness. There are no penitentiaries : sec-
ond-class criminals are made to work for the public, while
political offenders are banished to the banks of the Napo, or
to Peru. Here, as in no other country, every man's house
is his castle. No search-warrants are allow^ed ; a policeman
can be shot dead on the threshold. The person and prop-
erty of a foreigner are safe ; and no native in the employ
of a foreigner can be taken by the government for military
purposes. All, except pure Indians, can vote if over twenty-
one, and can read and write. A man's signature is without
value if it lacks his flourish — a custom of Spanish origin.

The permanent army consists of two regiments. The
soldiers are mostly half-breeds, and are generally followed
by their wives. They are poorly paid ; and as they are im-
pressed into the service, they carry out the principle by
helping themselves wherever they go. In marching, they
have a quicker step than Northern soldiers. The chief ex-
penditure of the republic is for the army, about $500,000 ;
the next is for the payment of the national debt, $360,000.
The foreign debt is £1,470,374. Ecuadorians claim a rev-
enue of a million and a half, of which one half is from the
custom-house, and one fiftieth from the post-office.

One w^ould suppose that the people who breathe tliis high
atmosphere, and enjoy this delightful climate, and are sur-
rounded by all that is truly grand and beautiful, would have
some corresponding .virtues. But we find that Nature, here
as every where, has mingled base and noble elements. The
lofty mountains, bearing in their steadfastness the seal of
their appointed symbol — '^ God's righteousness is like the
great mountains " — look down upon one of the lowest and
most corrupt forms of republican government on eartli ;^''

* Asking the late Chilian minister for his view of the rank cf tlie different

88

The Andes and the Amazon.

their snowy summits preach sermons on purity to Qiiitonian
society, but in vain ; and the great thoughts of God written
all over the Andes are unable to lift this proud capital out

of the mud and mire of mediaeval ignorance and supersti-
tion. The established religion is the narrowest and most
intolerant form of Romanism. Mountains usually have a

South American states, he gave ns this order : Chile, Brazil, Argentine Ee-
public, Venezuela, New Granada, Central America, Mexico, Peru, Bolivia,
Ecuador.

Religion. ' 89

more elevating, religious influence than monotonous plains.
The Olympian mythology of the Greek was far superior to
the beastly worship on the banks of the Nile. And yet at
the very feet of glorious Chimborazo and Pichincha we see
a nation bowing down to little images of the rudest sculp-
ture with a devotion that reminds us of the Middle Ages.

The belief is called La Fe, or the only true one. The
oath of a Protestant is not regarded in courts of law. One
fourth of Quito is covered by convents and churches. The
convents alone number fifty-seven, and are very extensive,
sometimes spreading over eight or nine acres. The Church
revenue amounts to $800,000. There are more than four
hundred priests, monks, and nuns in the capital. The na-
tive ecclesiastics are notorious for their ignorance and im-
morality. " It is a very common thing (says Dr. Terry) for
a curate to have a whole flock of orphan nephews and
nieces, the children of an imaginary brother." There is
one ex-president who has the reputation of tying a spur on
the leg of a game-cock better even than a curate. The im-
ported Jesuits are the most intelligent and influential cler-
gy. They control the universities and colleges, and educa-
tion generally. Active and intellectual, though not learn-
ed, they have infused new life into the fat indolence of the
Spanish system. Men of this world rather than the next,
they have adopted a purely mundane policy, abjured the
gloomy cowl, raised gorgeous temples, and say, " He that
cometh unto us shall in no wise lose heaven." Their chief
merit, however, is the discovery of the turke}^ and quinine.

The Protestant in Quito is annoyed by an everlasting
jingling of bells and blowing of bugles night and day.
The latter are blovm every third hour. The bells are struck
by boys, not rung. A bishop), returning from a visit to
London, was asked if there were any good bells in En-
gland. " Yery fine," he replied, " but there is not a man

90 The Andes and the A:mazon.

there who knows how to ring them." Foreign machinery
is sprinkled with holy water to neutralize the inherent her-
esy ; but a miller, for example, will charge more for his
flour after the baptism.

Lotteries are countenanced by both Church and State,
and in turn help support them ; we saw one " grand scheme"
carried out on the cathedral terrace and defended by bay-
onets.

At half past nine in the morning all Quito is on its knees,
as the great bell of the cathedral announces the elevation
of the Host. The effect is astonishing. Riders stop then*
horses; foot-passengers drop down on the pavement; the
cook lets go her dishes and the writer his pen ; the mer-
chant lays aside his measure and the artisan his tool; the
half -uttered oath {cardjo !) dies on the lips of the Cholo ; the
arm of the cruel Zambo, unmercifully beating his donkey,
is paralyzed; and the smart repartee of the lively donna
is cut short. The solemn stillness lasts for a minute, when
the bell tolls again, and all rise to work or play. Holidays
are frequent. Processions led by a crucifix or wooden im-
age are attractive sights in this dull city, simply because
little else is going on. Occasionally a girl richly dressed
to represent the humble mother of God is drawn about in
a carriage, and once a year the figures of the Virgin be-
longing to different churches are borne with much pomp
to the Plaza, where they bow to each other like automatons.

" This is a bad country to live in, and a Avorse one to die
in," said Dr. Jameson. But times have changed, even in
fossil Quito. Through the efforts of our late minister, Hon.
W. T. Coggeshall, the bigoted government has at last con-
sented to inclose a quarter of an acre outside the city for
the subterranean burial of heretics. The cemetery is on
the edge of the beautiful plain of Inaquito, and on the
right of the road leading to Guapolo. " What a shame,"

Pkotestant "Dogs." — Climate of Quito. 91

said a Quitonian lady of position, " that there should be a,
place to throw Protestant dogs !"

On St. Nathaniel's day died Colonel Phineas Staunton,
Yice-Chancellor of Ingham University, New York. An
artist by profession, and one of very high order. Colonel
Stannton joined our expedition to sketch the glories of the
Andes, but he fell a victim to the scourge of the lowlands
one week after his arrival in Quito. We buried him at
noonday"^ in the new cemetery, " wherein was never man
laid," and by the act consecrated the ground. Peace to his
ashes; honor to his memory. That 8th of September, 1867,
was a new day in the annals of Quito. On that day the
imperial city beheld, for the first time in three centuries,
the decent burial of a Protestant in a Protestant cemetery.
Somewhere, mingled with the ashes of Pichincha, is the
dust of Atahuallpa, who was buried in his beloved Quito at
his own request after his murder in Caxamarca. But dear-
er to us is that solitary grave ; the earth is yet fresh that
covers the remains of one of nature's noblemen.

Turn we now to a more delightful topic than the politics
and religion of Quito. The climate is perfect. Fair Italy,
with her classic prestige and ready access, will long be the
land of promise to travelers expatriated in search of health.
But if ever the ancients had reached this Andean valley,
they would have located here the Elysian Fields, or the seat

* This was a new thing under the sun, Qaitonians ' ' bury at dead of night,
with lanterns dimly burning." The dirges sung as the procession winds
through the streets are extremely plaintive, and are the most touching speci-
mens of Ecuadorian music. The corpse, especially of a child, is often carried
in a chair in a sitting posture. The wealthy class wall up their dead in niches
on the side of Pichincha, hypothetically till the resurrection, but really for two
years, when, unless an additional payment is made, the bones are thrown into
a common pit and the coffin burnt. To prevent this, a few who can afford it
embalm the deceased. One of the most distinguished citizens of Quito keeps
his mummified father at his hacienda, and annually dresses him up in a new
suit of clothes !

92 The Andes and the Aihazon.

of "the blessed, the happy, and long-lived" of'Anacreon.^''
No torrid heat enervates the inhabitant of this favored spot ;
no icy breezes send him shivering to the fire. Nobody is
sun-struck ; nobody's buds are nipped by the fi'ost. Stoves
and chimneys, starvation and epidemics, are imknown. It
is never either spring, summer, or autumn, but each day is
a combination of all three. The mean annual temperature
of Quito is 58°. 8, the same as Madrid, or as the month of
May in Paris. The average range in twenty -four hours is
about 10°. The coldest hour is 6 a.m.; the warmest be-
tween 2 and 3 p.m. The extremes in a year are 45° and
70° ; those of Moscow are —38° and 89°. It is a prevalent
opmion that since the great earthquake of 1797 the tem-
perature has been lower. "It was suddenly reduced (says
the En(yyd.MetTo;politana) from m"" or ^^"^ to 40° or 45°"—
a manifest error. The natives say that since the terremote
of 1859 the seasons have not commenced so regularly, nor
are they so well defined ; there are more rainy days in
summer than before. It remains to be seen whether the
late convulsion has affected the climate.

The mean diurnal variation of the barometer is only
.084. So regular is the oscillation, as likewise the varia-
tions of the magnetic needle, that the hour may be known
within fifteen minutes by the barometer or compass. Such
is the clock-like order of Nature under the equator, that
even the rains, the most irregular of all meteorological phe-
nomena in temperate zones, tell approximately the hour of
the day. The winds, too, have an orderly march — the ebb
and flow of an aerial ocean. No wonder watch-tinkers can

* In the mountain-town of Caxamarca, farther south, there were living in
1792 seven persons aged 114,117, 121, 131, 132, 141, and 147. One of them,
when he died, left behind him eight hundred living descendants to mourn his
loss. We confess, however, that we saw very few old persons in Quito. For-
eigners outlive the natives, because they live a more regular and temperate
life-

Seasons. — Diseases on the Andes. 93

not live where all the forces in nature keep time. Nobody
talks about the weather ; conversation begins with benedic-
tions or compliments.

The greatest variations of the tliermometer occur in au-
tumn, and the greatest quantity of rain falls in April.*
While on the western side of the Andes, south of the equa-
tor, the dry season extends from June to January, on the
eastern side of the Cordillera the seasons are reversed, the
rain lasting from March to November. The climate of the
central valley is modified by tliis opposition of seasons on
either side of it, as also by the proximity of snowy peaks.
Nine such peaks stand around Quito within a circle of
thirty miles. The prevailing winds in summer are fi'om
the northeast ; in the winter the southwest predominate.

There are only three small drug-stores in the great city
of Quito. The serpent is used as the badge of apothecary
art. Physicians have no oflSces, nor do they, as a general
rule, call upon their patients. When an invalid is not able
to go to the doctor, he is expected to die. Yellow fever,
cholera, and consumption are unknown ; while intermittent
fevers, dysentery, and liver complaints, so prevalent on the
coast, are uncommon. The ordinary diseases are catarrhal
affections and t}q)hoid fever. Cases of inflammation of the
lungs are rare ; more coughing may be heard during a Sun-
day service in a New England meeting-house than in six
months in Quito. The diseases to which the monks of St.
Bernard are liable are pulmonary, and the greater number
become asthmatic. Asthma is also common in Quito, while
phthisis increases as we descend to the sea. Individuals

* Tlie mean annual fnll of rain at Quito is 70 inches.

'■ '* •• '• Charleston is 45.9 inches.

'^ '• '■ New York is 42.23 ''

" '* '• " Albany is 40.93

" '' " '• Montreal is 3G

'• " •' '• Madrid is 10.

94 The Andes ai^d the Amazon.

are often seen with a handkerchief about the jaws, or bits
of plaster on the temples; these are afflicted with head-
ache or toothachej resulting from a gratified passion for
sweetmeats, common to all ages and classes. Digestive
disorders are somewhat frequent (contrary to the theory in
Europe), but they spring from improper food and seden-
tary habits. The cuisine of the country does not tempt
the stomach to repletion, and the climate is decidedly pep-
tic. So the typhoid fever of Quito is due to filth, poor diet,
and want of ventilation. Corpulency, especially among
the men, is astonishingly rare.

According to Dr. Lombard, mountain districts favor the
development of diseases of the heart ; and contagious dis-
eases are not arrested by the atmosphere of lofty regions.
This is true in Quito. But while nervous diseases are rare
in the inhabited highlands of Europe, in Quito they are
common. Sleep is said to be more tranquil and refresh-
ing, and the circulation more regular at high altitudes ; but
our experience does not sustain this. Goitre is quite com-
mon among the mountains. It is a sign of constitutional
weakness, for the children of goitred parents are usually
deaf and dumb, and the succeeding generation idiots.
Boussingault thinks it is owing to the lack of atmospheric
air in the water ; but why is it nearly confined to the wom-
en? In the southern provinces about Cuenca, cutaneous
affections are quite frequent. In the highlands generally,
scrofulous diseases are more common than in the plains.
There are three hospitals for lepers ; one at Cuenca with
two hundred patients, one at Quito with one hundred and
twelve patients, and one at Ambato. Near Riobamba is a
community of dwarfs.

D'Orbigny made a post-mortein examination of some
Indians from the highest regions, and found the lungs of
extraordinary dimensions, the cells larger and more in num-

Experience at High Altitudes. 95

ber. Hence the unnatural proportion of the trunk, which
is plainly out of harmony with the extremities. The ex-
panded chest of the mountaineers is evidently the result of
larger inspirations to secure the requisite amount of oxy-
gen, which is much less in a given space at Quito than on
the coast. This is an instance, observes Prichard, of long-
continued habit, and the result of external agencies modi-
fying the structure of the body, and with it the state of the
most important functions of life. We tried the experiment
of burning a candle one hour at Guayaquil, and another
part of the same candle for the same period at Quito. Tem-
perature at Guayaquil, 80° ; at Quito, 62°. The loss at
Guayaquil was 140 grains ; at Quito, 114, or 26 grains less
at the elevation of 9500 feet. Acoustics will also illustrate
the thinness of the air. M. Godin found (1745) that a nine-
pounder could not be heard at the distance of 121,537 feet;
and that an eight - pounder at Paris, at the distance of
102,664 feet, was louder than a nine-pounder at Quito at
the distance of 67,240 feet.

According to Dr. Archibald Smith, the power of mus-
cular exertion in a native of the coast is greatly increased
by living at the height of 10,000 feet. But it is also as-
serted by observing travelers that dogs and bulls lose their
■ combativeness at 12,000 feet, and that hence there can
never be a good bull-fight or dog-fight on the Sierras.
This is literally true: the dogs seem to partake of the
tameness of their masters. Cats do not flourish at all in
liigh altitudes; and probably the lion, transplanted from
the low jnngle to the table-lands, would lose much of his
ferocity. Still, cock-fights seem to prosper ; and the bat-
tle of Pichincha was fought on an elevation of nearly
11,000 feet. Bolivar and tlie Spaniards, also, fouglit like
tigers on the high plain of Junin."^

* Gibbon states that the temperature of tlie blood of a young bull in Cuzco
was 100°; air, 57°. At the base of tbe Andes a similar experiment resulted

96 The Andes and the Amazon.

The sickness felt by some travelers at great elevations
— violent headache and disposition to vomit — is called veta ;
and the difficulty of breathing from the rarity of the air is
termed j^'imcif'. Gerard complained of severe headache and
depression of spirits at the height of 15,000 feet on the
Himalayas ; Dr. Barry, in ascending Mont Blanc (15,700
feet), speaks of great thirst, great dryness and constriction
of skin, loss of appetite, difficult breathing, tendency to
syncope, and utter indifference. Baron Miiller, in his as-
cent of Orizava (17,800 feet), found great difficulty in
breathing, and experienced the sensation of a red-hot iron
searing his lungs, and agonizing pains in the chest, fol-
lowed by fainting-fits and torrents of blood from his
mouth; Humboldt, in scaling Chimborazo, suff.ered from
nausea akin to sea-sickness, and a flow of blood from the
nose and lips ; while Herndon, on the slope of Puy-puy
(15,700 feet), said he thought his heart would break fi'om
his breast with its violent agitation. Though ascending
the Andes to the height of 16,000 feet, and running uj)
the last few rods, w^e experienced nothing of this except a
temporary difficulty in respiration. We were exhilarated
rather than depressed. The experience of Darwin on the
Portillo ridge (14,000 feet) w^as only "a slight tightness
across the head and chest." " There was some imagina-
tion even in this (he adds) ; for, upon finding fossil shells
on the highest ridge, I entirely forgot the puna in my de-
light." De Saussure says truly : " The strength is repaired
as speedily as it has been exhausted. Merely a cessation
of movement for three or four minutes, without even seat-
ing one's self, seems to restore the strength so perfectly
that, on resuming progress, one feels able to climb at a sin-
gle stretch to the very peak of the mountain."

in 101° for the blood, air 78°. The lieutenant jocosely adds: "The Span-
iards have forced the hog so high up on the Andes that he suffers every time
he raises his bristles, and dies out of place." — Puna has been attributed to
the presence of arsenical vnpor.

The Atmospheke of Quito. 97

CHAPTEK VI.

Astronomic Virtues of Quito. — Flora and Fauna of the Valley of Quito. —
Primeval Inhabitants of the Andes.— Quichua Indians.

Quito, with a position unparalleled for astronomical
purposes, has no observatory. The largest telescope in the
city is about five feet long, but the astute professor of nat-
lu-al philosophy in the Jesuit College who has charge of it
had not the most distant idea that an echpse of the sun
would occm- on the 29th of August, and an eclipse of the
moon fifteen days later. In ancient days this " holy city"
had within it the Pillar of the Sun, which cast no shadow
at noon, and a temple was built for the god of light. The
title of the sovereign Inca was the Child of the Sun ; but
there was very little knowledge of astronomy, for, being
the national religion, it was beyond the reach of scientific
speculation.

The atmosphere of Quito is of transparent clearness.
Humboldt saw the poncho of a horseman with the naked
eye at a horizontal distance of ninety thousand feet. The
sky is of a dark indigo color; the azure is less blended
with white because of the extreme dryness of the air.
The stars stand out with uncommon brilliancy, and the
dark openings between them the great German compared
to " tubes through wliich we look into the remotest depths
of space." It is true at Quito, as Humboldt noticed at
Cumana, that the stars do not twinkle when they are more
than fifteen degrees high; "the soft planetary light" of
the stars overhead is not mere rhetoric.

Living under the equatorial line, Quitonians enjoy the

G

98 The Andes and the Amazon.

peculiar privilege of beholding the stars of both hemi-
spheres, the guiding stars of Ursa Major as well as the
Magellanic Clouds and Southern Cross, not omitting that
black spot near the latter, "the unappropriated region in
the skies reserved by Manager Bingham for deposed Amer-
ican presidents."

The zodiacal light here appears in all its glory. This
strange phenomenon has long puzzled philosophers, and
they are still divided. It is generally considered to be pro-
duced by a continuous zone of infinitesimal asteroids. The
majority place this zone beyond the orbit of the earth, and
concentric with the sun. But Kev. George Jones, of Phil-
adelphia, who has spent several years in observing this light,
including eight months in Quito, considers it geocentric,
and possibly situated between the earth and its satellite.
At New York only, a short pyramidal light, and this only
at certain seasons, is to be seen ; but here, an arch twenty
degrees wide, and of considerable intensity, shoots up to the
zenith, and Mr. Jones affirms that a complete arch is visible
at midnight when the ecliptic is at right angles to the spec-
tator's horizon. We have not been so fortunate as to see it
pass the zenith ; and Professor Barnard contends that it
never does pass. We may remark that the main part of
the zodiacal light shifts to the south side of the celestial
equator as we cross the line. To us the most magnificent
sight in the tropical heavens is the " Milky "Way," especial-
ly near Sobieski's Shield, where it is very luminous. We
observed that this starry tract divided at a Centauri, as
Herschel says, and not at /3, as many maps and globes have
it. The brightest stars in the southern hemisphere follow
the direction of a great circle passing through £ Orionis and
a Crucis.

Another thing which arrests the attention of the traveler
is the comparatively well-defined boundary-line between

Botany of the Andes. 99

day and night. The twilight at Quito lasts only ari hour
and a half; on the coast it is still shorter. Nor is there
any " harvest moon," the satellite rising with nearly equal
intervals of forty-eight minutes.

From the stars we step down to the floral kingdom on
the Andes, using as our ladder of descent the following
sentence from Humboldt, at the age of seventy-five : " If I
might be allowed to abandon myself to the recollections of
my own distant travels, I would instance among the most
striking scenes of nature the calm sublimity of a tropical
night, when the stars — not sparkling, as in our Northern
skies — shed their soft and planetary light over the gently
heaving ocean ; or I would recall the deep valleys of the
Cordilleras, where the tall and slender palms pierce the
leafy veil around them, and wave on high their feathery
and arrow-like branches."

Father Velasco praises Ecuador as " the noblest portion
of the New World." Nature has doubtless gifted it with
capabilities unsurpassed by those of any other country. Sit-
uated on the equinoctial line, and embracing within its lim-
its some of the highest as well as lowest dry land on the
globe, it presents every grade of climate, from the perpet-
ual summer on the coast and in the Orient to the everlast-
ing winter of the Andean summits, while the high plateau
between the Cordilleras enjoys an eternal spring. The veg-
etable productions are consequently most varied and pro-
lific. Tropical, temperate, and arctic fruits and flowers are
here found in profusion, or could be successfully cultivated.
As the Ecuadorian sees all the constellations of the firma-
ment, so Nature surrounds him with representatives of ev-
ery family of plants. There are places w^here the eye may
embrace an entire zone, for it may look up to a barle^^-field
and potato-patch, and down to the sugar-cane and pine-
apple.

100 The Andes and the Amazon.

Confining our attention to the Quito Yalley, we remark
that the whole region from Pichincha to Chimborazo is as
treeless as Palestine. The densest forest is near Banos.
The most common tree is the " Aliso" (Betula acuminata).
Walnut is the best timber. There are no pines or oaks.*
The slopes of the mountains, between twelve and fifteen
thousand feet, are clothed with a shrub peculiar to the high
altitudes of the Andes, called Chuquiragua. This is a very
valuable shrub ; the twigs are used for fuel, and the yellow
buds as a febrifuge. The castor-oil-tree grows naturally
by the road side, sometimes to the height of twelve feet.

A very useful as well as the most ordinary plant in the
valley is the American aloe, or " Century Plant." f It is the
largest of all herbs. Xot naturally social, it imparts a mel-
ancholy character to the landscape as it rises solitary out of
the arid plain. Most of the roads are fenced with aloe
hedges. While the majority of tropical trees have naked
stems with a crown of leaves on the top, the aloe reverses
this, and looks like a great chandelier as its tall peduncle,
bearing greenish-yellow flowers, rises out of a graceful clus-
ter of long, tliick, fleshy leaves. When cultivated, the aloe
flowers in much less time than a century ; but, exhausted
by the efflorescence, it soon dies. Nearly every part serves
some pui-pose ; the broad leaves are used by the poorer
class instead of paper in writing, or for thatching their
huts ; sirup flows out of the leaves when tapped, and, as

* On the Himalayas are oaks, birches, pines, chestnuts, maples, junipers,
and willows ; no tree-ferns, bamboos, or palms.

t The Agava Americana of botanists, cahulla of Ecuadorians, viaguey of
Venezuelans, and we^/ of Mexicans. It is an interesting fact, brought to light
by the researches of Carl Neuman, that the Chinese in the fifth century passed
over to America by way of the Aleutian Islands, and penetrated as far south
as Mexico, which they called the land oifusung, that being the celestial name
of the aloe. Terzozomoc, the high-priest of the ancient Mexicans, gave aloe
leaves, inscribed with sacred characters, to persons who had to journey among
the volcanoes, to protect them from injury.

Fruits and Flowers. 101

they contain much alkali, a soap (which lathers with salt
water as well as fresh) is also manufactured from them ;
the flowers make excellent pickles ; the flower-stalk is used
in building ; the pith of the stem is used by barbers for
sharpening razors ; the flbres of the leaves and the roots
are woven into sandals and sacks ; and the sharp spines are
used as needles. A species of yucca, resembling the aloe,
but with more slender leaves and of a lighter green, yields
the hemp of Ecuador.

The " crack fruit" of Quito, and, in fact, of South Amer-
ica, is the chirimoya."^ Its taste is a happy mixture of
sweetness and acidity. Hanke calls it " a masterwork of
Nature," and Markham pronounces it "a spiritualized straw-
berry." It grows on a tree about fifteen feet high, having
a broad, flat top, and very fragrant flowers. The ripe fruit,
often attaining in Peru the weight of sixteen pounds, has
a thick green skin, and a snow-white pulp containing about
seventy black seeds. Other pomological productions are
alligator pears, guavas, guayavas, granadillas, cherries (a
small black variety), peaches (very poor), pears (equally bad),
plums, quinces, lemons, oranges (not native), blackberries,
and strawberries (large, but flavorless). f The cultivation of
the grape has just commenced. Of vegetables there are
onions (in cookery, " the first, and last, and midst, and with-
out end"), beets, carrots, asparagus, lettuce, cabbages, tur-
nips, tomatoes (indigenous, but inferior to ours), potatoes
(also indigenous, but much smaller than their descendants),:]:

* Bollaert derives the name from chiri (cold) and vmhu (seed).

t Dr. Jameson has found the following species of Rubns in the valley of
Quito : macrocarpus, stipularis, glahratus, compactus, glaucus, roscpjiorus, loic-
ensis, urticcefolius, Jloribundus, nd nuhigenm. The common strawberry, Fra-
(jaria vesca, grows in the valley, as also the Chihnsis.

X Lieutenant Gilliss praises the potatoes of Peru, but we saw no specimens
in Ecuador worthy of note. The "Irish potato" is a native of the Andes. It
was imknown to the early Mexicans. It grows as far south on this continent
as lat. 50°. The Spaniards carried the potato to Europe from Quito early in

102 The Andes and the Amazon.

red peppers, peas (always picked ripe, while green ones are
imported from France !), beans, melons, squashes, and mush-
rooms. The last are eaten to a limited extent ; Terra del
Fuego, says Darwin, is the only country in the world where
a cryptogamic plant affords a staple article of food.

The most important grains are barley, red wheat, and
corn, w^ith short ears, and elongated kernels of divers colors.
Near the coast three crops of corn a year are -obtained ; at
Quito it is of slower growth, but fuller. The sugar-cane is
grown sparingly in the valley, but chiefly on the Pacific
coast. Its home is Polynesia. Quito consumes about one
hundred and fifty barrels of flour daily. The best sells for
four dollars a quintal. The common fodder for cattle is
alfalfa, an imported lucerne. There is no clover except a
wild, worthless, three-leaved species {Trifolium amabile).
Nearly all in the above list are cultivated for home con-
sumption only, and many valuable fruits and vegetables
which would grow well are unknown to Quitonians. As
Bates says of the Brazilians, the incorrigible nonchalance
and laziness of the people alone prevent them from sur-
rounding themselves with all the luxuries of a temperate
as well as tropical country.

It would be an endless task to speak of the flowers. It
must suflfice to state that a Synopsis Plantario7n jEquato-
riensium^ the life-work of the venerable Professor Jame-
son, of the University of Quito, has just been published by
the tardy government. Botanists will find in these two
small volumes many new species unknown to American

the sixteenth century. From Spain it traveled to Italy, Belgium, and Ger-
many. Sir Walter Raleigh imported some from Virginia in 1586, and plant-
ed them on his estate near Cork, Ireland. It is raised in Asiatic countries
only where Europeans have settled, and for their consumption. It is suc-
cessfully grown in Australia and New Zealand, where there is no native escu-
lent farinaceous root. Von Tschudi says there is no Avord in Quichua for po-
tato. It is called papa by the Napos.

Floea of South America. 103

science, and others more correctly described by one who
has dwelt forty years among the Andes. The last zone of
vegetation nearest the snow-line consists chiefly of yellow-
flowering Comjpositce. In fact, this family includes one
fourth of the plants in the immediate vicinity of Quito.
The next most numerous family is the Lahiatoe, and then
follow Legummosce and Gentians. Although the Eosacece
is represented, there is not one species of the genus Rosa
not even in the whole southern hemisphere. The magnifi-
cent Befaria, found in the lower part of the valley, is call-
ed " the Eose of the Andes." Fuchsias may be considered
characteristic of South America, since they are so numer-
ous ; only one or two kinds occur in any other part of the
w^orld. Flowers are found in Quito all the year round,
but the most favorable months are December and May.
Yellow is the predominating color. The higher the alti-
tude, the brighter the hues of any given species. Thus the
Gentiana sedifolia is a small, light blue flower in the low-
lands, but on the Assuay it has bright blue petals three
times as large and sensitive. This accords with Herschel's
statement : " The chemical rays of the spectrum are power-
fully absorbed in passing through the atmosphere, and the
effect of their greater abundance aloft is shown in the su-
perior brilliancy of color in the flowers of Alpine regions."
America is plainly the continent of vegetation; and
wherever the vegetable element predominates, the animal
is subordinated. We must not look, therefore, for a large
amount or variety of animal life in the Ecuadorian for-
ests. Time was when colossal megatheroids, mastodons,
and glyptodons browsed on the foliage of the Andes and
the Amazon ; but now the terrestrial mammals of this trop-
ical region are few and diminutive. They are likewise old-
fashioned, inferior in type as w^ell as bulk to those of the
eastern hemisphere, for America was a finished continent

104 The Andes and the Amazon.

long before Europe. " It seeins most probable (says Dar-
win) that the North American elephants, mastodons, horse,
and hollow-horned ruminants migrated, on land since sub-
merged near Behring's Straits, from Siberia into North
America, and thence, on land since submerged in the West
Indies, into South America, where for a time they mingled
with the forms characteristic of that southern continent,
and have since become extinct.* The rise of the Mexican
table-land spht up the New World into two well-defined
zoological provinces. A few species, as the puma, peccari,
and opossum, have crossed the barrier ; but South America
is characterized by possessing a family of monkeys, the
llama, tapir, many peculiar rodents, and several genera of
edentates.

The tapir, the largest native quadruped, is sometimes
found on the mountains, but never descends into the Quito
Yalley. A link between the elephant and hog, its true home
is in the lowlands. The tapir and peccari (also found on
the Andean slopes) are the only indigenous pachyderms in
South America, w^hile the llamaf and deer (both abound-
ing in the valley) are the only native ruminants; there is
not one native hollow-horned ruminant on the continent.
The llama is the only native domesticated animal ; indeed.
South America never furnished any other animal service-
able to man : the horse, ox, hog, and shee2) (two, four, and

* Journal of Researches^ p. 132.

t The llama, or "mountain-camel," is a beautiful animal, with long, slender
neck and fine legs, a graceful carriage, pointed ears, soft, restless eyes, and
quivering lips. It has a gentle disposition ; but when angry it will spit, and
when hurt will shed tears. We have seen specimens entirely white ; but it
is generally dark brown, with patches of white. It requires very little food
and drink. Since the introduction of horses, asses, and mules, the rearing of
llamas has decreased. They are more common in Peru. The llama, guana-
co, alpaca, and vicuna were " the fom- sheep of the Incas :" the first clothing
the common people, the second the nobles, the third the royal governors, the
fourth the Incas. The price of sheep's wool in Quito was formerly four cents
a pound ; it is now twelve.

Animals and Birds on the Andes. 105

six-horned), are importations. Of these animals, which ren-
dered such important aid in the early civilization of Asia
and Europe, the genera even were unknown in South Amer-
ica four centuries ago ; and to-day pure Indians with dif-
ficulty acquire a taste for beef, mutton, and pork. The
llama is still used as a beast of burden ; but it seldom car-
ries a quintal more than twelve miles a day. The black
bear of the Andes ascends as high as Mont Blanc, and is
rarely found below three thousand five hundred feet. The
puma, or maneless American lion, has an immense range,
both in latitude and altitude, being found from Oregon to
the Straits of Magellan, and nearly up to the limit of eter-
nal snow. It is as cowardly as the jaguar of the lowlands
is ferocious. It is a very silent animal, uttering no cry
even when wounded. Its flesh, which is very white, and
remarkably like veal in taste, is eaten in Patagonia. Squir-
rels, hares, bats (a small species), opossums, and a large
guinea-pig {Cuye del Monte), are found in the neighbor-
hood of Quito. >

As only about sixty species of birds are common to Korth
and South America, the traveler from the United States
recognizes few ornithic forms in the Yalley of Quito. Save
the hummers, beautiful plumage is rare, as w^ell as fine
songsters. But the moment we descend the Eastern Cor-
dillera into the interior of the continent, we find the feath-
ered race in robes of richest colors. The exact cause of
this brilliant coloring in the tropics is still a problem. It
can not be owing to greater light and heat, for the birds of
the Galapagos Islands, directly under the equator, are dull. -

* Mr. Gould, however, holds that the difference of coloration is due to the
different degrjees of exposure to the sun's rays, the brilliantly-colored species
being inhabitants of the edges of the forest. Birds from Ucayali, in the cen-
tre of the continent, are far more splendid than those which represent them
in countries nearer the sea, owing to the clearer atmosphere inland. But it
is a fact, at least exceptional to this theory, that the "Cock of the Rock'"

106 The Andes and the Amazon.

The males, both of birds and butterflies, are the most gaud-
ily dressed. In the highlands the most prominent birds are
the condor and the humming-bird. These two extremes in
size are found side by side on the summit of Pichincha.
The condor appears in its glory among the mountains of
Quito. Its ordinary haunt is at the height of Etna. No
other living creature can remove at pleasure to so great a
distance from the earth ; and it seems to fly and respire as
easily under the low barometric pressure of thirteen inches
as at the sea-shore. It can dart in an instant from the
dome of Chimborazo to the sultry coast of the Pacific. It
has not the kingly port of the eagle, and is a cowardly rob-
ber : a true vulture, it prefers the relish of putrescence and
the flavor of death. It makes no nest, but lays two eggs
on a jutting ledge of some precipice, and fiercely defends
them. The usual spread of wings is nine feet. It does
not live in pairs like the eagle, but feeds in flocks like its
loathsome relative, the buzzard. It is said to live forty
days without f«od in captivity, but at liberty it is very vo-
racious. The usual method of capture is to kill an old
mare (better than horse, the natives say), and allow the bird
to gorge himself, w^hen he becomes so sluggish as to be
easily lassoed. It is such a heavy sleeper, it is possible to
take it from its roost. The evidences in favor of and
against its acute smelling powers are singularly balanced.
For reasons unknown, the condor does not range north of
Darien, though it extends its empire through clouds and
storms to the Straits of Magellan. In the Inca language
it was called cuntur^ and was anciently an object of wor-
ship. The condor, gallinazo, turkey-buzzard, and caracara
eagle (says Dar^dn) ^' in their habits well supply the place

(Rnpicola) on the Avestern side of the Andes (Esmeraldas) is of a richer,
deeper color than the same species on the eastern slope (Napo). In keeping
with j\Ir. Gould's theory is the statement hy Mr. Bates, that the most gaudy
l)utterflies (the males) flutter in the sunshine.

Birds and Reptiles of Quito. 107

of our carrion crows, magpies, and ravens — a tribe of birds
widely distributed over the rest of the world, but entirely
absent in South America." The condor appears on the
gold coins of New Granada and Chile. Of Trochilidw
there are hosts. The valley swarms with these "winged
jewels" of varied hues, from the emerald green of Pichin-
cha to the white of Chimborazo. They build long, purse-
like nests by weaving together fine vegetable fibres and
lichens, and thickly lining them Avith silk-cotton. In this
delicate cradle, suspended from a branch, the female lays
two eggs, which are hatched in about twelve days. The
eggs are invariably white, with one exception, those of a
species on the Upper Amazon, wliich are spotted. The
young have much shorter bills than their parents. The
humming-bird is exclusively American : the nearest form
in the Old World is the nectarinia, or sunbird. Other
birds most commonly seen in the valley are : Cyanocitta
turcosa (Jay), Poecilothraupis atricrissa^ Pheuticiis chryso-
gaster^ Chlorospingus superciliaris, Buthraupis chlorona-
ta^ Tanagra Darwini^ Diibusia selysia, Buarremon lati-
nuchus, and B. assimilis. The only geese in the valley are
a few imported from Europe by Seiior Aguirre, of Chillo,
and these refuse to propagate.

Reptiles are so rare in the highlands the class can hard-
ly be said to be represented. During a residence of near-
ly three months in the Quito Yalley we saw but one snake. ^'
N'evertheless, we find the following sentence in such a re-
spectable book as Bohn's Hand-book of Modern Geogra
phy : " The inhabitants of Quito are dreadfully tormented
by reptiles, which it is scarcely possible to keep out of the
beds !" Of frogs there are not enough to get up a choir,

* Herpetodryas carinatus, which we observed also at Guayaquil and on tlio
Maranon. We procured two or three species from the natives, and s>everal
new forms from Pallatanga, on the west slope.

108 The Andes and the Amazon.

and of fishes there is but one solitary species, about a fin-
ger long."^ The entomology of Quito is also brief, much
to the satisfaction of travelers from the insectiferous coast.
Musquitoes and bedbugs do not seem to enjoy life at such
an altitude, and jiggersf and flies are rare. Fleas, howev-
er, have the hardihood to exist and bite in the summe:
months, and if you attend an Indian fair you will be like-
ly to feel something " gently o'er you creeping." But fleas
and lice are the only blood-thirsty animals, so that the great
Yalley of Quito is an almost painless paradise. Of beetles
and butterflies there are a few species, the latter belonging
for the most part to the familiar Xorth American genera
Pyrameis and Colias. At Yinces, on the coast, we found
the pretty brown butterfly, A^iartia JatrophcB, which ranges
from Texas to Brazil. A light-colored coleopter is eaten
roasted by the inhabitants. The cochineal is raised in the
southern part of the valley, particularly in Guananda, at
the foot of Tunguragua, where the small, flat-leaved cac-
tus {Ojpuntia tuiia), on which the insect feeds, is exten-
sively cultivated. The male is winged, but the female is
stationary, fixed to the cactus, and is of a dark brown col-
or. It takes seventy thousand to make a pound, which
is sold in the valley for from sixty cents to $3. The
best cochineal comes from Teneriffe, where it was intro-
duced from Honduras in 1835. The silk-worm is destined
to work a revolution in the finances of Ecuador ; Quito
silk gained a gold medal at the Paris Exhibition. No bees
are hived in the republic ; the people seem to be content

* Anteloptis la?vis at Ambato, and A. longirostris, a new species from An-
tisana Hacienda, were the only frogs noticed. The little fish is Pimelodes cy~
clopmn (prenadilla of the Spaniards, imha of the Indians), the same that was
thrown out in the eruptions of Imbabm-a and Caraguairazo,

t The jigger, chigoe, or nigua (Pulex penetrans of science) is a microscop-
ic flea that buries itself under the skin and lays a myriad eggs ; the result is
a painful tumor. Jiggers are almost confined to sandy places.

QuiCHUA Indians. 109

with treacle. The Italian species would undoubtedly thrive
here. The bees of Ecuador, like all the bees of the Kew
World, are inferior to those of the Old World. Their cells

are not perfectly hexagonal, and their stings are undevel-
oped. They are seldom seen feeding on flowers. Mollus-
ca in the Quito Valley are not great in number or variety.
They belong principally to the genera Bulirmis, Cyclosto-
ma, and Helix. The first is as characteristic of the South-
ern Continent as Helix of the North and Achatina of Af-
rica.

From the animal creation we mount by a short step to
the imbruted Indian. When and by whom the Andes were
first peopled is a period of darkness that lies beyond the
domain of history. But geology and archaeology are com-
bining to prove that Sorata and Chimborazo have looked
down upon a civilization far more ancient than that of the
Incas, and perhaps coeval with the flint-flakes of Cornwall,
and the shell-mounds of Denmark. On the shores of Lake
Titicaca are extensive ruins which antedate the advent of
Manco Capac, and may be as venerable as the lake-dwell-
ings of Geneva. Wilson has traced six terraces in going
up fi'om the sea through the province of Esmeraldas to-
ward Quito ; and underneath the living forest, which is old-
er than the Spanish invasion, many gold, copper, and stone
vestiges of a lost population were found. In all cases
these relics are situated below high-tide mark, in a bed of
marine sediment, from which he infers that this part of
the country formerly stood higher above the sea. If tliis
be true, vast must be the antiquity of these remains, for the
upheaval and subsidence of the coast is exceedingly slow.

Philology can aid us little in determining the relations
of the primeval Quitonians, for their language is nearly
obscured by changes introduced by the Caras, and after-
ward by the Incas, who decreed that the Quichua, the Ian-

110 The Andes and the Amazon.

guage of elegance and fashion three hundred years ago,
should be the universal tongue throughout the empire.*
Quichua is to-day spoken from the equator to 28° S. (ex-
cept by the Aymara people), or by nearly a million and a
half. We found it used, corrupted, however, by Spanish,
at the mouth of the Napo. There are S^xe dialects, of
which the purest is spoken in Cuzco, and the most impm-e
in Quito. The Indians of the northern valley are descend-
ants of the ancient Quitus, modified by Cara and Peruvian
blood. They have changed little since the invasion of Pi-
zarro. They remember their glory under the Incas, and
when they steal any thing fi'om a white man, they say they
are not guilty of theft, as they are only taking what origi-
nally belonged to them. Some see in their sacred care of
Incarial relics a lingering hope to regain their political
life. We noticed that the pure mountaineers, without a
trace of Spanish adulteration, wore a black poncho under-
neath, a^d we were informed by one well acquainted with
their customs that this was in mourning for the Inca. We
attended an Indian masquerade dance at Machachi, which
seemed to have an historical meaning. It was performed
in full view of that romantic mountain which bears the
name of the last captain of Atahuallpa. There is a tradi-
tion that after the death of his chief, Rmninagui burned
the capital, and, retiring with his followers to this Cordil-
lera, threw himself from the precipice. The masquerade
at Machachi was evidently intended to keep alive the mem-

* "History (says Prescott) furnishes few examples of more absolute author-
ity than such a revolution in the language of an empire at the bidding of a
master." The pronunciation of Quichua requires a hai'sh, explosive utter-
ance. Gibbon says the sound of it to him resembled Welsh or Irish ; that
of Aymara, English. The letters b, d,f, g, and o are Avanting in the ancient
tongue of Quito ; p was afterward changed to b, t to d, v to/, c to g, and u to o ;
thus Chim-pu-razu is now Chimborazo. A few words bear a striking analogy
to corresponding Sanscrit words ; as Ynti, the Inca for sun, and Indra, the
Hindoo god of the heavens.

QuiCHUA Indians. Ill

ory of the Incas. Three Indians, fantastically adorned
with embroidered garments, plumed head-dresses, and gold
and silver tinsel, representing Atahuallpa and his generals,
danced to music of the rudest kind, one individual pound-
ing on a drum and blowing on a pipe at the same time.
Before them went three clowns, or diablos, with masks, fit
caricatures of the Spaniards. Like all other Indian feasts,
this ended in getting gradually and completely drunk.
During the ceremony a troop of horsemen, gayly dressed,
and headed by one in regimentals with a cocked hat, gal-
loped twice around the Plaza, throwing oranges at the
people ; after which there was a bull-bait.

The features of the Quichuans have a peculiar cast,"
which resembles, in D'Orbigny's opinion, no other Amer-
ican but the Mexican, and some ethnologists trace a strik-
ing similarity to the natives of Yan Diemen's Land. They
have an oblong head (longitudinally), somewhat com-
pressed at the sides and occiput ; short and very slightty
arched forehead ; prominent, long, aquiline nose, with large
nostrils ; large mouth, but not thick lips ; beautiful endur-
ing teeth ; short chin, but not receding ; cheek-bones not
prominent ; eyes horizontal, and never large ; eyebrows
long ; thick, straight, coarse, yet soft jet black hair ; little or
no beard ; a long, broad, deep, highly-arched chest ; small
hands and feet ; short stature, seldom reaching five feet,
and the women still shorter ; a mulatto color (olive-brown
says D'Orbigny, bronze says Humboldt), and a sad, serious
expression. Tlieir broad chests and square shoulders re-
mind one of the gorilla ; but we find that, unlike the an-
thropoid ape, tliey have very weak arms ; their strength
lies in their backs and legs. They have shrewdness and
penetration, but lack independence and force. We never
heard one sing.* Always submissive to your face, taking

* Their favorite musical instrument is the rondador. a number of reeds of

112 The Andes and the Amazon.

off his hat as he passes, and muttering, "Blessed be the
altar of God," he is nevertheless very slow to perform.
Soured by long ill treatment, he will hardly do any thing
unless he is compelled. And he will do nothing well un-
less he is treated as a slave. Treat him kindly, and you
make him a thief ; whip him, and he will rise up to thank
you and be your humble servant. A certain curate could
never trust his Indian to carry important letters until he
had given him twenty-five lashes. Servile and timid, su-
perstitious and indolent, the Quichuans have not half the
spirit of our Xorth American Indians. It has passed into
a proverb that "the Indian lives without shame, eats with-
out repugnance, and dies without fear." Abject as they
are, however, they are not wholly without wit. By a se-
cret telegraph system, they will communicate between
Quito and Riobamba in one hour. When there was a bat-
tle in Pasto, the Indians of Riobamba knew of it two
hours after, though eighty leagues distant.

The civilization of South America three centuries ago
was nearly confined to this Andean family, though they
had attained only to the bronze period. In the milder
character of their ancient religion and gentleness of dis-
position they are strongly distinguished from the nations
that encircled the vale of Anahuac, the centre of civihza-
tion on the northern continent. But little of this former
glory is now apparent. The Incas reached an astronom-
ical knowledge which astonished the Spaniards, but the
Quichuans of to-day count vaguely by moons and rains.
Great is the contrast between the architecture of this cen-
tury and that in the days of Huayna-Capac. There are
few Incarial relics, however, in the Yalley of Quito, for
the Incas ruled there only half a century. The chief

different lengths tied in a row. The ' ' plaintive national songs" which Mark-
ham heard at Cuzco are not sung in Ecuador.

Inca Glory. 113

inonumeuts are the tolas or mounds (mostly at Cuenca),
containing earthen vessels and bronze hatchets and ear-
rings ; the Liga-jnrrca, or oval fortress, and the Intihu-
aicu, or temple of the sun, near Caiiar; the Inga-chungana^
a massive stone resembling a sofa, v^here the Inca reposed
to enjoy the delightful prospect over the Yalley of Gulan;
and remnants of causeways and roads.

• H

114 The Andes and the Amazon.

CHAPTER YII.

Geological History of South America. — Eise of the Andes. — Creation of the
Amazon. — Characteristic Features of the Continent. — Andean Chain. —
The Equatorial Volcanoes.

Thkee cycles ago an island rose from the sea where now
expands the vast continent of South America. It was the
culminating point of the highlands of Guiana. For ages
this granite peak was the sole representative of dry land
in our hemisphere south of the Canada hills. In process
of time, a cluster of islands rose above the thermal waters.
They were the small beginnings of the future mountains
of Brazil, holding in their laps the diamonds which now
sparkle in the crown of Dom Pedro II. Long protracted
eons elapsed without adding a page to the geology of
South America. The Creator seems to have been busy
elsewhere. Decorating the north with the gorgeous flora
of the carboniferous period, till, in the language of Hugh
Miller, " to distant planets our earth must have shone wdth
a green and delicate ray," he rubbed the picture out, and
ushered in the hideous reptilian age, when monstrous sauri-
ans, footed, paddled, and winged, were the lords of this
lower world. All the great momitain chains were at this
time slumbering beneath the ocean. The city of Xew
York was sure of its site ; but huge dinotheria wallowed
in the mire where now stand the palaces of Paris, London,
and Vienna.

At length the morning breaks upon the last day of cre-
ation, and the fiat goes forth that the proud waves of the
Pacific, which have so long washed the table-lands of
Guiana and Brazil, shall be stayed. Far away toward the

KiSE OF THE Andes. 115

setting sun the white surf beats in long lines of foam
against a low, winding archipelago — the western outline
of the coming continent. Fierce is the fight for the mas-
tery between sea and land, between the denuding power
of the waves and the volcanic forces underneath. But
slowly — very slowly, yet surely — rises the long chain of
islands by a double process ; the submarine crust of the
earth is cooling, and the rocks are folded up as it shrivels,
while the molten material within, pressed out through the
crevices, overflows and helps to build up the sea-defiant
wall. A man's life would be too short to count even the
centuries consumed in this operation. The coast of Peru
has risen eighty feet since it felt the tread of Pizarro : sup-
posing the Andes to have risen at this rate uniformly and
without interruption, seventy thousand years must have
elapsed before they reached their present altitude. But
when we consider that, in fact, it was an intermittent
movement — alternate upheaval and subsidence — we must
add an unknown number of millennia.

Three times the Andes sank hundreds of feet beneath
the ocean level, and again were slowly brought up to their
present height. The suns of uncounted ages have risen
and set upon these sculptured forms, though geologically
recent, casting the same line of shadows century after cen-
tury. .A long succession of brute races roamed over the
mountains and plains of South America, and died out ages
ere man was created. In those pre- Adamite times, long
before the Incas ruled, the mastodon and megatherium,
the horse and the tapir, dwelt in the high valley of Quito ;
yet all these passed away before the arrival of the aborig-
ines : the wild horses now feeding on the pampas of Bue-
nos Ayres were imported from Europe three hundred and
thirty-three years ago."^

* At Paita, the most western point of South America, there is a raised

116 The Akdes and the Ai^iazon.

And now the Andes^ stand complete in their present
gigantic proportions, one of the grandest and most sym-
metrical mountain chains in the world. Starting from the
Land of Fire, it stretches northward and mounts upward
until it enters the Isthmus of Panama, where it bows grace-
fully to either ocean, but soon resumes, under another name,
its former majesty, and loses its magnificence only w^here
the trappers chase the fur-bearing animals over the Arctic
plains. Nowhere else does Nature j)resent such a continu-
ous and lofty chain of mountains, unbroken for eight
thousand miles, save w^here it is rent asunder by the Ma-
gellanic Straits, and proudly tossing up a thousand pinna-
cles into the region of eternal snow. Nowhere in the Old
World do we see a single well-defined mountain chain,
only a broad belt of mountainous country traversing the
heart of the continent.

The moment the Andes arose, the great continental val-

beach three hundred feet high. The basal slate and sandstone rocks, dip-
ping S. of E., are covered by conglomerate, sand, and a gypseous formation,
containing shells of living species. Additional to those described by D'Or-
bigny we found here Cerithiuvi Icvviusctda, Ostrea gallus, and AmpuUina Or-
toni, as determined by W. M. Gabb, Esq. , of Philadelphia. Darwin found
shells in Chile 1 300 feet above the sea, covered with marine mud. President
Loomis, of Lewisburg University, Pa., informs the writer that in 1853, after
nearly a day's ride from Iquique, h^ came to a former sea-beach. " It fur-
nished abundant specimens of Patellce and other shells, still perfect, and
identical with others that I had that morning obtained at Iquique with the
living animal inhabiting them.' This beach is elevated 2500 feet above the
Pacific. The same observer says that near Potosi there is one uninterrupted
mass of lava, having a columnar structure, not less than one hundred miles
in length, fifty miles wide, and eight hundred feet thick. It overlies a bed
of saliferous sandstone Avhich has been worked for salt. Eifty feet within a
mine, and in the undisturbed rock which forms its roof, the doctor found
fragments of dicotyledonous trees with the bark on, undecomposed, uncharred,
and fibrous.

* The name Andes is often derived from ajita, an old Peruvian word sig-
nifying metal. But Humboldt says : "There are no means of interpreting it
by connecting it with any signification or idea ; if such connection exist, it is
buried in the obscurity of the past." According to Col. Tod, the northern
Hindoos apply the name Andes to the Himalayan Mountains.

Creation of the Amazon. 117

ley of the Amazon was sketched out and moulded in its
lap. The tidal waves of the Atlantic were dashing against
the Cordilleras, and a legion of rivulets were busily plow-
ing up the sides into deep ravines ; the sediment produced
by this incessant wear and tear was carried eastward, and
spread out stratum by stratum, till the shallow sea between
the Andes and the islands of Guiana and Brazil was filled
up with sand and clay. Huge glaciers (thinks Agassiz),
afterward descending, moved over the inclined plane, and
ground the loose rock to powder.* Eddies and currents,
throwing up sand-banks as they do now, gradually defined
the limits of the tributary streams, and directed them into
one main trunk, which worked for itself a wide, deep bed^
capable of containing its accumulated flood. Then and
thus was created the Amazon.

In South America ISTature has framed her works on a gi-
gantic scale. Where else combined do we see such a series
of towering mountains, such a volume of river-water, and
such wide-spreading plains ? We have no proper concep-
tion of Andine grandeur till we learn that the top of the
tallest mountain in l^orth America is nearly a mile be-
neath the untrodden dome of Chimborazo; nor any just
view of the vast dimensions of the Amazonian Yalley till
we find that all the United States could be packed in it
without touching its boundaries ; nor any adequate idea of
the Amazon itself till we ascertain that it drains a million
square miles more than the Mississippi.

South America is a triangular continent, with its axis,
the Andes, not central, as in Europe, but l}^ng on its ex-
treme western edge, and in harmony with the well-known
law that the highest mountains and the grandest volcanoes
face the broadest ocean. The hio;hlands of Brazil and

* Oa this point see Chapter XVII.

118 The Andes axd the Amazon.

Guiana have neither volcanic nor snow-clad peaks.* Like
all the dry land which first appeared, these primitive moun-
tains on the Atlantic border trend east and west. The re-
sult of this position is a triple river system — the Orinoco,
Amazon, and La Plata, draining three immense plains —
the llanos of Venezuela, the sylvas of Brazil, and the pam-
pas of the Argentine EepubHc. The continuity and extent
of these vast depressions are more remarkable even than
the height and length of the mountain chains.f

Such are the characteristic f eatm-es of South America ;
they are not repeated in any other continent. :j: Not one
feature could be changed without destroying those peculi-
arities of soil and climate which so remarkably distinguish
South America. Its position on the equator places it in
the path of the vapory trade winds, which continually
sweep over it westward till they strike the Andes, which,
like a great condenser, roll a thousand streams eastward
again to feed the mighty Amazon. So effectual is that
barrier, not a drop of moisture passes it, and the trade wind
is not felt again on the Pacific till you are one hundred

* "The interior plateau of Brazil (says Dr. Lund) is composed of horizon-
tal strata of the transition period, which are nowhere covered with the sec-
ondary or tertiary formations." The highest point in Brazil is 5755 feet.
Darwin speaks of "some ancient submarine volcanic rocks (in the province
of La Plata) worth mentioning, from their rarity on this eastern side of the
continent." With the exception of the coast of Venezuela, the eastern sys-
tem is little exposed to earthquakes.

t These three plains constitute four fifths of all South America east of the
Andes. The west slope of the Ecuadorian Andes is about 275 feet per mile ;
on the east it is 125 feet.

X There is, however, a striking coincidence between the mountain and river
systems of the northern and southern continents of this hemisphere. Thus,
The Andes represent the Eocky Mountains,
' ' Highland of Guiana represent the Canadian Mountains.
" " Brazil " Appalachian "

" Amazon " Saskatchewan.

" La Plata " Mississippi.

" Orinoco " Mackenzie.

The Chain of the Andes. 119

and fifty miles from the coast. Were the Andes on the
Atlantic side, South America would be turned into a vast
Sahara. As it is, the interest which attaches to this conti-
nent, save a few relics of the Incas, is exclusively that of
pure nature. Nowhere does Nature affect us more deeply
with the feeling of her grandeur ; nowhere does she ex-
hibit wilder freaks or more startling contrasts; nowhere
do we find such a theatre for the free development of veg-
etable and animal life.

The long and lofty chain of the Andes is certainly one
of the grandest results of the plications and uplifts of the
earth's crust. While the waves of the Pacific, from Pana-
ma to Patagonia, submissively kiss the feet of the Andes,
and the showers that swell the Amazon fall within sight
of the mariner on that peaceful ocean, the Pocky Moun-
tains are situated five hundred miles from the sea. The
space west of the Andes does not contain 20,000 square
leagues, while the country east of it equals 424,600. While
the compact Andes have an average width of only sixty
miles,* the straggling mountain system beyond the Missis-
sij)pi has the breadth of the Empire State ; but the mean ele-
vation of the latter would scarcely reach the bottom of the
Quito Valley. The mountains of Asia may surpass the Cor-
dilleras in height, but, situated beyond the tropics, and desti-
tute of volcanoes, they do not present that inexliaustible va-
riety of phenomena which characterizes the latter. The out-
bursts of porphyry and trachytic domes, so characteristic
of the high crests of the Cordilleras, impart a physiognomy
quite distinct from that presented by the mountains of Eu-
rope. The Andes offer, in the least space, the greatest pos-
sible variety of impressions.f There is near Huanca, Peru,

* The width of the chain south of the equator varies with that of the con-
tinent.

t " No mountains which I have seen in Hungary, Saxony, or the Pyrenees

120 The Andes and the A^iazon.

a coal-bed lifted up to the enormous height of 14,700 feet,
and on the side of Chimborazo there is a salt spring 13,000
feet above the sea. Marine shells have not been found in
Europe above the summit of the Pyrenees, or 11,700 feet ;
but the Andes can show some a thousand feet higher. A
strange sight, to see shells once crawling, on the bottom of
the ocean now resting at an elevation twice the height of
Mount "Washington !

Beneath the Southern Cross, out of a sea pei-petually
swept by fearful gales, rise the rocky hills of Terra del
Fuego. It is the starting-point of that granite chain which
winds around the earth in a majestic curve, iirst northwest-
erly to the Arctic Sea, thence by the Aleutian and Japan-
ese Isles to Asia, crossing the Old World southwesterly
from China to South Africa.

Skirting the bleak shores of Patagonia in a single nar-
row sierra, the Andes enter Chile, rising higher and higher
till they culminate in the gigantic porphyritic peak of Acon-
cagua. At the boundary-line of Bolivia, the chain, which
has so far followed a precise meridional direction, tmiis to
the northwest, and, at the same time, separates into two
Cordilleras, inclosing the great table-land of Desaguadero.
This wonderful valley, the Thibet of the Kew World, has
four times the area of Xew York State, and five times the
elevation of the Catskill Mountain House. At one end of
the valley, perched above the clouds, is silvery Potosi, the
highest city in the world; at the other stands the once
golden capital of Cuzco. Between them is Lake Titicaca -

are as irregiilar as the Andes, or broken into such alternate substances, mani-
festing such prodigious revokitions of nature. " — Helms. "More sublime than
the Alps by their ensemble, the Andes lack those curious and channing details
of which Nature has been so lavish in the old continent. " — Holinski.

* This lake is the largest fresh-water accumulation in South America. It
has diminished within the historic period. Its surface is 12,795 feet above
the Pacific, or higher than the highest peaks of the P}Tenees.

The Chain of the Andes. 121

(probably an ancient crater), within wliich is an island
celebrated as the cradle of the strange empire of Peru,
which, though crushed by Pizarro in its budding civiliza-
tion, ranks as the most extraordinary and extensive empire
in the annals of American histoiy. The Cordillera, of
which Bahama, Sorata, and Illimani are the pinnacles, so
completely inclose this high valley that not a drop of water
can escape except by evaporation. At the silver mines of
Pasco the Andes throw off a third cordillera, and with this
triple arrangement and a lower altitude, enter the republic
of Ecuador. There they resume the double line, and sur-
pass their former magnificence. Twenty volcanoes, pre-
sided over by the princely Chimborazo and Cotopaxi, rise
out of a sublime congregation of mountains surrounding
the famous valley of Quito. In IS'ew Granada there is a
final and unique display of Andine grandeur : the Cordil-
leras combine just above the equator into one dizzy ridge,
and then spread out like a fan, or, rather, like the grace-
ful branches of the palm. One sierra bends to the east,
holding in its lap the city of Bogota, and, rolling off a thou-
sand streams to swell the Orinoco, terminates in the beau-
tiful mountains of Caracas ; the central range culminates
in the volcanic Tolima,^ but is soon lost in the Caribbean
Sea ; the western chain turns to the left, humbling itself
as it threads the narrow isthmus, and expands into the
level table-land of Mexico. You may cross Mexico fi'om
ocean to ocean in a carriage, but no wheeled vehicle ever
crossed South America.

We will now speak more particularly of the Andes of
the equator. The mountain chain is built up of granite,
gneissoid, and schistose rocks, often in vertical position, and

* This is the loftiest summit of the Andes in the novthem hemisphere, be-
ing 18,200 feet. It is also remarkable for being situated farther from the
sea (120 miles) than any other active volcano.

122 The Andes and the Amazon.

capped with trachyte and porphyry."^ Large masses of solid
rock are rarely seen ; every thing is cracked, calcined, or
triturated. While in Bolivia the Eastern Cordillera shows
a succession of shai-p, ragged peaks, in contrast with the
conical summits of the Cordillera of the coast, there is no
such distinction in the Andes of the equator.f The Eastern
Cordillera has a greater mean height, and- it displays more
volcanic activity. Twenty volcanic mountains surround the
valley, of which twelve are in the oriental chain. Three
of the twenty are now active (Cotopaxi, Sangai, and Pichin-
cha), and five others are known to have erupted since the
Conquest (Chiles, Imbabura, Guamani, Tunguragua, and
Quirotoa). The truncated cone of Cotopaxi, the jagged,
Alpine crest of ruined Altar, and the dome of Chimborazo,
are the representative forms of the volcanic summits. The
extinct volcanoes usually have double domes or peaks, while
the active peaks are slender cones. Antisana and Cayam-
bi are fashioned after Chimborazo, though the latter is ta-
ble-topped rather than convex ; Caraguairazo, Quirotoa, Ili-
niza, Sincholagua, Ruminagui, and Corazon, resemble Al-
tar; Tunguragua, Sangai, Llanganati, Cotocachi, Chiles, and
Imbabura, imitate Cotopaxi ; Pichincha, Atacatzo, and Gua-
mani are irreo^ular. The Ecuadorian volcanoes have rarelv
ejected liquid lava, but chiefly water, mud, ashes, and frag-
ments of trachyte and porphyry. Cotopaxi alone produces

* "As a general rule, whenever the mass of mountains rises much above
the limit of perjietual snow, the primitive rocks disappear, and the summits
are trachyte or trappean porphyiy." — Humboldt. In general, " the great
Cordilleras are formed of innumerable varieties of granites, gneiss, schists,
hornblende, chloritic slates, porphyries, etc, and these rocks alternate with
each other in meridional bands, which in the ridges frequently present the ap-
pearance of a radiated or fan-shaped structure, and under the plains are more
or less vertical." — Evan Hopkins, F.G.S.

t VonTschudi makes the incorrect statement that " throughout the whole
extent of South America there is not a single instance of the Western Cordil-
lera being intersected by a river." Witness the Esmeraldas.

EcuADOKiAif Volcanoes. 123

10,000 ft.

Chimborazo.

10,000 ft.

Cotopaxi.

10,000 ft.

Caraguairazo.

10,000 fu

Pichincha.

124 The Andes and the A^iazon.

pure, foam-like pumice, and glossy, translucent obsidian."
The paucity of quartz, and the absence of basalt, are re-
markable. Some of the porphyroids are conglomerate, but
the majority are true porphyries, having a homogeneous
base. Dr. T. Sterry Hunt calls them porphyroid trachytes.
They have a black, rarely reddish, vitreous, or impalpable
base, approaching obsidian, with a specific gra^dty of 2.59
in pure specimens, and holding crystals or crystalline grains
of glassy feldspar, and sometimes of pyroxene and hematite.
They differ from the Old World porphyries in containing
no quartz, and seldom mica.f D'Orbigny considers the
porphpies of the Andes to have been ejected at the close
of the cretaceous period, and formed the first relief of the
Cordillera. The prevalence of trachyte shows that the pro-
ducts have cooled under feeble pressure.

From the deluges of water lately thrown out have result-
ed deep furrows in the sides ; and from the prevalence of
the east wind, which is always met by the traveler on the
crest of either Cordillera, there is a greater accumulation of
ashes, and less snow on the west slope. Cotopaxi is a fine
example of this. In Pichincha, Altar, and Kuminagua,
however, the western wall is lowest, apparently broken
down. J There is no spiclii'onism in the eruptions of Coto-
paxi and Pichincha. These volcanoes must have independ-
ent reservoirs, for the former is 3000 feet higher than the
latter, and only thirty miles distant. The reputed erup-
tions of Pichincha are dated 1534, 1539, 1566, 1575,1588,
and 1660 ; that of 1534 resting on the assertions of Checa,

* It is a singular fact that true trachyte, pumice, and obsidian are Avanting
in the volcanic Galapagos Islands, only 700 miles west of Pichincha.

t As many of the crystals are partly fused, or have round angles, the por-
phjTies were probably formed by the melting of a crystalline rock, the base
becoming fused into a homogeneous material, while the less fusible crystals
remain imbedded. — Dr. Hunt.

X In the Galapagos volcanoes the south wall is lowest, while the craters in
Mexico and Sandwich Islands are lowest on the northeast.

YOLCANOES OF QuiTO. 125

Garcilazo, and Herrera, indorsed bj Hnmboldt. Except-
ing the traditional eruption in 1534, which probably is con-
founded with that of Pichincha, Cotopaxi did not open till
171:2 ; then followed the eruptions of 1743, 1744, 1746,
1766, 1768, 1803, 1851, and 1855. We must mention, how-
ever, that, since the recent awakening of Pichincha, Coto-
paxi has been unusually silent. There is also a remarkable
coincidence (which may not be wholly accidental) in the
renewed activity of Pichincha, and the great eruption of
Mauna Loa, both occurring in March, 1868. It is general-
ly believed by the natives that Cotopaxi and Tungm*agua
are sympathetic.

There are fifty-one volcanoes in the Andean chain. Of
these, twenty girdle the Yalley of Quito, three active, five
dormant, and twelve extinct.* Besides these are numer-
ous mountain peaks not properly volcanic. Nowhere on
the face of the earth is there such a grand assemblage of
mountains. Twenty-two summits are covered with perpet-
ual snow, and fifty are over ten thousand feet high.f All

* The altitudes of the most important Ecuadorian volcanoes are :

Western Chain.

Chimborazo, 21,420 feet (Humboldt).

Caraguairazo, 19, 183 feet (Humboldt).

It is variously estimated from 15, 073

feet to 19,720 feet; 18,000 feet is

not far from the truth.

Hiniza, 17,370 feet (Wisse) ; 16,300

(HaU).
Cotocachi, 16,440 feet (Humboldt)

16,409 (Wisse).
Pichincha, 15,922 feet (Humboldt)
15,827 (Orton).

t The snow-limit at the equator is 15,800 feet. No living creature, save
the condor, passes this limit ; naked rocks, fogs, and eternal snows mark the
reign of uninterrupted solitude. The following is the approximate limit of
perpetual snow in different latitudes :

0° 15,800 feet. I 40° 8,300 feet.

27° 13,800 " I 54° 3,700 "

33° 12,780 " i 70° 3,300 '•

Eastern Chain.
(7a^/a??^6^, 19,648 feet (Humboldt);

19,358 (Wisse).
Antisana, 19,148 feet (Humboldt) :

19,279 (Wisse).
Cotopaxi, 18,880 feet (Himaboldt) :

18,862 (Wisse).
Altar, 17,400 feet.
Sangai, 17,120 feet (Wisse).
Tunguragua, 16,579 feet (Humboldt).
Sincholagua, 16,434 feet (Humboldt).

126 The Andes and the Amazon.

of these would be visible from a single stand-point — the
summit of Cotoj^axi. The lofty peaks shoot up with so
much method as almost to provoke the theory that the In-
cas, in the zenith of their power, planted them as signal
monuments along the royal road to Cuzca. The eastern
series is called the Cordillera real, because along its flank
are the remnants of the splendid highway which once
connected Quito and the Peruvian capital.* It can also
boast of such tremendous volcanoes as Cotopaxi and San-
gai. The Western Cordillera contains but one active vol-
cano ; but then it can point to peerless Chimborazo and
the deep crater of Pichincha. These twenty volcanic
mountains rise within a space only two hundred miles
long and thirty miles wide. It makes one tremble to
think of the awful crevice over which they are placed. f

The limit appears to descend more rapidly going south of the equator than
in going north.

* We traveled over a portion of this ancient road in going from Riobamba
to Cajabamba. It is well paved with cut blocks of dark porphyry. It is not
graded, but partakes of the irregularity of the country. Designed, not for
carriages, but for troops and llamas, there are steps when the ascent is steep.

t Grand as the Andes are, how insignificant in a general view ! How
slightly they cause our globe to differ from a perfect sphere ! Cotopaxi con-
stitutes only xiuo of the earth's radius ; and on a globe six feet in diameter.
Chimborazo would be represented by a grain of sand less than g^j of an inch
in thickness.

Chimbokazo. 12'

CHAPTER YIII.

The Volcanoes of Ecuador. — Western Cordillera. — Chimborazo. — Iliniza. —
Corazon. — Pichincha. — Descent into its Crater.

Co]vnNG up from Peru through the cinchona forests of
Loja, and over the barren hills of Assuay, the traveler
reaches Riobamba, seated on the threshold of magnificence
— like Damascus, an oasis in a sandy plain, but, unlike the
Queen of the East, surrounded with a splendid retinue of
snowy peaks that look like icebergs floating in a sea of
clouds.

On our left is the most sublime spectacle in the New
World. It is a majestic pile of snow, its clear outline on
the deep blue sky describing the profile of a lion in repose.
At noon the vertical sun, and the profusion of light reflect-
ed from the glittering surface, will not allow a shadow to
be cast on any part, so that you can easily fancy the figure
is cut out of a mountain of spotless marble. This is Chim-
borazo— yet not the whole of it — you see but a third of the
great giant. His feet are as eternally green as his head is
everlastingly white; but they are far away beneath the
bananas and cocoa-palms of the Pacific coast.

Rousseau was disappointed when he first saw the sea ;
and the fii'st glimpse of Niagara often fails to meet one's
expectations. But Chimborazo is sure of a worshiper the
moment its overwhelming grandeur breaks upon the trav-
eler. You feel that you are in the presence-chamber of
the monarch, of the Andes. There is sublimity in his king-
ly look, of which the ocean might be proud.

"All that expands the spirit, yet appals,
Gathers around this summit, as if to show
How earth may pierce to heaven, yet leave vain man below."

128 The Andes and the AmxIzon.

Well do we remember our disappointment as we stood
before that wonder of the world — St. Peter's. We mount-
ed the pyramid of steps and looked up, but were not over-
come by the magnificence. We read in our guide-book
that the edifice covers eight acres, and to the tip-top of the
cross is almost five hundred feet ; that it took three hun-
dred and fifty years and twelve successive artists to finish
it, and an expenditure of $50,000,000, and now costs §30,000
per annum to keep it in repair ; still we did not appreciate
its greatness. We pushed aside the curtain and walked in
— walked a day's journey across the transept and up and
down the everlasting nave, and yet continued heterodox.
We tried hard to believe it was very vast and sublime, and
kncAv we ought to feel its grandeur, but somehow we did
not. Then we sat down by the Holy of Holies, and there
we were startled into a better judgment by the- astounding
fact that the Cathedral of St. Paul — the largest edifice in
Great Britain — could stand upright, spire, dome, body, and
all, inside of St. Peter's ! that the letters of the inscription
which run around the base of the dome, though apparently
but an inch, are in reality six feet high ! Then, for the
first time, the scales fell from our eyes ; the giant building
began to grow ; higher and higher still it rose, longer and
deeper it expanded, yet in perfect proportions ; the colossal
structure, now a living temple, put on its beautiful gar-
ments and the robe of majesty. And that dome ! the lon-
ger we looked at it the vaster it grew, till finally it seemed
to be a temple not made with hands ; the spacious canopy
became the firmament ; the mosaic figures of cherubim and
seraphim were endowed with life ; and as we fixed our eyes
on the zenith where the Almighty is represented in glory,
we thought we had the vision of Stephen. Long we gazed
upward into this heaven of man's creation, and gazed again
till we were lost in wonder.

Chimboeazo. • 129

But the traveler needs no such steps to Hft him up to
the grand conception of the divine Architect as he be-
holds the great white dome of Chimborazo. It looks
lofty from the very first. Kow and then an expanse of
thin, sky-like vapor would cut the mountain in twain, and
the dome, islanded in the deep blue of the upper re-
gions, seemed to belong more to heaven than to earth.
We knew that Chimborazo was more than twice the alti-
tude of Etna. We could ahnost see the great Humboldt
struggling up the mountain's side till he looked like a black
speck moving over the. mighty white, but giving up in de-
spair four tliousand feet below the sun^mit. We see the
intrepid Bolivar mounting still higher; but the hero of
Spanish-American independence returns a defeated man.
Last of all comes the philosophic Boussingault, and attains
the prodigious elevation of nineteen thousand six hundred
feet — the highest point reached by man without the aid of
a balloon ; but the dome remains unsullied by his foot. Yet
none of these facts increase our admiration. The mountain
has a tongue which speaks louder than all mathematical
calculations.

There must be something singularly sublime about Chim-
borazo, for the spectator at Biobamba is already nine thou-
sand feet high, and the mountain is not so elevated above
liim as Mont Blanc above the vale of Chamouni, when, in
reality, that culminating point of Europe would not reach
up even to the snow-limit of Chimborazo by two thousand
feet.* It is only while sailing on the Pacific that one sees
Chimborazo in its complete proportions. Its very magni-

* But Chimborazo is steeper than the Alp-king ; and steepness is a quality
more quickly appreciated than mere massiveness. ' ' Mont Blanc (says a
MTiter in Frazers Magazine) is scarcely admired, because he is built with a
certain regard to stability ; but the apparently reckless architecture of the
Matterhorn brings the traveler foirly on his knees, with a res])ect akin to that
felt for the leaning tower of Pisa, or the soaring pinnacles of Antwerp."

I

130 The Andes and the Amazon.

tude diminishes the impression of awe and wonder, for the
Andes on which it rests are heaved to such a vast altitude
above the sea, that the relative elevation of its summit be-
comes reduced by comparison with the surrounding moun-
tains. Its altitude is 21,420 feet, or forty-five times the
height of Straslurg Cathedral ; or, to state it otherwise, the
fall of one pound from the top of Chimborazo would raise
the temperature of water 30°. One fourth of this is per-
petually covered with snow, so that its ancient name, Chim-
purazu — the mountain of snow — is very appropriate.^ It
is a stirring thouglit that this mountain, now mantled with
snow, once gleamed with volcanic fires. There is a hot
spring on the north side, and an immense amount of debris
covers the slope below the snow-limit, consisting chiefly of
fine-grained, iron-stained trachyte and coarse porphyroid
gray trachyte ; very rarely a dark vitreous trachyte. Chim-
borazo is very likely not a solid mountain : tr'achytic volca-
noes are supposed to be full of cavities. Bouguer found it
made the plumb-line deviate 7^^ or 8'^.

The valleys which furrow the flank of Chimborazo are
in keeping with its colossal size. Narrower, but deeper
than those of the Alps, the mind swoons and sinks in the
effort to comprehend their grim majesty. The mountain
appears to have been broken to pieces like so much thin
crust, and the strata thrown on their vertical edges, reveal-
ing deep, dark chasms, that seem to lead to the confines of
the lower world. The deepest valley in Europe, that of the
Ordesa in the Pyrenees, is 3200 feet deep ; but here are
rents in the side of Chimborazo in which Vesuvius could
be put away out of sight. As you look down into the fath-
omless fissure, you see a white fleck rising out of the gulf,

* " White ^Mountain" is the natural and almost uniform name of the high-
est mountains in all countries ; thus Himalaya, ]\Iont Blanc, Hoemus, Sierra
Nevada, Ben Nevis, Snowdon, Lebanon, White Mountains of United States,
Chimborazo, and lUimani.

Cheveborazo. 131

and expanding as it mounts, till the wings of the condor,
fifteen feet in spread, glitter in the sun as the proud bird
fearlessly wheels over the dizzy chasm, and then, ascend-
ing above your head, sails over the dome of Chimborazo."^
Could the condor speak, what a glowing description could
he give of the landscape beneath him when his horizon is
a thousand miles in diameter. If

"Twelve fair counties saw the blaze from IMalvern's lonely height,"

what must be the panorama from a height fifteen times
higher !

Chimborazo was long supposed to be the tallest moun-
tain on the globe, but its supremacy has been supplanted
by Mount Everest in Asia, and Aconcagua in Chile.f In
mountain gloom and glory, however, it still stands unrival-
ed. The Alps have the avalanche, " the thunderbolt of
snow," and the glaciers, those icy Xiagaras so beautiful
and grand. Here they are wanting.:}: The monarch of
the Andes sits motionless in calm serenity and nnbroken
silence. The silence is absolute and actually oppressive.
The road from Guayaquil to Quito crosses Chimborazo at
the elevation of fourteen thousand feet. Save the rush

* Humboldt's statement that the condor flies higher than Chimborazo has
been questioned ; but we have seen numbers hovering at least a thousand feet
above the summit of Pichincha. Baron Miiller, in his ascent of Orizaba, saw
two falcons flying at the height of full 18,000 feet; Dr. Hooker found crows
and ravens on the Himalayas at 16,500 feet ; and flocks of wild geese are said
to fly over the peak of Kintschinghow,'22,750 feet.

t Mount Everest is 29,000 feet, and Aconcagua 23,200. Schlagintweit
enumerates thirteen Himalayan summits over 2."), 000 feet, and forty-six above
20,000. AVe have little confidence in the estimates of the Bolivian moun-
tains. Chimborazo has nearly the same latitude and altitude as the loftiest
peak in Africa, Kilima Njaro.

t Humboldt ascribes the absence of glaciers in the Andes to the extreme
steepness of the sides, and the excessive drjmess of the air. Dr. Loomis,
above quoted, mentions indications of glacial action — moraines, and polished
and striated rocks — on the crest of the Cordillera, between Peru and Bolivia,
lat. 21° S.

132 The Axdes axd the Amazon.

of the trade wind in the afternoon, as it sweeps over the
Andes, not a sonnd is andible ; not the hum of an insect,
nor the chirp of a bird, nor the roar of the puma, nor the
music of running waters. Mid-ocean is never so- silent.
You can almost hear the globe turning on its axis. There
was a time when the monarch deigned to speak, and spoke
with a voice of thunder, for the lava on its sides is an evi-
dence of volcanic activity. But ever since the morning
stars sang together over man's creation, Chimbo has sat in
sullen silence, satisfied to look " from his throne of clouds
o'er half the world." There is something very suggestive
in this silence of Chimborazo. It was once full of noise
and fury ; it is now a comjyleted mountain, and thunders no
more. How silent was Jesus, a completed character ! The
reason we are so noisy is that we are so full of wants ; we
are unfinished characters. Had we perfect fullness of all
things, the beatitude of being without a want, we should
lapse into the eternal silence of God.

Chimborazo is a leader of a long train of ambitious crags
and peaks ; but as he who comes after the king must not
expect to be noticed, we will only take a glimpse of these
lesser lights as we pass up the Western Cordillera, and then
down the Eastern.

The first after leavino^ the monarch is Carao^uairazo. The
Indians call it " the wife of Chimborazo." They are sepa-
rated only by a very narrow valleys One hundred and sev-
enty years ago the top of this 'mountain fell in, and torrents
of mud flowed out containing multitudes of fishes. It is
now over seventeen thousand feet high, and is one of the most
Alpine of the Quitonian volcanoes, having sharp pinnacles
instead of the smooth trachytic domes — usually double
domes — so characteristic of the Andean summits. And
now we pass in rapid succession numerous picturesque
mountains, some of them extinct volcanoes, as Iliniza, pre-

PlCHLNCHA. 133

senting two pyramidal peaks, tlie highest seventeen thou-
sand feet above the sea, and Corazon, so named from its
heart-shaped summit, till we reach Pichincha, whose smok-
ing crater is only five miles distant in a straight line from
the city of Quito, or eleven by the traveled route.

The crown of this mountain presents three groups of
rocky peaks. The most westerly one is called Rucu-Pi-
chincha, and alone manifests activity. To the northeast of
E.UCU is Guagua-Pichincha, a ruined flue of the same fiery
furnace ; and between the two is Cundur-guachana.* Pi-
chincha is the only volcano in Ecuador which has not a true
cone-crater. Some violent eruption beyond the reach of
history or tradition has formed an enormous funnel-shaped
basin 2500 feet deep,t 1500 in diameter at the bottom, and
expanding upward to a width of three fom^ths of a mile.
It is the deejjest crater on the globe. That of Kilauea is
GOO feet ; Orizaba, 500 ; Etna, 300 ; Hecla, 100. Vesuvius
is a portable furnace in comparison. The abyss is girt
mth a ragged wall of dark trachyte, which rises on the in-
side at various angles between 45° and perpendicularity.
As we know of but one American besides the members of
our expedition (llr. Farrand, a photographer) who has suc-
ceeded in entering the crater of this interesting volcano, we
will give a brief sketch of our visit.

Leaving Quito in the afternoon by the old arched gate-
way at the foot of Panecillo, and crossing a spm- of the
mountain, we stopped for th« night at the Jesuit hacienda,
situated in the beautiful valley of Lloa, but nearly ruined
by tlie earthquake of 1859. On the damp walls of this
monastery, perched 10,268 feet above the ocean, we found
several old paintings, among them a copy of the Visitation

* Pichincha, in the Inca language, signifies " the boiling mountain ;" Eucu
means old ; Guagua. young ; and Cundur-guachana, the condor's nest.
t More accurately, 2527 feet; Wisse and Moreno made it 2100.

134 The Andes and the Amazon.

by Eubens. The sunset views in tliis heart of the Andes
were surpassingly beautiful. Mounting our horses at break
of day, and taking an Indian guide, we ascended rapidly,
by a narrow and difficult path, through the forest that belts
the volcano, up to. the height of 12,000 feet, emerging grad-
ually into a thicket of stunted bushes, and then entered the
dreary paramo. Splendid was the view of the Eastern Cor-
dillera. At least six dazzling white volcanoes were in sight
just across the Valley of Quito, among them table-topped
Cayambi, majestic Antisana, and princely Cotopaxi, whose
tapering summit is a mile above the clouds. Toiling up-
ward, we reached the base of the cone, where vegetation
ceased entirely ; and, tying our horses to some huge rocks
that had fallen from the mural cliff above, started off on
hands and feet for the crater. The cone is deeply covered
with sand and cinders for about two hundred feet, and the
sides are inclined at an angle of about 35°. At ten o'clock
we reached the brim of the crater, and the great gulf burst
suddenly into yiew. We can never forget the impression
made upon us by the sight. We speak of many things here
below as awful, but that word has its full meaning when
carried to the top of Pichincha. There you see a frightful
opening in the earth's crust nearly a mile in width and half
a mile deep, and from the dark abyss comes rolling up a
cloud of sulphurous vapors. Monte Somma in the time of
Strabo was a miniature ; but this crater is on the top of a
mountain four times the height of the Itahan volcano. Im-
agination finds it difficult to conceive a spectacle of more
fearful grandeur or such solemn magnificence. It vrell ac-
cords with Milton's picture of the bottomless pit. The
united effect of the silence and solitude of the place, the
great depth of the cavity, the dark precipitous sides, and
the column of smoke standing over an unseen crevice, was
to us more impressive than thundering Cotopaxi or fiery

ipiik;^ f

YOLCANO OF PlCHESrCHA. 137

Vesuvius. Humboldt, after standing on this same brink,
exclaimed, " I have never beheld a grander or more remark-
able picture than that presented by this volcano ;" and La
Condamine compared it to " the Chaos of the poets." Be-
low us are the smouldering fires which may any moment
spring forth into a conflagration ; around us are black, rag-
ged cliffs — fit boundary for this gateway to the infernal re-
gions. They look as if they had just been di'agged up from
the central furnace of the earth. Life seems to have fled
in terror from the vicinity ; even lichens, the children of
the bare rocks, refuse to clothe the scathed and beetling
crags. For some moments, made mute by the dreadful
sight, we stood like statues on the rim of the mighty cal-
dron, with our eyes riveted on the abyss below, lost in con-
templating that wliich can not be described. The pano-
rama from this lofty summit is more pleasing, but equally
subhme. Toward the rising sun is the long range of the
Eastern Cordillera, hiding from our view the great valley
of the Amazon. To right and left are the peaks of an-
other procession of august mountains fi'om Cotocachi to
Chimborazo. We are surrounded by the great patriarchs
of the Andes, and then- speaker, Cotopaxi, ever and anon
sends his muttering voice over the land. The view west-
ward is like looking down from a balloon. Those parallel
ridges of the mountain chain, dropping one behind the oth-
er, are the gigantic staircase by which the ice-crowned
Chimborazo steps down to the sea. A white sea of clouds
covers the peaceful Pacific and the lower parts of the
coast. But the vapory ocean, curling into the ravines,
beautifully represents little coves and bays, leaving islands
and promontories like a true ocean on a broken shore. We
seem raised above the earth, which lies like an opened map
below us ; we can look down on the upper surface of the
clouds, and, were it night, down too upon the lightnings.

138 The Axdes a^std the A^iazon.

The crater of Picliinclia has a sharp, serrated edge,
svhich, hapiDily for Quito, is broken down on the west side,
so that in the next eruption the volcano will doubtless pour
its contents into the wilds of Esmeraldas. The highest
pinnacle is 15,827 feet ; so that the mountain just enters
the region of perpetual winter. Water boils at 185°. The
summit is generally bare, though snow is always found in
the clefts of the rocks. It is not compact or crystalline,
but resembles a conglomerate of little hailstones.* Out of
the mingled snow and pumice-dust rise a few delicate
flowers, particularly the violet Sida Pichinchensis, the
same which we had observed on the side of Chimborazo.
Think of gay flowers a thousand feet higher than the top
of Mont Blanc !

The first to reach the brink of the crater were the
French Academicians in 1742. Sixty years after, Ilum-
l3oldt stood on the summit. But it was not till 1844 that
any one dared to enter the crater. This was accomplished
by Garcia Moreno, now President of Ecuador, and Sebas-
tian Wisse, a French engineer. Humboldt pronounced
the bottom of the crater " inaccessible, from its great depth
and precix^itous descent." We found it accessible, but ex-
ceedingly perilous. The moment Ave prepared to descend

* The snow on the top of ^Nlont Blanc is like dry dust ; in Lapland, in open
places, it consists of hexagonal crystals, and is called by the inhabitants
"sand-snow." The French and Spanish mathematicians, Bouguer, La Con-
damine, and Ulloa, in their story of ascending Pichincha, give a long and
dreadful account of their sufferings from cold and rarefied air; "whilst eat-
ing, every one was obliged to keep his plate over a chafing-dish of coals, to
prevent his food from freezing." The traveler nowadays finds only a chill-
ing wind. This rise of temperature, coupled with the fact that La Con-
damine (1745), Humboldt (1802), Boussingault (1831), and Wisse (1863)
give to Quito a decreasing altitude, inclines us to believe, with Boussingault,
that the Andes are sinking. Since the activity of the volcano in 1868, the
summit has been so warm that the snow has totally disappeared. Ice-cream
has in consequence risen in price in Quito, as snow must be brought from
Sincholagua, four days' journey.

Crater of Pichincha. 130

our guide ran away. We went on without liim, but when
halfway clown were stopped by a precipice.

On the 22d of October, 1867, we returned to Pichincha
with another guide, and entered the crater by a different
route. Manuel, our Indian, led us to the south side, and
over the brink we went. We were not long in realizing
the danger of the undertaking. Here the snow concealed
an ugly fissure or covered a treacherous rock (for nearly
all the rocks are crumbhng) ; there we must cross a mass
of loose sand moving like a glacier down the almost verti-
cal side of the crater ; and on every hand rocks were giv-
ing way, and, gathering momentum at each revolution,
went thundering down, leaping over precipices, and jostling
other rocks, which joined in the race, till they all struck
the bottom with a deep rumbling sound, shivered like so
many bombshells into a thousand pieces, and telling us
what would be our fate if we made a single misstep. We
followed our Indian in single file, keeping close together,
that the stones set free by those in tlie rear might not dash
those below from their feet; feeling our way with the
greatest caution, clinging with our hands to snow, sand,
rock, tufts of grass, or any thing that would hold for a
moment ; now leaping over a chasm, now letting ourselves
down from rock to rock ; at times paralyzed with fear, and
always with death staring us in the face ; thus we scram-
bled for two hours and a half, till we reached the bottom
of the crater.

Here we found a deeply-furrowed plain, strewn with
ragged rocks, and containing a few patches of vegetation,
with half a dozen species of flowers. In the centre is an
irregular heap of stones, two hundred and sixty feet high
by eight hundred in diameter. Tliis is the cone of erup-
tion— its sides and summit covered with an imposing grou]^
of vents, seventy in number, all lined T^itli sulphur and

140 The Axdes and the A^iazon.

exhaling steam, black smoke, and snlpliurons gas. The
temperature of the vapor just within the fumarole is 184°,
water boiling beside it at 189°. The central vent, or cliim-
nev, gives forth a sound like the violent bubbling of boil-
ing water. As we sat on this fiery mount, surrounded bj
a circular rampart of rocks, and looked up at the immense
towers of dark dolerite which ran up almost vertically to
the height of twenty-five hundred feet above us, musing
over the tremendous force which fashioned this awful am-
phitheatre— spacious enough for all the gods of Tartarus
to hold high carnival — the clouds which hung in the thin
air around the crest of the crater pealed forth thunder
after thunder, which, reverberating fi'om precipice to prec-
ipice, were answered by the crash of rocks let loose by the
storm, till the whole mountain seemed to tremble like a
leaf. Such acoustics, mingled with the flash of lightning
and the smell of brimstone, made us believe that we had
fairly got into the realm of Pluto. It is the s^^ot where
Dante's Inferno ought to be read.

Finishing our observations, and warming our dinner
over the steaming crevices, we prepared to ascend. The
escape from this horrid hole was more perilous than the
entrance, and on reaching the top we sang, yA\\\ grateful
hearts, to the tune of " Old Hundred,"

"Praise God, from whom all blessings flow."

We doubt whether that famous tune and glorious dox-
ology were ever sung so near to heaven.
The second line,

"Praise him all creatm'es here below,"

had a strange meaning fifteen thousand feet high.

There have been five eruptions of Pichincha since the
Conquest. The last was in 1660; that of 1566 covered

"The Field of Stones." 141

Quito three feet deep with ashes and stones, while boihng
water and bitumen descended in torrents. In 1867 the
cohnnn of smoke did not rise above the crest of the cra-
ter, but the volcano has lately been showing signs of activ-
ity, such as it has not exhibited since the last grand erup-
tion two centuries ago. On the 19th of March, 1868, de-
tonations were audible at Quito, and three days after there
were more tliunderings, with a great column of vapor visi-
ble from Chillo, twelve miles to the east. These phenom-
ena were accompanied by an unusual fall of rain. Since
the great earthquake of August 16th, Pichincha has con-
tinued to send forth dense columns of black smoke, and
so much fine sand that it is not possible to reach the cra-
ter. The solid products of Pichincha since the Conquest
have been chiefly pumice, coarse-grained and granular tra-
chyte, and reddish j)orphyroid trachyte. The roads lead-
ing to Quito cut through hills of pumice-dust. On the
plain of lilaquito and in the valley of Esmeraldas are vast
erratic blocks of trachyte, some containing twenty-five cu-
bic yards, having sharp angles, and in some cases a polish-
ed, imstriated surface. M. Wisse does not consider them
to have been thrown out of Pichincha, as La Condamine
and others have judged. It is true, as he says, that they
could not have come out of the present cone at a less an-
gle than 45°, for they would have hit the sides of the high
rocky rampart and rolled back again ; and at a higher angle
they would not have reached tlieir present location. But
we see no reason why they could not be the upper portion
of the solid tracliyte cone blown into the air at the great
eruption which cleared out this enormous crater. There is
a rumipamba, or " field of stones," around each of the Qiii-
tonian volcanoes.

Leaving Pichincha, we travel northward along the bat-
tlemented Andes, passing by the conical mountains of

142 The Ai^^des and the Amazon.

Yana-urcn and CotocacM. Yana-urcii, or " black mount-
ain," is a mass of calcined rocks. Cotocachi (from cotaf
and cada^ salt) is always snow-clad. On its side is Cuj-
coclia, one of the highest lakes in the world (10,200 feet),
and formed by the subsidence of a part of the volcano.

I:mbabuka. — Cayambi. 143

CHAPTEE IX.

The Volcanoes of Ecuador. — Eastern Cordillera. — Imbabura. — Cayambi. —
Antisana. — Cotopaxi, — Llangauati. — Tunguragua. — Altar. — Sangai.

Is EAR tlie once busy city of Otovalo, utterly destroyed in
tlie late earthquake, the two Cordilleras join, and, turning
to the right, we go down the eastern range. The first in
order is Imbabura,* which poured forth a large quantity of
mud, with thousands of fishes, seven yeai*s before the sim-
ilar eruption of Caraguairazo. At its feet is the beauti-
ful lake of San Pablo, five miles in circumference, and
very deep. It contains the- little black fish {Phnelodes
cydopum) already referred to as the only species in the
valley, and the same that was cast out by Imbabm-a and
Caraguairazo. JSText comes the scpiare-topped Cayambi —
the loftiest mountain in this Cordillera, being nineteen
thousand five hundred feet. It stands exactly .on the equa-
tor, a colossal monument placed by the hand of Xature to
mark tlie grand division of the globe. It is the only snoAvy
spot, says Humboldt, which is crossed by the equator. Beau-
tiful is the view of Cayambi from Quito, as its enormous
mass of snow and ice glows A\^th crimson splendor in the
f arcAvell rays of the setting sun. Ko painter's brush could
do justice to the prismatic tints which hover around the
higher peaks. But this flood of glory is soon followed by
the pure whiteness of death. "Like a gigantic ghost
shrouded in sepulchral sheets, the moujitain now hovers in
the background of tlie landscape, towering ghastly through
the twilight until daijkness closes upon the scene."

* From imha (fish), and Intra, to produce. Its name can not be older than
1G91, unless the mountain made similar eruptions before. It has frequently
ejected water.

144 The Axdes and the A^iazon.

Ten miles farther south is the bare-headed Guamani
range, over which passes the road to the wild Xapo coun-
try."^ The view from the crest is magnificent ; but, like
every grand panorama, eludes description. As we look
eastward over the beginnings of the mighty forest which
stretches unbroken to the Atlantic, the vast ridges, trend-
ing north and south, and decreasing in height as they in-
crease in distance, seem like the waves of a great ocean
rolKng toward the mountains.

N^ear by stands Antisana in his snowy robe. This vol-
cano ranks next to Chimborazo in dignity. It has a double
dome, and an elevation of 19,000 feet. Snow of Dian pu-
rity covers it for over 3000 feet ; but, judging fi'om the
enormous streams of lava on its sides, it must have been a
fierce volcano in ages past. The lava streams are worthy
of the great mou-ntain from which they flowed. One of
them (called "Yolcan d'Ansango") is ten miles long and
five hundred feet deep, with an average slope of 15^. It is
a magnificent sight, as seen from the surrounding paramo
— a stream of dark, ragged rocks coming down out of the
clouds and snows which cover the summit. The repre-
sentative products of Antisana are a black, cellular, vitre-
ous trachyte, a fine-grained, tough porphyroid trachyte, and
a coarse reddish porphjToid trachyte. An eruption, as late
as 1590, is recorded in Johnston^ s PJiys. Atlas. Humboldt
saw smoke issuing from several openings in March, 1802.

We ascended this volcano to the height of sixteen thou-
sand feet. On its side is the celebrated hacienda of Anti-
sana, which, more than sixty years ago, sheltered the great
Humboldt fi'om the sleet and rain and blast of this lofty
region. It w^s a welcome refuge to us, for we had well
nigh perished with cold on the dreary paramo. It is one of

* The culminating point of Guamani is Sara-urcu^ a volcano \vhich tln-ew
out a vast quantity of ashes in 1843 and 1856.

Antisana. 145

the highest human habitations in the world, being thirteen
thousand three hundred feet above the sea, or a thousand
feet higher than the Peak of Teneriffe.* The mean tem-
perature is the same as that of Quebec, so that thirteen
thousand feet in elevation at the equator is equal to 47°
in latitude.f Here is an extensive corral, inclosing thou-
sands of cattle, owned by a rheumatic old gentleman, Seiior
Yaldevieso, who supplies the beef -market of Quito.:}: A
desire for beef has alone brought man and his beast to this
chilly altitude. It is difficult to get a quart of milk, and
impossible to find a pound of butter at this hacienda. The
predominant colors of the cattle are red and black. They
feed on the wild paramo grass, and the beef is not only re-
markably cheap, but superior in quality. The lasso is used
in catching the animals, but not so skillfully as by the
Gauchos of Rio Plata. It is a singular fact that cattle
have followed men over the whole earth, from the coast of
Afi'ica to the highlands of Antisana. The same species is
attacked by crocodiles and condors.

The atmospheric pressure is here so small that they fre-
quently bleed at the nose and mouth when hunted. We
have already given oui experience in ascending high alti-
tudes. AYe may add that while the pulse of Boussiugault
beat 106 pulsations at the height of 18,600 feet on Chim-
borazo, ours was 87 at 16,000 feet on Antisana. De Saus-
sure says that a draught of liquor wliich would inebriate

* M. d'Abbadie professes to have visited a village in Abyssinia (Arquiage)
which is 12,4r)0 feet above the sea. Potosi stands 13,500 feet.

t This agrees with Humboldt's calculation that a difference of elevation of
278 feet produces the same effect on the annual temperature as a change of
one degree of latitude. According to the experiments of Captain PuUen, the
minimum temperature of the great depths of the ocean is 35°, and it com-
mences soon after passing 12,000 feet.

+ The gi-eat de'pots of cattle in Ecuador are at the two extremes of eleva-
tion, tlie lowlands of St« Elena and the highlands of Antisana. On the slope
of Cayambi is another extensive cattle estate.

K

146 The Andes and the Amazon.

in the lowlands no longer has that effect on Mont Blanc.
This appears to be true on the Andes ; indeed, there is very
little drunkenness in Quito. So the higher we perch our
inebriate asylums, the better for the patients.

Near the hacienda is a little lake called Mica, on which
w^e found a species of grebe, with wings so short it could
not %. Its legs, also, seem fitted only for paddling, and it
goes ashore only to lay its eggs. It peeps like a gosling.
Associated with them were penguins (in appearance) ; they
were so shy we could not secure one. The query is, How
came they there ? Was this a centre of creation, or were
the fowls upheaved with the Andes ? They could not have
flown or walked to this lofty lake, and there are no water-
courses leading to it ; it is surrounded with a dry, rolling
waste, where only the condor lives. "We turn to Darwin
for an answer.*

The ragged Sincholaguaf and romantic Huminagui fol-
low Antisana, and then we find ourselves looking up at the
most beautiful and most terrible of volcanoes. This is the
far-famed Cotopaxi, or more properly Cutu-pacsi, meaning
"a brilhant mass." Humboldt calls it the most regular
and most picturesque of volcanic cones. It looks like a
huge truncated cone rising out of the Valley of Quito, its
sides deeply furrowed by the rivers of mud and water
which have so often flowed out. The cone itself is about

* The grebe is considered by Messrs. Cassin and Law-rence to be the Podi-
ceps occipitalis, Lisson (P. calipareus et Chiknsis of Garnot), Avhich occurs
in large flocks on the coast of Chile and in the Straits of Magellan. It is
quite different from the P. micropterus of Lake Titicaca. At INIorococha,
Peru, 15,600 feet above the sea, Herndon found snipes and ducks.

f In Brigham's Notes on the Volcanic Phenomena of the Hawaiian Islands,
this volcano is put down as active, but there has been no eruption in the mem-
ory of man. Its lithology is represented in our collection by porous, gray,
granular trachyte, fine-grained, compact trachyte, and dark porphyroid tra-
chyte. The derivation of Sincholagua is unknown. Ruraiiiagui means the
fece of a rock. Cotopaxi, Sincholagua, and Kuminagui, and Cotopaxi, Pi-
chincha, and Guamani, form equilateral triangles.

COTOPAXI. 147

six thousand feet high. The east side is covered with
snow, but the west is nearly bare, owing to the trade winds,
which, sweeping aci'oss the continent, carry the ashes west-
ward. Cotopaxi is the loftiest of active volcanoes, though
its grand eruptions are a century apart, according to the
general rule that the higher a volcano the less frequent its
eruptions, but all the more terrible w^hen they do occur.
Imagine Yesu^'ius on the summit of Mont Blanc, and you
have the altitude of Cotopaxi.

The top just reaches the middle point of density in the
atmosphere, for at the height of three miles and a half the
air below will balance that above. The crater has nev-
er been seen by man ; tlie steepness of the sides and the
depth of the ashes covering them render it inaccessible.
The valiant Col. Hall tried it with scaling ladders, only to
fail. The telescope reveals a parapet of scoria on the brim,
as on Teneriffe. Humboldt's sketch of the volcano,, so uni-
versally copied, is overdrawn. It makes the slope about
50°, while in truth it is nearer '30°. The apical angle is
122° 30^"

Cotopaxi is slumbering now ; or, as Mr. Coan says of
Hilo, it is "in a state of solemn and thoughtful suspense."
The only signs of life are the deep rumbling thunders and
a cloud of smoke lazily issuing fi'om the crater. f Some-
times at night the smoke looks like a pillar of fire, and fine
ashes and sand often fall around the l)ase, to the great an-
noyance of the farmers. On the south side is a huge rock
of porphyry, called the Inca's Head. Tradition has it that
this was the original summit of the volcano, torn off and

* M]M. Zurcher and Margalli make the slope 55° ! and Guzman, G9° 30' ! !
The slope of Mauna Loa is G° 30'; of Etna, 9°; of Teneriffe, 12° 30'; of
Vesuvius, 35°. "UTiile cinder-cones may have an angle of 40°, lava-cones
seldom exceed 10°.

t Even this has now (August, 18G9) ceased, save an occasional grumble,
and the Tacungans are trembling with fear of another eruption.

148 The Andes and the Amazon.

hurled down by an eruption on the very day Atahuallpa
was murdered by Pizarro. The last great eruption oc-
curred in 1803, though so late as 1855 it tossed out stones,
water, and sand. Heaps of ruins, piled up during the lapse
of ages, are scattered for miles around the mountain,
among them great boulders twenty feet square. In one
place (Quinchevar) the accumulation is 600 feet deep.
Between Cotopaxi and Sincholagua are numerous conical
hills covering the paramo, reminding one of the mud vol-
canoes of Jorullo.

Pumice and trachyte are the most common rocks around
this mountain, and these are augitic or porphyroid. Ob-
sidian also occurs, though not on the immediate flank, but
farther down near Chillo. In plowing, thousands of pieces
as large as " flints" are turned up. The natives know noth-
ing about their origin or use ; the large specimens were an-
ciently polished and used for mirrors. But Cotopaxi is the
great pumice-producing volcano. The new road up the
valley cuts through a lofty hill formed by the successive
eruptions ; the section, presenting alternate layers of mud,
ashes, and pumice, is a written history of the volcano."
The cone itself is evidently composed of similar beds su-
perimposed, and holding fragments of porphyry and tra-
chyte. What is Vesuvius, four thousand feet high, to Co-
topaxi, belching forth fire fi-oni a crater fifteen thousand
feet higher, and shooting its contents three thousand feet

* Compare the following sections :

Cotopaxi (near TiupuUo).

Soil 1 ft. Oin.

Fine yellow pumice 5 " 0 "

Compact black ashes, with

seams of pumice 10 " 0 "

Fine yellow pumice 1 " 6 "

Compact black ashes 12 " 0 "

Fine yellow pumice 2 " 0 "

Compact black ashes, with seams of

pumice.

Vesuvius (at Pompeii).

Soil 3ft. Oin.

Brown incoherent tuff 1 " G "

Small scorijB and white la-

pilli 0 " 3 "

BroAvn earthy tuif 4 " 9 "

Whitish lapilH 0 " 1 "

Gray solid tuff 0 " 3 "

Pumice and white lapilli... 0 " 3 "

The Golden Mountains. 149

above its snow-bound summit, with a voice of thunder heard
six hundred miles !

Lea\'ing this terrible "safety-valve" to the imprisoned
fu'es under our feet, we travel along the wooded flanks and
savage vallejs of the Llanganati Mountains, whose lofty
blue ridge is here and there pointed with snow.*^ It is uni-
versally believed that the Incas buried an immense quan-
tity of gold in an artificial lake on the sides of this mount-
ain during the Spanish invasion, and many an adventurous
expedition has been made for it. The inhabitants will tell
you of one Yalverde, a Spaniard, who, from being very
poor, had suddenly become very rich, which was attributed
to his having married an Indian girl whose father showed
him where the treasure was hidden, and accompanied him
on various occasions to bring away portions of it ; and that
Yalverde returned to Spain, and on his death-bed be-
queathed the secret of his riches to the king. But since
Padre Longo suddenly disappeared while leading an expe-
dition, the timid Ecuadorians have been content with their
poverty.f

And now we have reached the perfect cone of Tungura-
gua, the rival of Cotopaxi in symmetry and beauty.:]: It
stands 16,500 feet above the Pacific, its upper part covered
with a splendid robe of snow, while the sugar-cane grows
in the romantic town of Banos, 10,000 feet below the sum-
mit. A cataract, 1500 feet high, comes down at three
bounds from the edge of the snow to the warm valley be-
neath ; and at Banos a hot ferruginous spring and a stream

* Immediately south of Cotopaxi, the Cordillera consists of paramos sown
with lakes and morasses, and is rarely covered ^^dth snow, Llanganati is
probably from lldnga^ to touch: they touch the sources of nearly, all the
Ecuadorian ri^-ers.

t The story is doubtless due to the fact that the eastern streams, which
issue from tlie foot of this cordillera, are auriferous.

X From Tungiiri, the ankle-joint, alluding to its apical angle. It is a little
steeper than Cotopaxi, having a slope of 38°.

150 The Andes and the A:mazon.

of ice-water flow out of the volcano side by side. Here,
too, the fierce youth of the Pastassa, born on the pumice
slopes of Cotopaxi, dashes through a deep tortuous chasm
and down a precipice in hot haste, as if conscious of the
long distance before it ere it reaches the Amazon and the
ocean. Tunguragua was once a formidable mountain, for
we discovered a great stream of lava reaching fi'om the
clouds around the summit to the orange-groves in the val-
ley, and blocking up the rivers which tumble over it in
beautiful cascades. It has been silent since 1780 ; but it
can afford to rest, for then its activity lasted seven years.*

Close by rises beautiful Altar, a thousand feet higher.
The Indians call it Capac-urcu, or the " Chief." They say
it once overtopped Chimborazo ; but, after a violent erup-
tion, which continued eight years, the walls fell in. Its
craggy crest is still more Alpine than Caraguairazo ; eight
snowy peaks shoot up like needles into the sky, and sur-
round an altar to whose elevated purity no mortal offering
will ever attain. The trachyte which once formed the sum-
mit of this mountain is now spread in fragments over the
plain of Riobamba.

Leaving this broken-down volcano, but still the most pic-
turesque in the Andes, w^e travel over the rough and rug-
ged range of Cubillin, till our attention is arrested by ter-
rific explosions like a naval broadside, and a column of
smoke that seems to come from the furnace of the Cy-
clops. It is Sangai, the most active volcano on the globe.
From its unapproachable crater, three miles high, it sends
forth a constant stream of fire, water, mud, and ashes.l

* Spnice asserts that he saw smoke issuing from the western edge in 1857;
and Dr. Terry says that in 1832 smoke ascended almost always from the
summit. Dr. Taylor, of Riobamba, informs the writer that smoke is noAv
almost constantly \'isible. The characteristic rock is a black vitreous tra-
chyte resembUng pitchstone, but anhydrous.

t La Condamine (1742) adds " sulphur and bitumen."

Sangai. 151

No intermission has been noticed since the Spaniards first
saw it three hundred years ago. Stromboli is the only vol-
cano that will compare with it. Its ashes are almost al-
ways falling on the city of Guayaquil, one hundred miles
distant, and its explosions, generally occurring every hour
or two, are sometimes heard in that city. Wisse, in 1849,
counted 267 explosions in one hour.

We have now completed the series. Wliat an array of
snow-clad peaks wall in the narrow Yalley of Quito — Na-
ture's Gothic spires to this her glorious temple ! If ever
there was a time wdien all these volcanoes were active in
concert, this secluded vale must have witnessed the most
splendid pyrotechnics conceivable. Imagine fifty mount-
ains as high as Etna, three of them with smoking craters,
standing along the road between New York and Washing-
ton, and you will have some idea of the ride down this gi-
gantic colonnade from Quito to Eiobamba. If, as Euskin
says, the elements of beautj are in proportion to the in-
crease of mountainous character, Ecuador is artistically
beautiful to a high degree.

Here, amid these Plutonic peaks, are the energies of vol-
canic action best studied. The constancy of the volcanic
fires is a striking fact. Fu'st we have the deluges of sub-
marine lavas, which were poured out long before the Andes
lifted their heads above the waters ; then alternate porphy-
ritic strata, feldspathic streams, and gypseous exhalations ;
then, at a later day, floods of basaltic lava; next" the old
tertiary eruptions ; and, lastly, the vast accumulations of
boulders, gravel, ashes, pumice, and mud of the present day,
spread over the Yalley of Quito and the west slope of the
Cordilleras to an unknown depth beneath the sea. The in-
cessant eruptions of Sangai, and the frequent earthquakes,
show that the subterranean energy which heaved the Andes
is not yet expended.

152 The Andes and the Amazon.

CHAPTER X.

The Valley of Quito.— Eiobamba.— A Bed of "Fossil Giants."— Chillo Ha-
cienda.— Otovalo and Ibarra. — The Great Earthquake of 1868.

The Yalley of Quito has about the same size and shape
as the basin of Salt Lake, but it is five thousand feet high-
er.^ The two Cordilleras inclosing it are tied by the
mountain-knots of Assuay and Chisinchi, so that the val-
ley is subdivided into three basins, those of Cuenca, Am-
bato, and Quito proper, which increase in beauty and alti-
tude as we travel north. There are several subordinate
transversal dikes and some longitudinal ridges, but all the
basins lie parallel to the axes of the cordilleras— a charac-
teristic feature of the Andes. The deep valleys on the
outside flanks are e^ddently valleys of erosion, but the ba-
sins between the cordilleras were created with them.

The first is fifty miles long. It contains the cities of
Loja and Cuenca,t the former distinguished for its cincho-
na forests, the latter for Inca graves and mines of precious
metals. The middle basin (130 miles in length) is covered
with vast quantities of volcanic debris, the outpourings of
Cotopaxi, Tunguragua, and Altar, on one side, and of Cliim-
borazo and Caraguaii-azo on the other. Kothing relieves

* Compare the table-lands in the Old World :

Thibet 11,500 feet.

South Africa 6,000 "

Mysore (India) 2,880 "

Spain 2,240 "

Bavaria 1,770 ','

t The altitude of Loja is 6768 feet ; of Cuenca, 86-iO feet.

RlOB^V^IBA. 153

the barrenness of the landscape but hedges of century
plant, cactus, and wild heliotrope, which border the roads.
Wliirlwinds of sand are often seen moving over the plain.
The mean tempei-ature is 61°.5. Here exist, w^e can not
say thrive, the cities of Riobamba, Ambato, and Tacnnga,
already noticed. Eiobamba,* properly Eayobamba, the
plain of lightning, was founded at the beginning of this
century, or shortly after the destruction of the old city.
Excepting the ecclesiastical buildings, the houses are of
one story, built of stone plastered wdth mud, sometimes of
adobe or bamboo, and the w^indows are grated like those
of a prison. As in all Spanish- American towns, the main
church fi'onts the great Plaza where the weekly fairs are
held. Save on fair-day, the city is lifeless. Nothing is
exported to the coast except a few eggs and fow^ls, lard
and potatoes. Such is the power of habit, an Indian will
take a hen to Bodegas and sell it for four reals (50 cents)
when he could get three for it in Riobamba, and six on
the road. Another instance of this doffo:ed adherence to
custom was related to us by Dr. Taylor : The Indians were
accustomed to bring the curate of a certain village a bun-
dle of alfalfa every day. A new curate, having no use
for so much, ordered them not to bring any more. He
was besieged by -Q-ve hundred of his vdld parishioners, and
had he not been a powerful man, they would have killed
him. They told him they were accustomed to bring the
curate that much of alfalfa, and should continue.

Old Riobamba (Cajabamba) is situated twelve miles to
the west. This has been the scene of some of the most
terrible paroxysms that ever shook the Andes. In 1797 a
part of Mount Cicalfa was thrown down, crushing the city
at its foot ; hills arose where valleys existed ; rivers disap-

* According to Villa-s-icencio, Eio (or Eic) is Qiiichua for road ; baniba is
plain.

154 The Andes and the Amazon.

peared, and others took tlieir places ; and the very site of
the city was rent asunder. The surviving inhabitants
could not tell where their houses had stood, and property
was so mingled that litigation followed the earthquake.
Judging from the numerous sculptured columns lying bro-
ken and prostrate throughout the valley, the city must have
had a magnificence now unknown in Ecuador. Around
a coat of arms (evidently Spanish) we read these words :
Malo mori quam fedariy''! would rather die than be dis-
graced." In the spring of 1868 another convulsion caused
a lake to disappear and a mountain to take its place.

Near Punin, seven miles southw^est of Riobamba, we dis-
covered in a deep ravine numerous fossil bones, belonging
chiefly to the mastodon, and extinct species of the horse,
deer, and llama. They w^ere imbedded in the middle of
an unstratified cliff, four hundred feet high, of very com-
pact silt or trachytic clay, free from stones, and resting on
a hard quartzoze sandstone. In the bed of the stream
which runs through the ravine (charged with nitrate of
soda) are some igneous rocks. The bones were drifted to
this spot and deposited (many of them in a broken state)
in horizontal layers along with recent shells. We have,
then, this remarkable fact, that this high valley w^as ten-
anted by elephantine quadrupeds, all of which passed away
before the arrival of the human species, and yet while the
land, and probably the sea also, were peopled with their
present molluscan inhabitants. This confii-ms the state-
ment of Mr. Lyell, that the longevity of mammalian spe-
cies is much inferior to that of the testacea. It is interest-
ing to speculate on the probable climate and the character
of the vegetation in this high valley wiien these extinct
mammifers lived. The great pachyderm w^ould have no
difiiculty in thriving at the present day at Quito, on the
score of temperature or altitude. The mammoth once

Hacienda of Chillo. 155

floiirislied in Siberia ; and Gibbon met an elephant on the
high table-lands of Bolivia that had walked over the Cor-
dillera at the pass of Antarangua, sixteen thousand feet
above the sea. Darwin thinks that the climate of the Cor-
dilleras has changed since the pleistocene period. " It is
a marvelous fact in the history of mammalia (says this nat-
uralist) that in South America a native horse should have
lived and disappeared, to be succeeded in after ages by the
countless herds descended from the few introduced witli
the Spanish colonists."

The liigh ridge of Chisinchi, stretching across the great
plateau n-om Cotopaxi to Iliniza, separates the ever-green
Yalley of Quito from the arid and melancholy valleys of
Cuenca and Ambato. It rolls out like a rich carpet of em-
erald verdure between the towering mountains of Pichincha
and Antisana, Cotacachi and Cayambi. This was the cen-
tre of the most ancient native civilization after that of Ti-
ticaca. Here, while the darkness of the Middle Ages was
settling over Europe, dwelt the Quitus, whose origin is lost
in the mists of fable. Then, while Peter the Hermit was
leading his fanatic host against the Saracens, the Cara na-
tion waged a more successful crusade, and supplanted the
Quitus. Here, too, in the bloody days of Pizarro, reigned,
and was buried, the last of the Incas, ill-fated Atahuallpa.
To him, indeed, it was a more delightful s]3ot than the vale
of Yilcamayu — the paradise of Peru.

The Puengasi Hills, running through the valley from
north to south, partially divide the capital and its vicinity
from the charming Valley of Chillo, spread out at the foot
of Antisana. Here is the venerable hacienda of Chillo,
where Humboldt and Bonpland resided for some time. It
is owned by the Aguirres, w^ho are grand-nephews of Don
Carlos Montufar, the companion of the famous travelers.
The hacienda contains two valuable paintings — an original

156

The Andes and the Amazon.

"Crucifixion" by Titian, and a portrait of the great Ger-
man from life, as he api3earecl in 1803. This latter relic in
terested us exceedingly, and, through the kindness of Sr.

Humboldt in 1802.

Aguirre, we were allowed to photograph it. It represents
Humboldt in his prime, a traveler on the Andes, dressed
after the court-fashion of Berhn; very different from the

The Great Earthquake. 157

usual portrait — an old man in his library, his head, thinly
covered with gray hau', resting on his bosom.

Thirty miles north of Quito, near the volcanic Imbabura,
is the ruined city of Otovalo, a thousand feet lower than
the capital. It was well built, and contained 7000 inhab-
itants. Quichua was the prevailing language. Its chief
trade was in saddles, ponchos, straw hats, and fruit. Here
was the cotton factory, or qidnta^ of Sr. Pareja. Three
miles from Otovalo was the enterprising Indian village of
Cotocachij at the mountain of the same name. It was noted
for its hand-loom products. A heap of ruins now marks
the locality. It is a doomed spot, suffering more than any
other town in 1859.

Four miles northwest of Otovalo was the city of Ibarra,
picturesquely seated on a plain 2000 feet lower than Quito,
and surrounded with orchards and gardens. It numbered
nearly 10,000 souls. It was not a commercial place, but
the residence of landed proprietors. The neighborhood
produced cotton, sugar, and fruit. A league distant was
Carranqui, the birthplace of Atahuallpa. And, finally, the
great valley fitly terminates in the plain of Atuntaqui,^
where the decisive battle was fouo-ht wliicli ushered in the
reign of the Incas.

This northern produce of Imbabura was the focus of the
late terrible earthquake. At half past one on Sunday
morning, August 16, 1868, with scarcely a premonitory sign
(save a slight trembling at 3 p.m. the previous day), there
was an upheaving of the ground, and then one tremendous
shock and rocking of the earth, lasting one mmute. In that
brief moment the rich and flourishing province became a
wilderness, and " Misericordia !" went up, like the sound of
many waters, from ten villages and cities. Otovalo, Ibarra,

* Atuntaqui received its name from the big dram which was kept here in
the days of Huayna-Capac, to give the war-signal.

158

The Axdes aisT) the Amazon.

Cotocachi, and Atantaqui are heaps of ruins. At Otovalo
6000 perished. After the first shock, not a wall a yard high
remained. Houses, in some instances, seemed to have been
cut from their foimdation, and thrown ten feet distant.

The large stone fountain in the Plaza was thro^sm many
yards. The cotton factory, which was built on the edge of
a ravine, was by one stroke reduced to fragments. Such
was the force of the concussion, the looms smashed each

The Great Earthquake. 159

other, the cardiiig-machines were thrown on their sides, and
the roof, with part of the machinery, was found in the riv-
er below. The proprietor was killed. Throughout this
whole region roads were broken up, and vast chasms cre-
ated crossing the country in all directions. One is 2000
yards long, 500 yards broad, and 80 yards deep. Large fis-
sures were opened on the sides of Cotocachi and Imbabura,
fi'om which issued immense torrents of water, mud, and bi
tuminous substances, carrying away and drowning hundreds
of cattle. A caravan of mules going to Chillo with cotton
bales was found four days after grazing on a narrow strip
of land, on each side of which was a fearful chasm, while
the muleteers were killed.

At Quito comparatively little damage was done. Fif-
teen lives were lost, and the churches, convents, and many
private houses are in a state of dilapidation. Domes and
arches, which are much used because of the scarcity of tim-
ber, were first to fall.

In the fierceness of the shock, and the extent of the ter-
ritory shaken, the earthquake of August, 1868, is without a
parallel in the JN'ew World. The destruction of life (50,000
ofiicially reported in Ecuador alone) has not been equaled
in any other earthquake during this century. The tremor
was felt over four republics, and from the Andes to the
Sandwich Islands. The water-wave was felt on the coast
of Xew Zealand sixteen hours after it had set a United
States gunboat on the sand-hills of Arica. In some re-
spects it is surpassed only by the Lisbon earthquake, which
reached from Sweden to the West Indies, and from Barba-
ry to Scotland. The loss of property seems to have been
greatest in Peru, and the loss of life greatest in Ecuador.
The commotion seemed to be most violent along the West-
em Cordillera, though it was felt even on tlie Napo.

There are few places where the crust of our planet is

160 The Andes and the Amazon.

long at rest. Brazil, Egypt, Russia, and Greenland are
comparatively free from earthquakes. But had we delicate
instruments scattered throughout the world, upheaval and
subsidence would doubtless be detected in every part of
the so-called terra firma. The sea, and not the land, is the
true image of stability.

" Time writes no wrinkle on thy azure brow :
Such as creation's dawn beheld, thou rollest now."

Earthquakes have occurred in every period of geological
history, and are independent of latitude. The first well-
known earthquake came in the year 63, and shattered Pom-
peii and Herculaneum sixteen years before they were over-
whelmed by the first recorded eruption of Vesuvius. The
most celebrated earthquake, and perhaps the most terrible
manifestation of force during the human period, was in
1765. The shock, which seemed to originate in the bed' of
the Atlantic, pervaded one twelfth of the earth's surface.
Unhappy Lisbon stood in its path»

An earthquake is a vertical vibration, having an undu-
latory progression. An example of the simple bomiding
movement occurred in 1797, when the city of Eiobamba,
in the Quito Yalley, was buried under part of a momitain
shaken down by the violent concussion, and men were toss-
ed several hundred feet. We saw one massive structure
which had nearly turned a somersault. The ordinary vi-
brations seldom exceed two feet in height. The wave-
movement has a rate of from twenty to thirty miles a min-
ute, depending on the elasticity of the rock and the eleva-
tions on the surface. When two undulations cross each
other, a rotatory or twisting motion is produced. The
waves are generally transmitted along the lines of primary
mountain chains, which are doubtless seated on a fracture.
The Lisbon waves moved from southwest to northeast, or
parallel to the mountain system of the Old World ; those

Earthquakes. 161

of the United States, in 1843, ran parallel to the volcanic
chain, in Mexico. In South America they roll along the
Andes. That of 1797 left its tracks along a westerly line
from Tnnguragua through Pelileo and Gnano. It is a lit-
tle singular, that while the late trembling at Quito seemed
to come fi'om the north, the great shock in Peru preceded
that m Ecuador by three days. Though the origin of
earthquakes is deep-seated, the oscillation is mostly super-
ficial, as deep mines are little disturbed. The most damage
is done where the sedimentary plains abut against the hard,
upturned strata of the mountains. The shock is usually
brief. That of Caracas lasted fifty seconds, that of Lisbon
six minutes ; but Humboldt witnessed one in South Amer-
ica which continued a quarter of an hour.

Several hypotheses ha^'e been advanced to account for
earthquakes. Eogers ascribes them to billowy pulsations
in the molten matter upon which the flexible crust of the
earth floats. Mallet thinks they may be viewed as an un-
completed effort to establish a volcano. Dana holds that
they are occasioned by the folding up of the rocks in the
slow process of cooling and consequent contraction of the
earth's crust. In this process there would occur enormous
fractures to relieve the tension ; tilted strata would slip, and
caverns give way. All this no doubt takes place ; but the
sudden, paroxysmal heavings incline us to refer the cause
to the same eruptive impulse which makes Vesuvius and
Cotopaxi discharge pent-up subterranean vapor and gas.
The most destructive earthquakes occm* when the overlying
rocks do not break and give vent to the imprisoned gas.
There is some connection between volcanoes and earth-
quakes ; the former are, to a certain extent, " safety-valves."
The column of smoke from the volcano of Pasto suddenly
disappeared just before the great earthquake at Kiobamba.
In the spring of 1S68 Pichincha and Cotopaxi showed signs

Li

162 The Andes and the Amazon.

of increasing activity, but in tlie summer became quiet again.
Cotocachi and Sangai, 200 miles apart, were awaked simul-
taneously ; the former, silent for centuries, sent forth dense
masses of earth and volcanic matter to a distance of many
miles, covering thousands of acres ; the latter thundered
every half hour instead of hourly, as before. Still, the
greatest earthquakes do not occur in the vicinity of active
volcanoes. Lisbon and Lima (where, on an average, forty-
five shocks occur annually, and two fearful ones in a cen-
tury) are far distant from any volcanic vent ; likewise North-
ern India, South Africa, Scotland, and the United States.

An earthquake is beyond the reach of calculation. Pro-
fessor Perrey, of L)ijon, France, is endeavoring to prove
that there is a periodicity in earthquakes, synchronous with
that in the tides of the ocean, the greatest number occur-
ring at the time of new and full moon.* Ji this theory be
sustained, we must admit the existence of a vast subterra-
nean sea of lava. But all this is problematical. Earth-
quakes appear independently of the geology of a country,
though the rate of undulation is modified by the mineral
structure. Earthquake waves seem to move more rapidly
through the comparatively undisturbed beds of the Missis-
sippi Yalley than through the contorted strata of Em-ope.
Meteorology is unable to indicate a coming earthquake, for
there is no sure prophecy in sultry weather, sirocco wind,

* Professor Quinby, of the University of Rochester, has, at our request, cal-
culated the position of the moon at the late earthquake : "August 16th, 1868,
1 A.M., the moon was on meridian 137° 21' east of that of Quito, or 42° 39'
past the lower meridian of Quito, assuming the longitude of Quito west of
Greenwich to be 79°, which it is A-ery nearly. This is but little after the ver-
tex of the tidal wave should have passed the meridian of Quito, on the suppo-
sition that the interior of the earth is a liquid mass. The age of the moon
at that time was 27.36 days, i. e., it was only about two days before newmoon."
At the time of the earthquake, 8 a.m., March 22, 1859, the moon was on me-
ridian 25° •48' east of that of Quito, and was 17.6 days old. Shocks have
since occurred, March 20th at 3 a.m., and April 10th at 8 a.m., 1869.

E AETHQUAKES. 1 G 3

and leaden sky. The Lisbon shock came without a warn-
ing. Sudden changes of the w^eather, however, often oc-
cur after an earthquake. Since the great convulsion of
1797 the climate of the Valley of Quito is said to be much
colder. A heavy rain often follows a violent earthquake
in Peru.

]ts"o amount of familiarity with earthquakes enables one
to laugh during the shock, or even at the subterranean
thunders which sound like the clanking of chains in the
realm of Pluto. All animated nature is terror-stricken.
The horse trembles in his stall ; the cow moans a low, mel-
ancholy tune ; the dog sends forth an unearthly yell ; spar-
rows drop from the trees as if dead; crocodiles leave the
trembling bed of the river and rmi with loud cries into
the forest ; and man himself becomes bewildered and loses
all capacity. When the earth rocks beneath our feet (the
motion resembling, in the words of Darwin, " that felt by
a person skating over thin ice which bends under the
weight of his body"), something besides giddiness is pro-
duced. We feel our utter insignificance in the presence
of a mysterious power that shakes the Andes like a reed.
But more : there is an awful sensation of insecurity. " A
moment (says Humboldt) destroys the illusion of a whole
life : our deceptive faith in the repose of nature vanishes,
and we feel transported, as it were, into a region of un-
known destructive forces." A judgment day seems im-
pending, and each moment is an age when one stands on a
world convulsed.

164 The Andes and the Amazon.

CHAPTEK XI.

"The Province of the Orient," or the Wild Napo Country. — The Napos, Za-
paros, and Jivaros Indians. — Preparations to cross the Continent.

On the eastern slope of the Ecuadorian Andes, between
the Maranon and its tributary the Putumayo, lies the Napo
country. This almost unknown region has the area of New
York and New England together. The government of
Quito, by a sonorous decree in *1854, ba23tized it " La Pro-
vincia del Oriente." Peru likewise claims it, but neither
republic has done any thing to colonize it. A dense pri-
meval forest, broken only by the rivers, covers the whole
territory, and is the home of wild races untouched by civ-
ilization.* There is not a road in the whole province. A
footpath, open only in the dry season, and barely passable
then, connects Quito and the Pio Napo. Congress lately
promised to put Canelos in communication with the capi-
tal ; but the largest villages in this vast and fertile region —
Archidona, Canelos, and Macas — still remain isolated from
the outer world.f Ecuador once appointed a functionary
under the high-sounding title of " Governor of the Orient,"
with a salary of $700 ; but now the Indians are not troub-
led with any higher official than an alcalde.

* The boundary-line between Ecuador and Peru is about as indefinite as
the eastern limit of Bolivia, Brazilians claiming ' ' as far west as the cattle of
the empire roam."

t Quito might be made more accessible on the Atlantic than on the Pacific
side. But Ecuadorians dote on Guayaquil, and refuse to connect themselves
directly \nih the great nations of the East. We believe there is a glorious
future for Quito, when it will once more become a city of palaces. But it will
not come until a road through the wilderness and a steamer on the Napo open
a short communication with the wealth of Amazonia and the enterprise of
Europe. *

ISTapo Indians. 165

Tlie country is very thinly inhabited. The chief tribes
are the semi-Christianized Napos (sometimes called Quijos),
dwelling on the north bank of the ISTapo ; the peaceful but
uncivilized Zaparos, living between the Napo and Pastassa,
and the warlike Jivaros, spread over the unexplored region
between the Pastassa and Santiago.

These oriental tribes would probably be assigned by
D'Orbigny to the Antisian branch of the Alpine races of
South America. Dwelling amid the darkness of primeval
forests, and on the gloomy banks of mountain torrents, they
have acquired modifications of character, physical and mor-
al, which distinguish them from the natives of the high
and open regions, or the steaming lowlands of the Ama-
zon. In color, however, they do not appear to us to be en-
titled to the name of " white men ;" they approach nearer
to the bronze complexion of the Quichuans than the yellow
cast of the Brazilians. We see no evidence of that " bleach-
ing process" resulting from a life under the dense canopy
of foliage of which the learned French naturalist speaks,
neither did we perceive the force of his statement that
the color of the South American bears a very decided re-
lation to the humidity of the atmosphere.

The features of the N"apo Indians are Quichuan, espe-
cially the low forehead, squarely- built face, and dull ex-
pression; but in stature they exceed the mountaineers.
From a skull in our possession we take the following
measurements, adding for comparison the dimensions of
an ancient Peruvian cranium in Dr. Morton's collection :

Napo. Peravian.

Longitudinal diameter , G^ in. 6.1 in.

Parietal " Sf " 6. "

Frontal " 4 " 4.7"

Vertical " 4^ " 5.5 "

Capacity 83^5 cub, in. 83 cub. in.

Facial angle 70° 81°

166 The Andes aot) the Amazon.

From this it will be seen that the capacity of this indi-
vidual Napo is 8 cubic inches greater than the average
bulk (75 cubic inches) of the old Peruvians ; a trifle less
than the average North American (84) ; 10 cubic inches
less than the European (94) ; and the same as the average
Polynesian and native African. He has a rounded head,
somewhat prominent vertex, not an excessive protuberance
of brain behind — a line through the meatus dividing it
into very nearly equal parts; but a narrow front as viewed
from above, small vertical diameter, quadrangular orbits,
vertical teeth, and low facial angle. These characters
place him between the Toltecan and the more barbarous
tribes of the New World.

The Napos are nominally subject to the Ecuadorian
government, which is represented by three or four petty
alcaldes ; but the Jesuit missionaries, who have established
a bishopric and three cm^acies, generally control affairs —
spiritual, political, and commercial. The Indians of each
village annually elect one of their number governor, who
serves without salary, and whose only show of authority is
a silver-headed cane about four feet long. He is attend-
ed by half a dozen "justices," whose duty it is to supply
the curate, alcalde, and any traveling hlanco who may
happen to be in town with daily food at a reasonable rate.

The religion of the Napos is a mixture of Paganism and
Christianity. In common with all the other orient tribes,
they believe in good and evil principles, and in metempsy-
chosis. They swear in the name of the de\dl. They bury
their dead horizontally, in a coffin made of a part of a ca-
noe, with a lid of bamboo. They are very kind to the aged.
Monogamy is the rale : the usual age of wedlock is sixteen
or seventeen. The parents negotiate the marriage, and the
curate's fee is one castellano ($3 50). Wlien a person
dies they hold an Irish " wake" over the body, and then

Indian Festivals. 167

take tlie widow to the river and wash her. They have
seven semi-rehgious feasts in a year. To us they appeared
to be nothing more than meaningless drunken frohcs.
Attired in their best, with head-dresses consisting of a cir-
clet of short, richly-colored feathers fi^om the breast of the
toucan, surmounted with the long tail-feathers of the ma-
caw, and with necklaces of beads, seeds, and monkeys'
teeth, they keep up a constant monotonous tapping on
little drums, and trot around a circle like dogs on a tread-
mill, stopping only to drink chicha. This is kept up for
thi-ee weeks, when they all start off, with wives and chil-
dren, for the forest to hunt monkeys for meat.

Chicha, the favorite drink of all the Andean Indians, is
here brewed from yuca, not from corn and barley as in
the Quito Valley. So true is it, as Humboldt remarks, that
almost every where man finds means of preparing some
kind of beverage from the vegetable kingdom. The Chi-
lotans, Darwin informs us, make chicha from a species of
Bi'omelia. In every zone, too, we find nations in a low
degree of civilization living almost exclusively upon a sin-
gle animal or plant. Thus the Laplander has his reindeer,
the Esquimaux his seal, the Sandwich Islander his tara-
root, the Malay his sago-palm, the Napo Indian his yuca.

Yuca is the staple food in this region. It is more com-
monly roasted, but is sometimes ground into fiour. The
manufacture of chicha is primitive, and not a little dis-
gusting. A " bee," usually old women, sit around a wooden
trough ; each one takes a mouthful of yuca root, and, mas-
ticating it, throws it into the trough. The mass is then
transferred to large earthen jars containing water, and left
to ferment. The liquor is shghtly acid, but not intoxica-
ting unless taken in excess. This is done on feast-days,
when the poor Indian keeps his stomach so constantly dis-
tended for weeks that the abdominal protrusion is not only

168 The Andes axd the Amazon.

unsightly, but alarming to a stranger. Chicha-drinking
is a part of the worship of these simple aborigines. They
seem to think that the more happy they make themselves
while paying their devotions to the Creator, the better he is
satisfied. The Jesuits have found it impossible to change
this method of praise. Here, as among all rude nations,
an ancient custom is one half the religion. In eating
meat (usually monkey, sea-cow, and peccari), we observed
that they did not tear or bite it, but, putting one end of a
long piece in the mouth, cut off what they could not get
in, as Darwin noticed among the Fuegians. They keep no
domestic animals except fowls.

As to dress, they make use of a coarse cotton cloth, call-
ed lienzOy woven bythe more enlightened Indians of Qui-
to, dyeing it a dull brown by means of achote juice. The
men wear a strip of this around the loins, and the women
a short skirt. On feast-days, or when musquitoes are thick,
the men add a little poncho and pantaloons. They do not
properly tattoo, but color the skin with achote or anatto.
This substance, which serves so many purposes in this part
of the world, is the red powder which covers the seeds con-
tained in the prickly bur of the Bixa orellana. The pig-
ment is an article of commerce on the Amazon, and is
exported to Europe, where it is used for coloring butter,
cheese, and varnish. They have no fixed pattern ; each
paints to suit his fancy. Usually, however, they draw hor-
izontal bands from the mouth to the ears, and across the
forehead ; we never saw curved lines in which higher sav-
ages, like the Tahitians, tattoo.

The Napos have the provoking apathy of all the E"ew
World aborigines. As Humboldt observed of another
tribe, " their poverty, stoicism, and uncultivated state ren-
der them so rich and so fi-ee from wants of every kind,
that neither money nor other presents wiU induce them to

Napo Indians. 169

turn three steps out of their ways." They maintain a pass-
ive dignity in their bearing not seen in the proudest pope
or emperor. They seldom laugh or smile, even under the
inspiration of chicha, and months of intercourse with them
did not discover to us the power of song, though Yillavi-
cencio says they do sometimes intone fragments of prose
in their festival orgies. They manifest little curiosity, and
little power of mimicry, in which wild men generally ex-
cel the civilized.* The old Spartans were never so la-
conic. In conversation each says all he has to say in three
or four words till his companion speaks, when he rephes in
the same curt, ejaculatory style. A long sentence, or a
number of sentences at one time, we do not remember of
hearing from the lips of a l^apo Indian.f

The women do most of the work, while their lazy lords
drink up the chicha and swing in their hammocks, or pos-
sibly do a little hunting. :j: They catch fish with bone
hooks, seines, spears, and by poisoning the water with har-
hasco.% This last method is quite common throughout
equatorial America. Masliing the root, they throw it into
the quiet coves of the river, when almost immediately the
fish rise to the surface, first the little fry and then the larger
specimens. The poison seems to stupefy rather than kill,

* All savages appear to possess to an uncommon degree the power of mim-
icry. — Darwin.

t Gibbon observes of his Indian paddlers on the Marmore: "They talk very
little ; they silently pull along as though they were sleeping, but their eyes are
wandering all the time in every direction."

X Some of these feminines, however, have a method of retahation which
happily does not exist farther north. They render their husbands idiotic by
giving them an infusion oifioripondio, and then choose another consort. We
saw a sad example of this near Riobamba, and heard of one husband who.
after being thus treated, unconsciously served his wife and her new man like
a slave. Floiipondio is the seed of the Datura sanguinea, which is allied to
the poisonous stramonium used by the priests of Apollo at Delphi to produce
their frantic ravings.

§ Jacquinia armillaris, an evergreen bush. The Indians on the Tapajos
use a poisonous liana called tiinbd {Paullinia pinnata).

170 The Andes and the Amazon.

for we observed that some individuals behaved in a most
lively manner shortly after they were caught. The In-
dians drink the water with impunity.

The JSTapos are not brave ; their chief weapons for hunt-
ing are spears of chonta wood, and blowpipes {bodaqueras)
made of a small palm having a pith, which, when removed,
leaves a polished bore, or of two separate lengths of wood,
each scooped out with patient labor and considerable skill
by means of the incisor teeth of a rodent. The whole is
smeared vdth black wax, a mouth-piece fitted to the larger
end, and a sight made of bone imbedded in the wax.
Through this tube, about ten feet long, they blow slender
arrows cut from the leaf -stalks of a palm. These are
winged with a tuft of silk-cotton (common cotton would be
too heavy), and poisoned with urari, of which we shall
speak hereafter. This noiseless gun is universally used on
the Upper Amazon.*

The Zaparos in physiognomy somewhat resemble the
Chinese, having a middle statm'e, round face, small eyes
set angularly, and a broad, flat nose. Their language is of
simple construction, but nasal and guttural. They have no
words for numbers above three, but show their fingers ;
above ten they know nothing. They take to themselves
single names, not double. They reckon time by moons
and the ripening of certain fruits. Their name for God is
Piatzo, but we could not learn that it conveyed any distinct
idea. They believe the evil spirit, " Mungia," is a black
spectre dwelling in the woods. They think the souls of
the good and brave enter beautiful birds and feed on de-
licious fruits, while cowardly souls become dirty reptiles.
Polygamy is common. They bmy in the sitting posture,

* It is there called zarahatana or gravatana; by the V Qrn\ians pucuna. It
corresponds to the sumpitan of Borneo. It is difficult to recognize the use of
the blow-gun, but the natives will kill at the distance of 150 feet. One which
we brought home sent the slender arrow through the panel of a door.

The Wild Jivakos. 171

with the hammock of the deceased wrapped around him.
The very old men are buried with the mouth downward.
They make use of a narcotic drink called Ayahuasca,
which produces effects similar to those of opium. The
Zaparos are pacific and hospitable, but there is little social
life among them ; they never cluster into large villages,
but inhabit isolated ranches. Nomadic in then* habits,
they wander along the banks of the Napo, between the
Andes and the Maranon. They manufacture, fi^om the
twisted fibre of the chambiri-palm,* most of the twine and
hammocks seen in Eastern Ecuador. Their government is
patriarchal.

The Jivaros, or " Red Indians" jpar excellence, are the
most numerous and the most spirited of the oriental tribes.
They are brave and resentful, yet hospitable and industri-
ous. AYhile the Napos and Zaparos live in rude, often
temporary huts of split bamboo, the warlike Jivaros erect
houses of hard wood with strong doors. Blood relations
live together on the communal principle, the women keep-
ing the rear half of the house, which is divided by a parti-
tion. Many Jivaros approach the Caucasian type, the beard
and lighter skin hinting a percentage of Spanish blood ;
for this tribe was never conquered by the Incas, nor did it
brook Spanish avarice and cruelty, but in one terrible con-
flict (1599) the intruder was swept out of existence. The
wives of the El Dorado adventurers spent the rest of their
days in the harems of the Jivaros. These Indians have the
singular custom and art of compressing the heads of their
notable captives ; taking off the skin entire and drying it
over a small mould, they have a hideous mummy which
preserves all the features of the original face, but on a re-

* This thorny palm is called tucum in Brazil, The fibres of the budding
top are used. A woman will twist a hundred yards of twine a day, and make
a \\\mg by selling hammocks for twenty-five cents a piece.

172 The Andes akd the Amazon.

duced scale. ^ They also braid the long black hair of their
foes into girdles, which they wear as mementoes of their
prowess. They use chonta-lances with triangular points,
notched and poisoned, and shields of wood or hide. They
have a telegraphic system which enables them to concen-
trate their forces quickly in time of war ; large drums are
placed on the tops of the hills, and a certain number of
strokes, repeated along the line, rapidly convey intelli-
gence t6 the most distant habitation.

An odd custom prevails among these wild Indians when
an addition is made to the family circle. The woman goes
into the woods alone, and on her return washes herself and
new-born babe in the river ; then the husband immediate-
ly takes to his bed for eight days, during which time the
wife serves him on the choicest dainties she can procure, f
They have also the unique practice of exchanging wives.
The Jivaro speech is sonorous and energetic. They do
not use salt; so that they distinguish the Napo tribes as
the " Indians who eat salt." The chief articles manufac-
tured by them are cotton goods and blowpipes. They trade
mostly at Candlos and Macas, generally purchasing iron
implements, such as hatchets and knives.

Canelos consists of about seventy families of Quichua-
speaking Indians, and lies on the south bank of the Bobo-
naza. A trail connects it wdth Banos, at the foot of Tun-
guragua. Canelos was founded in 1536, and derives its
name from its situation in the Canela, or American cinna-
mon forest. The bark of the tree has the flavor of the

* Bates (ii., 132) speaks of a similar custom among the ancient Mundu-
rucus: "They used to sever the head with knives made of broad bamboo,
and then, after taking out the brain and fleshy parts, soak it in bitter vegeta-
ble oils, and expose it several days over the smoke of a fire, or in the sun. "

t A like custom existed among some Brazilian and Guiana tribes. It also
prevailed to some extent among the ancient Cantabrians and Corsicans, the
Congos and Tai'tars, and in the Southern French provinces.

Leaving Quito. 173

Ceylon aromatic ; but, according to Dr. Taylor, it is cassia.
Macas, in the days of Spanish adventure a prosperous city
under the name of " Sevilla de Oro," is now a cluster of
huts on the banks of the Upano. Its trade is in tobacco,
vanilla, canela, wax, and copal. The Spaniards took the
trouble to transplant some genuine cinnamon-trees from
Ceylon to this locality, and they flourished for a time.

On the 30th of October we left Quito on our march
across the continent, by the way of the Napo wilderness.
The preparations for our departure, however, commenced
long before that date. To leave Quito in any direction is
the work of time. But to plunge into that terra incognita
" el Oriente," where for weeks, perhaps months, we should
be lost to the civilized world and cut off fi-om all resources,
east or west, demanded more calculation and providence
than a voyage round the world.

We were as long preparing for our journey to the Ama-
zon as in making it. In the first place, not a man in Quito
could give us a single item of information on the most im-
portant and dangerous part of our route. Quitonians are
not guilty of knowing any thing about trans- Andine affairs
or " oriental" geography. From a few petty traders who
had, to the amazement of their fellow-citizens, traversed
the forest and reached the banks of the Xapo, we gleaned
some information which was of service. But on the pas-
sage down the Kapo from Santa Rosa to the Maranon, a
distance of over five hundred miles, nobody had any thing
to say except the delightful intelligence that in all proba-
bility, if we escaped the fever, we would be murdered by
the savages. The information we received was about as
definite and reliable as Herndon obtained respecting any
tributary to the Lower Amazon : " It runs a long way up ;
it has rapids ; savages live upon its banks ; every thing
grows there." From M. Gillette, a Swiss gentleman trad-

174 The Andes and the Amazon.

ing at Para in Moyabamba hats, we learned about the
movements of the Peruvian steamer on the Maranon ; but
how long it would take us to cross the mountains and the
forest, and descend the river, we must find out by trial.

The commissary department was of primal importance.
As, from all we could learn, we could not depend upon ob-
taining supplies from the Indians or with our guns,* it was
necessary to take provisions to last till we should reach the
Maranon. But how long we should be in the forest and on
the river, or what allowance to make for probable delays,
it was impossible to prophesy. The utmost caution and
forethought were therefore needed, for to die of starvation
in the wilderness was, for all practical purposes, equivalent
to falling into the hands of cannibals. As it turned out,
however, we made a most fortunate hit, for on arriving at
Pebas — the first village on the Maranon — we found we
had just enough solid food left to have one grand jubilee
dinner.

For the benefit of future travelers, and for the curiosity
of others, we give the bill of fare we provided for this jour-
ney— stomachs, five ; time, forty-two days :

Flour

100 lbs.

Sugar

.. 90 lbs.

Soda

libs

Corn meal....

.... 27 "

Chocolate

.. 25 "

Tea

2 "

Pea flour ....

.... 30 "

Dried meatf....

.. 47 "

Ham

10 "

Mashka

.... 47 "

Salt

.. 10 "

Tamarinds

9 ''

Crackers ....

....100 "

Lard

.. 10 "

Eggs

170.

Rice

.... 50 "

Cream tartar. .

.. H"

Anisado ....

..pts.

5.

To this we added by purchase from the Indians a few
chickens and eggs, five gallons of sirup, and a peck of rice ;

* The scarcity of game is well illustrated by the fate of Pizarro and his com-
rades. In returning from their expedition to the Napo country, they nearly
perished with hunger, living on lizards, dogs, horses, saddles, sword-belts,
etc. , and reached Quito looking more like spectres than men.

t ' ' Jerked beef, " as it is called in South America, consists of thin strips
cut off the carcass after skinning and dried in the sun. The butchers do not
distinguish between sirloin and round.

Peepauations foe the Napo Journey. 175

and on the river we helped ourselves to a little wild game,
as fish, peccari, deer, and turtles' eggs. But these made
only a drop in the commissary bucket ; had we depended
upon finding provisions on the road, we must have perished
fi-om sheer hunger. Game, in the dry season, is exceed-
ingly scarce. Our provisions were packed in kerosene cans,
a part of which were soldered up to keep out moisture (for
the Valley of the Napo is a steaming vapor-bath) and to
keep out the hands of Indians. More than once have these
treacherous yet indispensable guides robbed the white man
of his food, and then left him to his fate ; we lost not a
pound by theft. A four-gallon keg of aguardiente,* from
which we dealt out half a gill daily to each man, kept our
Indians in good humor.

As we must ascend to the cold altitude of fifteen thou-
sand feet, and then descend to the hot Yalley of the Ama-
zon, we were obliged to carry both woolen and cotton gar-
ments, besides rubber ponchos to shield them from the rain
by day, and to form the first substratum of our bed at
night. Two suits were needed in our long travel afoot
through the forest ; one kept dry for the nightly bivouac,
the other for day service. At the close of each day's jour-
ney we doffed every thread of our wearing apparel, and
donned the reserved suit, for we were daily drenched either
from the heavens above or by crossing swollen rivers and
seas of mud. Then, too, as boots would not answer for
such kind of travel, we must take aljpargates^ a native san-
dal made of the aloe fibre, and of these not a few, for a
pair would liardly hold together two days. Two bales of
lienzo, besides knives, fish-hooks, thread, beads, looking-
glasses, and other trinkets, were also needed ; for the Napo

* This is the rum of the Andes, corresponding to the casliaga of Brazil.
It is distilled from sugar-cane. When double-distilled and flavored with anise,
it is called anisado.

176 The Andes and the Amazon.

Indians must be paid in such currency. There lienzo^ not
gold and silver, is the cry. On this we made a small but
lawful profit, paying in Quito eighteen cents per yard, and
charging on the river twenty-five.

An extensive culinary apparatus, guns and ammunition,
taxidermal and medicinal chests, physical instruments, in-
cluding a photographic establishment, rope, macheta, axe,
saw, nails, candles, matches, and a thousand et ccetera, com-
pleted om- outfit. Among the essential et ccetera were gen-
erous passports and mandatory letters from the President
of Ecuador and the Permian Charge d' Affaires, addressed
to all authorities on the ISTapo and the Maranon. They
were obligingly procured for us by Senor Hurtado, the
Chilian minister (then acting for the United States), through
the influence of a communication fi'om our own govern-
ment, and were of great value to the expedition."

* The following is a copy of the President's order :

REPUBLICA DEL ECUADOR.

Ministeria de Estado ■» Quito a IS de Octubre,^

en el Despacho del Interior./ de 1867. j

APERTORIA.

A las autoridades del transito hasta el Napo, i a los demas empleados civi-
les i militares de la proA'incia del Oriente :

El Sor. James Orton, ciudadano de los EE. UU. de America, profesor de la
Universidad de Rochester en Nneva-York, i jefe de una comision cientifica
del Instituto de Smithsonian de Washington, va a la pro\-incia de Oriente con
el objeto de esplorarla en cumplimiento de su encargo. S.E. el Presidenta de
la Republica ordena a U.U. presten al espresado Sor. Orton i su comitiva cu-
antas consideraciones merecen sus personas, i los ausilios i co-operacion que
necesiten para verificar su viaje i hacer sus estudios i observaciones.
Dios gue. a U.U.

R. Carvajal.

Adieu to Quito. 177

CHAPTEE XII.

Departure from Quito. — Itulcachi. — A Night in a Bread-tray. — Crossing the
Cordillera.— Guamani.—rapallacta.— Domiciled at the Governor's.— An
Indian Aristides.— Our Peon Train.— In the Wilderness.

Forty miles east-southeast of Quito, on the eastern slope
of the Eastern Cordillera, and on the western edge of the
great forest, is the Indian \dllage of Papallacta. From the
capital to this point there is a path just passable for horses;
but thence to the l^apo travelers must take to their feet.
Through the intervention of the curate of Papallacta, who
has great influence over his wild people, but who has wit
enough to reside in Quito instead of his parish, we engaged
the Indian governor to send over thirteen beasts and three
peons to carry our party and baggage to Papallacta.
Wednesday morning the quadrupeds were at the door of
our hotel, five of them hestias de silla. These horses,
judging by size, color, shape, and bony prominences, were
of five different species. The saddles, likewise, differed
fi'om one another, and from any thing we had ever seen
or desired to see. One of them was so narrow and deep
none of us could get into it ; so, filling up the cavity with
blankets, we took .arns in riding on the summit. By noon,
October 30th, we had seen our Andean collections in the
hands of arrieros bound for Guayaquil, whence they were
to be shipped by way of Panama to Washington, and our
baggage train for Xapo headed toward the rising sun. So,
mounting our jades, we defiled across the Grand Plaza and
through the street of St. Augustine, and down the Carnice-
ria to the Alameda, amid the vivas and adeos of oiu* Qui-

M

178 The Andes and the Amazon.

tonian friends, who turned out to see the largest expedition
that ever left the city for the wild ]S"apo country since the
days of Pizarro. Few there were who expected to hear of
our safe arrival on the shores of the Atlantic.

Crossing the magnificent plain of Inaquito, we reached
in an hour the romantic village of Guapulo. Here is an
elegant stone church dedicated to the Virgin of Guada-
loupe/to wliich the faithful make an amiual pilgrimage.
Thence the road led us through the valley of the Guailla-
bamba (a tributary to the Esmeraldas), here and there
blessed with signs of intelligent life— a mud hut, and lit-
tle green fields of cane and alfalfa, and dotted with trees
of wild cherry and myrtle, but having that air of sadness
and death-like repose so inseparable from a Quitonian
landscape. The greater part of this day's ride was over
a rolling country so barren and dreary it was almost re-
pulsive. What a pity the sun shines on so much useless
territory !

Just before sunset we amved at Itulcachi, a great cattle
estate at the foot of the eastern chain of mountains. The
hacienda had seen better days, and w^as poorly fitted to en-
tertain man or beast. The major-domo, however, managed
to make some small potato soup, and find us shelter for the
night, in the room allotted us there were tliree immense
kneading-troughs and two bread-boards to match, for a
grist-mill and bakery were connected with the establish-
ment. In default of beds, we made use of this furniture.
Five wiser men have slept in better berths, but few have
slept more soundly than we did in the bread-trays of Itul-
cachi.

The following day w^e advanced five miles to Tablon, an
Indian hamlet on the mountain side. Here we waited over
night for our cargo train, which had loitered on the road.
This was the only spot in South America where we found

YiEW FKOM THE CoEDILLEEA. 179

milk to oiir stomachs' content ; Itulcachi, with its herds of
cattle, did not yield a drop. Our dormitory was a mud
hovel, w^ithout an aperture for light or ventilation, and in
this dark hole we all slept on a heap of barley. Splendid
was the view w^estward from Tablon. Below us were the
beautiful valleys of Chillo and Puembo, separated by the
isolated mountain of Halo ; around them, in an imposing
semicircle, stood Cayambi, Imbabura, Pichincha, Corazon,
Ihniza, Kuminagui, Cotopaxi, Sincholagua, and Antisana.
As the sun went down in his glory behind the western
range, the rocky head of Pichincha stood out in bold re-
lief, and cast a long shadow^ over the plain. At this halt-
ing-place we made the mortifying discovery that the bare-
legged Indian who had trotted by our side as a guide and
body-servant, and whom we had ordered about with all the
indifference of a surly slaveholder, was none other than
his Excellency Eugenio Mancheno, governor of Pajiallacta !
After this we were more respectful.

The next morning, our baggage having come up, we
pushed up the mountain through a grand ravine, and over
metamorphic rocks standing on their edges with a wavy
strike, till we reached a polylepis grove, 12,000 feet above
the sea. We lunched under the w^ide-spreading branches
of these gnarled and twisted trees, which reminded us of
the patriarchal olives in the Garden of Gethsemane, and
then, ascending over the monotonous paramo, we stood at
the elevation of 15,000 feet on the narrow summit of the
Guamani ridge. Some priest had been before us and
planted a cross by the roadside, to guide and bless the
traveler on his way.

Of the magnificent prospect eastward, over the begin-
ning of the Amazonian Yalley, which this lofty point com-
mands, we have already spoken. There was a wild grand-
eur in the scene — mountain behind mountain, with deep

180 The Andes and the Amazon.

intervening valleys, all covered with one thick, unbroken
mass of foliage. A tiny brook, the child of everlasting-
snows still higher np, murmured at our feet, as if to tell
us that we were on the Atlantic slope, and then dashed
into the great forest, to lose itself in the mighty Amazon,
and be buried mth it in the same ocean grave. The trade-
wind, too, came rushing by us fresh fi'om that sea of com-
merce which laves the shores of two worlds. Guamani
gave us also our finest view of Antisana, its snow-white
dome rising out of a wilderness of mountains, and present-
ing on the north side a profile of the human face divine.

And now we rapidly descended by a steep, narrow path,
and over paramo and bog, to a little tambo, where we had
the luxury of sleeping on a bed of straw. Here we made
the acquaintance of two Indians from the Napo, who were
on the way to Quito with the mail — probably half a dozen
letters. A strip of cloth around the loins, and a short cape
just covering the shoulders, were all their habiliments. We
noticed that they never sat down, though a bench was close
by them ; they would squat for an hom^ at a time. The
day following we took our last horseback ride in South
America. It was short, but horrible. Through quagmire
and swamp, and down a fiight of rocky stairs, in striking-
imitation of General Putnam's famous ride — over rocks,
too, made wondrously slippery by a pitiless rain, but which
our unshod Indian horses descended with great dexterity,
only one beast and his rider taking a somerset — thus we
traveled two hours, reaching Papallacta at 11 a.m.

We put up at the governor's. This edifice, the best in
town, had sides of upright poles stuccoed with mud, a
thatched roof, and ground floor, on which, between three
stones, a fire was built for cookery and comfort. Three
or four earthen kettles, and as many calabashes and wood-
en spoons, were the sum total of kitchen utensils. A large

Eating Lice. 181

flat stone, with another smaller one to rub over it, was the
mill for grinding corn ; and we were astonished to see how
quickly our hostess reduced the grains to an impalpable
meal. The only thing that looked like a bed was a stiff
rawhide thrown over a series of round poles running
lengthwise. This primitive couch, and likewise the whole
house, the obsequious governor gave up to us, insisting
upon sleeping with his wife and little ones outside, though
the nights were cold and uncomfortable. Parents and
children were of the earth, earthy — unwashed, uncombed,
and disgustingly filthy. We found the governor one day
taking lice for his lunch. Sitting behind his little boy, he
picked out the little parasites with his nails, and crushed
them between his teeth with a look of satisfaction. Eating
lice is an old Indian custom, and universal in the Andes. In
Inca times it was considered an infallible remedy against
sore eyes. We have seen half a dozen women sitting on
the ground in a row, picking out vermin from each other's
heads. We thought the arrangement was a little unfair, for
the first in the series had no lice to eat, and the animals
were left to roam undisturbed in the capillary forest of
the last.

Papallacta is a village of thirty dwellings, situated in a
deep valley on the north slope of Antisana, nearly sur-
rounded by an amphitheatre of sandstone and basaltic
precipices. Here, too, is the terminus of the fourth great
lava stream from the volcano ; it is not mentioned by
Humboldt. Papallacta is a thousand feet higher than
Quito, yet vegetation is more tropical. Its name signifies
"the potato country," but not a potato could we find here.
Though Mancheno was governor, he was not really the
greatest man in Papallacta. This was Carlos Caguatijo ; he
was the ruling man, for he could read, write, and speak Span-
ish, while the governor knew nothing but Quichua. Car-

182 The Andes and the Amazon.

los, moreover, was a good man ; he had an honest, Quaker-
like air about him, and his face reminded us of George
Washington's. In all his transactions we noticed no at-
tempt to prevaricate or deceive ; what he promised he per-
formed to the letter. It was refreshing to meet one such
upright soul in Ecuador, though we found him not of Cau-
casian blood, nor dwelling under the tiled roofs of the
proud capital. The old man was the spiritual father of
Papallacta, and, in the absence of the curate, officiated in
the little church. With him, therefore, and not with our
host the governor, we negotiated for peons to take us
through the wilderness.

The journey from Papallacta to the Napo occupied us
thirteen days, including four days of rest. It was perform-
ed on foot, for the " road" is a trail. But the untraveled
reader can have little idea of a trail in a tropical forest :
fording bridgeless rivers, wading through interminable
bogs, fens, marshes, quagmires, and swamps, and cutting
one's way through dense vegetation, must be done to be
understood. Half the year there is no intercourse between
Quito and its Oriental province, for the incessant heavy
rains of summer swell every rivulet into a furious torrent,
and the path is overgrown and rendered impassable even
by an Indian. The only time for travel is between No-
vember and April, for then, though it rains nearly every
day, the clouds drop down in showers, not floods. But
even then the traveler must sometimes wait two or three
weeks beside a swollen river in imminent danger of starv-
ing, and throughout the journey entertain the comforting
prospect that his Indians may eat up his provisions to light-
en their load, or suddenly desert him as they did Dr. Jam-
eson. There are other routes across South America much
more feasible than the one we chose ; these will be de-
scribed in Chapter XXIII. But they all yield in interest

Our Baggage Train. 183

to this passage along the equatorial line, and especially in
the line of history. Who has not heard of Gonzalo Pizar-
ro and his fatal yet famous expedition into " the land of
cinnamon ?" How he was led farther and farther into the
wilderness by the glittering illusions of an El Dorado,* till
the faithless Orellana, deserting him, floated down the
IS'apo and made the magniflcent discovery of the mighty
Amazon. Gonzalo, " who was held to be the best lancer
that ever went to these countries — and all confess that he
never showed his back to the enemy" — returned to Quito
with a few survivors to tell a tale of almost unparalleled
suffering. A century elapsed (1539-1637) before any one
ascended from Para to Quito by way of the Rio Napo;
this was accomplished by Pedro Teixeira.

An Indian will carry three arrobas (seventy-five pounds)
besides his own provisions, his provisions for the journey
consisting of about twenty-five pounds of roasted corn and
barley-meal. The trunk or bundle is bound to his back
by withes, which pass across the forehead and chest; a
poncho or a handful of leaves protects the bare back from
chafing. All our luggage (amounting to nearly fifteen
hundred pounds) was divided and packed to suit this
method of transportation, so that we required twenty In-
dians. So many, however, of the right kind — for they must
be athletic young men to endure the fatigues of such a
journey — could not be furnished by the little village of Pa-
pallacta, so we were obliged to wait a few days till more
Indians could be summoned from a neialiborins: town.
When these arrived, the little world of Papallacta, men,
women, and children, assembled in front of the governor's
house, while Don Carlos sat by our side on a raised seat by

* The king of this fabulous land was said to wear a magnificent attire fra-
grant with a costly gum, and sprinkled Avith gold dust. His palace was of
porphyry and alabaster, and his throne of ivory.

184

The Andes and the Amazon.

the doorway. A long parley ensued, resulting in this : that
we should pay one hundred Ecuadorian dollars for the
transfer of our baggage to Archidona; while Carlos sol-
emnly promised for the young men that they should start
the next morning, that they should arrive at Archidona
within a stipulated time, and that they should not depend
upon us for an ounce of food. The powerful influence of
the curate, which we had secured, and the proclamation

Off for the Napo. 185

from the president, which Carlos read aloud in the ears of
all. the people, together with the authoritative charge of
Carlos himself, had the desired effect ; not a transportation
company in the United States ever kept its engagement
more faithfully than did these twenty peons — and this,
too, though we paid them in advance, according to the cus-
tom of the country. Upon a blanket spread at our feet
the money was counted out, and Carlos slowly distributed
it with a grave and reverend air, to every Indian five dol-
lars."^^

Tuesday morning, November 6th, the peons promptly
shouldered their burdens, and we, shod with al^argates,
and with Alpine staff in hand (more needed here than in
Switzerland), followed after, leaving the governor to sleep
inside his mansion, and to eat his lice unmolested. On a
little grassy knoll just outside the town our train halted
for a moment — the Indians to take their fill of chicha, and
bid their friends good-by, and we to call the roll and take
an inventory. Our leader was Isiro, a bright, intelligent,
finely-featured, stalwart Indian. He could speak Spanish,
and his comrades acknowledged his superiority wdth mark-
ed deference. Ten women and children followed us for
two days, to relieve the men of their burdens. Their as-
sistance was not needed in the latter part of the journey,
for our keen appetites rapidly lightened the provision cans.
Starting again, we plunged at once into the forest, taking
a northeasterly course along the left bank of a tributary

* We give below the autograph of this wisest man in all the Oriente :
"Recibio del Sefior James Orton la suma de centos (100) pesos por
vente (20) peones hasta Archidona.

" Papallacta, 4 Nov., 1S67."

186 The Andes and the Amazon.

to the Coca. • The nps and downs of this day's travel of
twelve miles were foreshadowings of what might come in
om- "views afoot" in South America. We encamped at
a spot the Indians called Maspa. Herndon says : " The
(Peruvian) Indians take no account of time or distance ;
they stop when they get tired, and arrive when God
pleases.""^ But our E'apo companions measured distance
by hours quite accurately, and they always traveled as far
as we were willing to follow. In ten minutes they built
us a booth for the night ; driving two crotchets into the
ground, they joined them with a ridge-pole, against which
they inclined a number of sticks for rafters. These they
covered wdth palm-leaves, so adroitly put together that our
roof w^as generally rain-proof. After ablution and an en-
tire change of garments, we built a fire, using for fuel a-
green tree called siiKHcasin (meaning the wood that burns),
a special provision in these damp forests where every thing
is dripping with moisture. The fall of a full-gro^yn tree
under the strokes of a Yankee axe was a marvel in the
eyes of our Indians. Om* second day's journey was far
more difiicult than the first, the path winding up steep
mountains and down into grand ravines, for we were cross-
ing the outlying spurs of the Eastern Cordillera. Every
where the track was slippery with mud, and often we sank
two feet into the mire. How devoutly we did wish that
the Ecuadorian Congress was compelled to travel this hor-
rid road once a year ! At 10 o'clock we reached a lone
habitation called Guila, where wooden bowls are made for
the Quito market. Here we procured a fresh Indian to
take the place of one of our peons who had given out im-
der his burden. We advanced this day sixteen miles in
ten hours, sleeping under an old bamboo hut beside a bab-
bling brook bearing the euphonious name of Pachamama.

* " Distance is frequently estimated by the time that a man will occupy in
takino; a chew of coca," or 37i minutes. — Herndon.

Baeza. 187

CHAPTER XIII.

Baeza. — The Forest. — Crossing the Cosanga. — Curi-urcu. — Archidona. —
Appearance, Customs, and Belief of the Natives. — Napo andNapo River.

Eight hours' hard travel from Pachamama brought us
to Baeza. This " Antigua Ciudad," as Yillavicencio calls
it, was founded in 1552 by Don Egilio Ramirez Da-
valos, and named after the quite different spot where
Scipio the Younger routed Asdrubal a thousand years be-
fore. It consists of two habitations, the residence of
two families of Tumbaco Indians, situated in a clearing
of the forest on the summit of a high ridge running along
the right bank of the Coca. This point, about one him-
dred miles east of Quito, is important in the little traffic of
the Oriente. All Indian trains from the capital to the
province pass through Baeza, where the trail divides ; one
branch passing on easterly to San Jose, and thence down
through Abila and Loreto to Santa Rosa ; the other lead-
ing to the Xapo through Archidona. Here we rested one
day, taking possession of one half of the larger hut — a mere
stockade with a palm-leaf roof, without chairs, cliimney, or
fire-place, except any place on the floor. We swung our
hammocks, while our Indians stretched themselves on the
ground beneath us. The island of Juan Fernandez is not
a more isolated spot than Baeza. A dense forest, impene-
trable save by the trails, stretches away on every side to
the Andes and to the Atlantic, and northerly and southerly
along the slope of the entire mountain chain. The forest
is such an entangled mass of tlie living and the fallen, it is
difficult to say which is the predominant spirit — life or
death. It is the cemetery, as well as the birthplace, of a
world of vec^etation. The trees are more lofty than on the

188 The Andes and the Amazon.

Lower Amazon, and straight as an arrow, but we saw none
of remarkable size. A perpetual mist seems to hang on
the branches, and the dense foliage forms dark, lofty
vaults, which the simlight never enters. The soil and air
are always cool, and never dry. Every thing is penetrated
with dampness. All our watches stopped, and remained
immovable till we reached Para. It is this constant and
excessive humidity which renders it so difficult to transport
provisions or prepare an herbarium. The pending branches
of moss are so saturated with moisture that sometimes the
branches are broken off to the peril of the passing traveler.
Yet the climate is healthy. The stillness and gloom are
almost painful ; the firing of a gun wakes a dull echo, and
any unlooked-for noise is startling. Scarce a bird or a
flower is to be seen in these sombre shades. Kearly the
only signs of animal life visible thus far were insects, most-
ly butterflies, fireflies, and beetles. The only quadruped
seen on our journey to the Napo was a long-tailed marten
caught by the Indians. The silence is almost perfect ; its
chief interruption is the crashing fall of some old patriarch
of the forest, overcome by the embrace of loving parasites
that twine themselves about the trunk or sit ujDon the
branches. The most striking singularity in these tropical
woods is the host of hanas or air-roots of epiphytous plants,
which hang down from the lofty boughs, straight as plumb-
lines, some singly, others in clusters ; some reaching half
way to the ground, others touching it and striking their
rootlets into the earth. We found lianas over one hundred
feet long. Sometimes a toppling tree is caught in the grace-
ful arms of looping sijyos^ and held for years by this nat-
ural cable. It is these dead trunks, standing like skeletons,
which give a character of solemnity to these primeval
woods. The wildest disorder is seen along the mountain
torrents, where the trees, prostrated by the undermining

Crossing the Cosanga. 189

current, lie mingled with huge stones brought down by the
force of the water. In many places the crowns of stately
monarchs standing on the bank interlock and form a sylvan
arch over the river.

We left Baeza by the southerly trail for Archidona.
From Papallacta we had traveled east, or parallel to the
streams which flow down from the mountains. We were
now to cross them (and their name is legion), as also the in-
tervening ridges ; so that our previous journey was noth-
ing to that which followed. Sometimes we were climbing
up an almost vertical ascent, then descending into a deep,
dark ravine, to ford a furious river ; while on the lowlands
the path seemed lost in a jungle of bamboos, till our Indian
" bushwhackers" opened a passage with their machetas, and
we crept under a low arcade of foliage. This day we en-
joyed something unusual in our forest trail — a distant view.
The path brought us to the verge of a mountain, whence
we could look down on the savage valley of the Cosanga
and upward to the dazzling dome of Antisana ; it was our
farewell view of that glorious volcano. At the distance of
twelve miles from Baeza we reached the banks of the Rio
Cosanga, camping at a spot called Chiniplaya. This is the
river so much dreaded by Indians and whites traversing
the Kapo wilderness. It is fearfully rapid — a very Tigris
from its source to its junction with the Coca. The large,
smooth boulders stre^vn along its bed show its power.
Here, sixty miles from its origin in the glaciers of Antisana,
it is seventy-five feet wide, but in the wet season it is one
hundred yards. The day following we threaded our diffi-
cult way, a via dolorosa^ fifteen miles up the left bank of
the Cosanga, where we crossed and camped on the oppo-
site side. The Indians had thrown a log over the deepest
part of the river, and the rest we forded without much dan-
ger ; but that very night the rain raised the river to such

190 The Andes and the Amazon.

a magnitude that the little bridge was carried off. Had we
been one day later, we might have waited a week on the
other side of the imj)assable gulf. Between this point
where we forded and Chiniplaya, fifteen miles below, the
barometer indicated a fall of five hundred feet. The roar
of the rushing waters is like that of the sea. In the beau-
tiful language of Darwin {Journal^ p. 316) : " The sound
spoke eloquently to the geologist ; the thousands and thou-
sands of stones, which, striking against each other, made
the one dull, uniform sound, were all hurrying in one di-
rection. It was like thinking on time, when the minute
that now glides past is irrecoverable So was it with these
stones. The ocean is their eternity, and each note of that
wild music told of one more step toward their destiny."

On account of the heavy rain and the sickness of a peon,
whom finally we were obliged to leave behind, we rested
one day ; but on the morrow we traveled fourteen miles,
crossing the lofty Guacamayo ridge,^ fording at much risk
the deep Cochachimbamba, and camping at a spot (the In-
dians have a name for almost any locality in the forest)
called Guayusapugaru. The next day we must have ad-
vanced twenty miles, besides crossing the furious Hondachi.
This river was very much swollen by the rains, and it was
only by the aid of a rope that we made the jDassage. One
stout Indian was carried down stream, but soon recovered
himself.

As we had lowered our altitude since leaving Papallacta
seven thousand feet, the climate was much warmer, and
vegetation more prolific. Nowhere else between the Andes
and the Atlantic did we notice such a majestic forest. The
tree-ferns, ennobled by the tropical sun and soil, have a

* Humboldt speaks of this as an active volcano, "from which detonation.-<
are heard almost daily. " We heard nothing. It is possible that he meant
Guamani.

Through the Wildeeness. 191

palm-like appearance, but with ronglier stems and a nsnal
height of fifty feet. Plants akin to our " scouring rush"
rise twenty-five feet. We saw to-day the " water tree," or
huadhuas of the natives, a kind of bamboo, w^iich some-
times yields between the joints two quarts of clear, taste-
less water. Late in the evening w^e reached an old rancho
called Curi-iiTGu (" the mountain of gold") ; but we had
traveled so far ahead of our cargo-train we did not see it
again till the next morning. We were obliged, therefore,
to sleep on the ground in our wet clothes, and put up with
hard commons — half parched corn, which our Indian guides
gave us, and unleavened cakes or flour-paste baked on the
coals. Thence, after a short day's journey of ten miles, we
arrived at Archidona, by a path, however, that was slippery
with a soft yellow clay. We were a sorry-looking com-
pany, soaked by incessant rains, exhausted by perspiration,
plastered with mud, tattered, and torn ; but we were kindly
met by the Jesuit bishop, who took us to his own habita-
tion, where one Indian washed our feet, and another pre-
pared a most refi'eshing drink of guayusa tea. We then
took up our quarters at the Government House, opposite
the bishop's, sojourning several days on account of our swol-
len feet, and also on account of a swollen river which ran
between us and the ]S"apo. Here we made a valuable col-
lection of birds, lizards, fishes, and butterflies.

Archidona is situated in a beautiful plain on the high
northern bank of the Misagualli, two thousand feet above
the Atlantic. The site is a cleared spot in the heart of an
almost boundless forest ; and it was a relief, not easily con-
ceived, to emerge from beneath the dense leafy canopy into
this open space and look up to the sky and to the snowy
Andes. The climate is uniform and delightful, the mean
annual temperature being seventy-seven degrees. Sand-
flies, howevei*, resembling our " punkies," abound ; and tlic

192 The Andes and the Aisiazon.

natives are constantly slapping their naked sides, eating the
little pests as the Papallactans do their lice.* Archidona
is the largest village in the Xapo country, containing about
five hundred souls. The houses are of split bamboo and
palm-thatch, often hid in a plantation of yuca and plan-
tain. The central and most important structure is the little
church ; its rude belfry, portico, chancel, images, and other
attempts at ornament remind us of the fitting words of
Mrs. Agassiz, that " there is something touching in the idea
that these poor, uneducated people of the forest have cared
to build themselves a temple with their own hands, lavish-
ing upon it such ideas of beauty and taste as they have,
and bringing at least their best to their humble altar."
Founded by Davalos in 1560, Archidona has been a mis-
sionary station for two hundred years. The people are
child-like and docile, but the bishop confessed there was no
intellectual advance. • Every morning and evening, at the
tinkling of a little bell, all Archidona assembled in the
open porch, where the bishop taught them to sing and pray.
It was a novel sight to see these children of the forest com-
ing out of the woods on all sides and running up to the
temple — for these natives, whenever they move, almost in-
variably go on a run. The men are tall and slim and of a
dark red color, and their legs are bent backward at the
knees. The governor was the only portly indi\ddual we
saw. The women are short, with high shoulders, and are
very timid ; they seldom stand erect, and with the knees
bent forward they run sneakingly to church. Their eyes
have a characteristic, soft, drooping look. They carry their
babes generally on the hip ; not on the back, as in Quito.
The men are hatless, shirtless, and shoeless ; their only gar-

* The Chasuta Indians, Herndon says, eat rausquitoes that they catch on
their bodies with the idea of restoring the blood which the insect has ab-
stracted.

Archidona. 193

ments are short drawers, about six inches long, and little
ponchos, both of lienzo, dyed a dark purple with acliote —
the red seeds of the bixa, which the cooks of Quito use to
color their soups. All paint their bodies w^ith the same
pigment. The women wear a frock reaching from the
waist to the knees ; it is nothing more than a yard or two
of lienzo wound around the body. The Archidonians are
the most Christianized of all the Kapo Indians, but they
can not be called religious. Their rites (they can hardly
be said to have a creed) are the a^ 5, c, of Romanism, min-
gled mth some strange notions — the relics of a lost pagan-
ism. They are very superstitious, and believe, as before
remarked, in the transmigration of souls. Maniacs they
think are possessed by an evil demon, and therefore are
treated with great cruelty, l^egroes (of whom a few speci-
mens have come up the Napo fi'om Brazil) are held to be
under the ban of the Almighty, and their color is ascribed
to the singeing which they got in the flames of hell. They
do not believe in disease ; but, like the Mundurucus on the
Tapajos, say that death is always caused by the sorceries
of an enemy. They usually bury in the church or in the
tambo of the deceased. Celibacy and polygamy, homicide
and suicide, are rare.

The only sign of industry in Archidona is the manufac-
ture of pita thread fi'om the aloe. It is exported to Quito
on human backs. The inhabitants also collect copal at the
headwaters of the Hondachi, and use it for illumination.
It can be bought in Archidona for three or four cents a
pound. The gum exudes from a lofty leguminous tree
having an oak-like bark. It resembles the anime of Mad-
agascar rather than the copal of India, which flows from
an entkely different tree. Guayusa, or " IS'apo tea," is an-
other and celebrated production of Arcliidona. It is the
large leaf of a tall shrub growing wild. An infusion of

194 The Andes and the Amazon.

guaynsa, like the mate of Paraguay (which belongs to the
same genus /fc), is so refreshing it supplies for a long
time the place of food. The Indians will go to Quito on
this beverage alone, its virtues being similar to those of
coca^ on the strength of which the posts of the Incas used
to travel incredible distances. It is by no means, however,
such a stimulant. It is a singular fact, observes Dr. Jame-
son, that tea, coffee, cacao, mate, and guayusa contain the
same alkaloid caffeine. The last, however, contains only
one fifteenth as much of the active principle as tea, and no
volatile oil. Herndon found guayusa on the Ucayali.

At Archidona we took a new set of peons for Napo, as
the Papal! actans do not travel farther. The distance is
sixteen miles, and the path is comparatively good, though
it crosses two rivers, the Misagualli and Tena. On this
journey we found the only serpent seen since lea\'ing
Quito. This solitary specimen was sluggish and harmless,
but exceedingly beautiful. It was the Aviphisboana fuli-
ginosa, or " slow- worm." It lives in the chambers of the
Saiiba ants. We met a procession of these ants, each car-
rying a circular piece of a leaf vertically over its head.
These insects are peculiar to tropical America, and are
much dreaded in Brazil, w^here they soon despoil valuable
trees of their foliage. They cut the leaves with their scis-
sor-like jaws, and use them to thatch the domes at the en-
trance of their subterranean dwellings.

At !N"apo we took possession of the governor's liouse.
Each village in the Xapo pro^-ince was obliged to build an
edifice of split bamboo for that dignitary ; and, as he no
longer exists, they are left unoccupied. They generally
stand on the highest and best site in the town, and are a
god-send to travelers. Immediately on our arrival, the In-
dian governor and his staff of justices called to see what we
wanted, and during our stay supplied us with chickens,

A Yankee on the Xapo. 195

eggs, plantains, yucas, and fuel. His excellency would al-
ways come, silver-headed cane in hand, though the justices
had only six eggs or a single fowl to bring us. The alcalde
also paid us his respects. He is an old bianco (as the
whites are called), doing a little traffic in gold dust, lienzo,
and pita, but is the highest representative of Ecuador in
the l^apo country. Here, too, we met, to our great delight,
Mr. George Edwards, a native of Coimecticut, who has set-
tled himself, probably for life, in the depths of this wilder-
ness. He was equally rejoiced to see the face and hear
the speech of a countryman. His industry and upright
character have w^on for him the respect and good-will of
the Indians, and he is favorably known in Quito. The gov-
ernment has given him a tract of land on the Yusupino,
two miles west of JS'apo village. Here he is cultivating
vanilla, of which he has now three thousand plants, and
also his patience, for six years elapse after transplanting
before a pod appears. He has been so long in the countiy
(thirteen years) his English would now and then run off
into Spanish or Quichua.

]S"apo is prettily situated on the left bank of the Rio
Kapo, a dense forest inclosing it on every side. The max-
imum number of inhabitants is eighty families ; but many
of these are in town only in festival seasons. It was well
for us that we reached the Xapo during the feasts ; other-
wise we might not have found men enough to man our
canoes down the river. There are three or four blancos,
petty merchants, who follow the old Spanish practice of
compulsory sales, forcing the Indians to take lienzo, knives,
beads, etc., at exorbitant prices, and making them pay in
gold dust and pita. This kind of commerce is known un-
der the name of rejxvrtos. It is hard to find an Indian
whose gold or whose labor is not claimed by the blancos.
The present and possible productions of this region are :

196 The Andes and the Amazon.

bananas, plantains, yncas,* yams, sweet potatoes, rice, beans,
corn, lemons, oranges, chirimojas, anonas (a similar fruit to
the preceding), pine-apples, palm cabbages, guavas, gua-
yavas, castor-oil beans, coffee, cacao, cinnamon. India-rub-
ber, vanilla (two kinds),t cbonta-palm nuts, sarsaparilla, con-
trayerva (a mint), tobacco (of superior quality), and gua-
yusa ; of woods, balsam, red wood, Brazil wood, palo de cruz,
palo de sangre, ramo caspi, quilla caspi, guayacan (or "holy
wood," being much used for images), ivory palm, a kind of
ebony, cedar, and aguana (the last two used for maldng
canoes) ; of dyewoods, same (dark red), tinta (blue), terriri,
and quito (black) ; of gums, estoraque (a balsam) and copal,
besides a black beeswax, tlie production of a small (Trigona)
bee, that builds its comb in the ground ; of manufactures,
pita, hammocks, twine, calabashes, aguardiente (from the
plantain), chicha (from the yuca),:j: sugar and molasses (from
the cane, which grows luxuriantly), and manati-lard ; of
minerals, gold dust. The gold, in minute spangles, is
washed down by the rivers at flood time, chiefly from the
Llanganati Mountains. The articles desired in exchange
are lienzo, thread, needles, axes, hoes, knives, fish-hooks,
rings, medals, crosses, beads, mirrors, salt, and poison.
Quito nearly monopolizes the trade ; though a few canoes
go down the Napo to the Maranon after salt and poison.
The salt comes from near Chasuta, on the Huallaga ;§ the
urari from the Ticuna Indians. It takes about twenty

* Sometimes called yuca diilce, or sweet yuca, to distinguish it from the
1/uca brava, or wild yuca, the mandioca of the Amazon, from which farina is
made. The yuca is the beet-like root of a little tree about ten feet high. It
is a good substitute for potatoes and bread.

t Vanilla belongs to the orchid family, and is the only member which pos-
sesses any economical value. It is a graceful climber and has a pretty star-
like flower. t li^ Peru, the liqnor made from yuca is called viasato.

§ Rock-salt is found on both sides of the Andes, " The general character
of the geology of these countries M'ould rather lead to the opinion that its or-
igin is in some way connected with volcanic heat at the bottom of the sea."
— Darwin's Observations, pt. iii., p. 235.

Napo as a Field foe Commekce. 197

days to paddle down to the Maranon, and three months
to pole np. The Napo is navigable for a flat-bottomed
steamer as far as Santa Kosa,* and it is a wonder that An-
glo-Saxon enterprise has not pnt one upon these w^aters.
The profits would be great, as soon as commercial relations
with the various tribes were established. f Four yards of
coarse cotton cloth, for example, will exchange for one
hundred pounds of sarsaparilla. TJrari is sold at Napo for
its weight in silver. By a decree of the Ecuadorian Con-
gress, there will be no duty on foreign goods entering the
Napo for twenty years. The Napo region, under proper
cultivation, would yield the most valuable productions of
either hemisphere in profusion. But agriculture is un-
known; there is no word for plow. The natives spend
most of their time in idleness, or feasting and hunting.
Their weapons are blow-guns and wooden spears ; our guns
they call by a word which signifies "thunder and light-
ning." Laying up for the future or for commerce is for-
eign to their ideas. The houses are all built of bamboo
tied together with lianas, and shingled with leaves of the
sunipanga palm. The Indians are peaceful, good-natured,
and idle. They seldom steal any thing but food. Their
only stimulants are chicha, guayusa, and tobacco. This
last they roll up in plantain leaves and smoke, or snuff an
infusion of it through the nose from the upper bill of a
toucan. " The Peruvians (says Prescott, quoting Garcilasso)
differ from every other Indian nation to whom tobacco was
known by using it only for medicinal purposes in the form
of snuff." There is no bread on the Napo ; the nearest ap-

* " The Napo (Heradon was told) is very full of sand-banks, and twenty
days from its mouth (or near the confluence of the Curaray) the men have to
get overboard and drag the canoes!" — Report, p. 229.

t The chief difficulty throughout the Upper Amazon, is in getting the In-
dians to concentrate along the bank. But honorable deahng would accom-
plish this in time.

198 The Andes ajst) the Amazon.

proach to floiir is yuca starch. There are no clocks or
watches ; time is measured by the position of the sun. The
mean temperature at IS'apo village is about one degree
warmer than that of Archidona. Its altitude above the
sea is 1450 feet. The nights are cool, and there are no
musquitoes ; but sand-ilies are innumerable. Jiggers also
liave been seen. There are no well-defined wet and dry
seasons ; but the most rain falls in May, June, and July.
The lightning, Edwards informed us, seldom strikes. Dys-
entery, fevers, and rheumatism are the prevailing diseases ;
and we saw one case of goitre. But the climate is consid-
ered salubrious. Few twins are born ; and there are fewer
children than in Archidona — a difference ascribed by some
to the exposure of the Napo people in gold washing ; by
others to the greater quantity of guayusa drunk by the
Archidonians.

The Xapo is the largest river in the republic. From its
source in the oriental defiles of Cotopaxi and Sincholagua
to its embouchure at the Maranon, its length is not far
from eight hundred miles, or about twdce that of the Sus-
quehanna.* From Napo village to the mouth of the river
our barometer showed a fall of a thousand feet. At ]N"aj)0
the current is six miles- an hour ; between IN'apo and Santa
Rosa there are rapids ; and between Santa Eosa and the
Maranon the rate is not less than four miles an hour. At
l^apo the breadth is about forty yards ; at Coca the main
channel is fifteen hundred feet wide ; and at Camindo it

* Its actual source is the Rio del Valle, which runs northward through the
Valle Vicioso. Its longest tributary, the Curaray, rises only a few miles to the
south in the Cordillera de los Mulatos, The two rivers run side by side 4°
of longitude before meeting. Coca, the northern branch, originates in the
flanks of Cayambi. The Napo and its branches' are represented incorrectly
in every map we have examined. The Aguarico is confounded with the
Santa Maria and made too long, and the Curaray is represented too far above
the mouth of the Napo. There are no settlements between Coca and Ca-
mindo.

Eio Kapo. 199

is a full Spanish mile. Below Coca the river throws
out nnmeroiis canals, which, isolating portions of the for-
est-clad lowlands, create numerous picturesque islands.
Around and between them the river winds, usually mak-
ing one bend in every league. The tall trees covering
them are bound together by creeping plants into a thick
jungle, the home of capybaras and the lair of' the jaguar.
The islands, entirely alluvial, are periodically flooded, and
undergo a constant round of decay and renovation. In-
deed, the whole river annually changes its channel, so that
navigation is somewhat difficult. The Indians, on coming
to a fork, were frequently at a loss to know which was the
main channel. Then, too, the river is full of snags and
jplaias^ or low, shelving sand-banks, rising just above the
water-level — the resort of turtles during the ^g^ season. It
was interesting to trace the bed of the river as we floated
down ; on the rapid slope of the Cordilleras rushing over
or rolling along huge boulders, which farther on were rap-
idly reduced in size, till, in time, boulders were broken into
pebbles, pebbles turned into sand, and sand reduced to im-
palpable mud.* The jplaias are not auriferous. Below
Coca there is a wilderness of lagunes, all connected with
the river, the imdisturbed retreat of innumerable water-
fowl. The only spot on the ISTapo where the underlying
rocks are exposed is near l^apo village. There it is a dark
slate, gently dipping east. Farther west, in fact, through-
out this side of the Andes, the prevailing rock is mica-
schist. But the entire Napo country is covered with an
alluvial bed, on the average ten feet thick.

* From specimens of sand ■\^•hich we obtained at different points in descend-
ing the river, we find that at Coca it contains 17.5 per cent, of pure quartz
grains, the rest being colored dark with augite ; at the mouth of the Xapo
there is 50 per cent, of pure quartz, the other half being light-colored and
feldspathic.

200 The Andes and the Amazon.

CHAPTEE XIY.

Afloat on the Napo. — Down the Eapids. — Santa Rosa and its mulish Al-
calde.— Pratt on Discipline. — Forest Music. — Coca. — Our Craft and Crew.
— Storm on the Napo.

We embarked November 20th on our voyage do-svii tlie
river. It is no easy matter to hire or cajole the Indians
for any service. Out of feast-time they are out of to^Ti,
and during the festival they are loth to leave, or are so full
of chicha they do not know what they want. We first
woke up the indolent alcalde by showing him the Presi-
dent's order, and then used him to entice or to compel (we
know not his motive power) eight Indians, including the
governor, to take us to Santa Rosa. We paid them about
twenty-four yards of lienzo, the usual currency here. They
furnished three canoes, two for baggage and one covered
with a palm-leaf awning for ourselves. The canoes were
of red cedar, and flat - bottomed ; the j^addles had oval
blades, to which short, quick strokes were given perpen-
dicularly to the water entering and lea\dng. But there
was httle need of paddling on this trip.

The I^apo starts off in f mious haste, for the fall between
I^s'apo village and Santa Eosa, a distance of eighty miles, is
three hundred and fifty feet. We w^ere about seven hours
in the voyage down, and it takes seven days to pole back.
The passage of the rapids is dangerous to all but an In-
dian. As Wallace says of a spot on the Pio Negro, you
are bewildered by the conflicting motions of the water.
Whirling and boiling eddies burst as if from some sub-
aqueous explosion ; down currents are on one side of the
canoe, and an up current on the other ; now a cross stream

Sai^ta Rosa. 201

at the bows and a diagonal one at the stern, wdth a foam-
ing Scylla on your right and a whirling Charybdis on the
left. But our nervousness gave way to admiration as our
popero, or pilot, the sedate governor, gave the canoe a sheer
with the swoop of his long paddle, turning it gracefully
around the corner of a rock against which it seemed we
must be dashed, and we felt like joining in the wild scream
of the Indians as our little craft shot like an arrow past
the danger and down the rapids, and danced on the w^aters
below.

In four hours we were abreast the little village of Agu-
ano ; on the opposite bank we could see the tambos of the
gold washers. At 6 p.m. w^e reached the deserted site of
Old Santa Rosa, the village having been removed a few
years ago on account of its unhealthy location. It is now
overgrown with sour orange and calabash trees, the latter
bearing large fruit shells so useful to the Indians in mak-
ing pilches or cups. In pitch darkness and in a drizzling
rain we arrived at 'New Santa Rosa, and swung our ham-
mocks in the Government House.

Santa Rosa, once the prosperous capital of the Provincia
del Oriente, now contains about two hundred men, women,
and children. The town is pleasantly situated on the left
bank of the river, about fifteen feet above the water level.
A little bamboo church, open only when the missionary
from Archidona makes his annual visit, stood near our
quarters. The Indians were keeping one of their seven
feasts in a hut near by, and their drumming was the last
thing we heard as we turned into our hammocks, and the
first in the morning. The alcalde, Pablo Sandoval, is the
only white inhabitant, and he is an Indian in every respect
save speech and color. His habitation is one of the largest
structures on the Napo ; the posts are of chonta-palm, the
sides and roof of the usual material — split bamboo and

202

The Aiq^DEs and the Amazon.

•i

palm leaves. It is embow-
ered in a magnificent grove
of jDlantains and papayas.
In the spacious vestibule is
a bench, on which the In-
dian governor and his staff
seat themselves every morn-
ing to confer with the al-
calde. In one corner stands
a table (the only one we
remember seeing on the
I^apo); on the opposite side
are heaped up jars, pots, ket-
tles, hunting and fishing im-
plements, paddles, bows and
arrows. Between the posts
swing two chambiri ham-
mocks. From Santa Eosa
to Para the hammock an-
swers for chair, sofa, tUe-a-
tete, and bed. Wlien a stran-
ger enters, he is in^dted to sit
in a hammock ; and at San-
ta Rosa we were always pre-
sented with a cup of guayusa; in Brazil with a cup of cof-
fee. Sandoval wore nothing but shirt and pantaloons ; the
dignity of the barefooted functionary was confined to his
Spanish blood. He had lived long among the Zaparos;
and from him, his daughter, and a Zaparo servant, we ob-
tained much valuable information respecting that wild and
little-known tribe.

At Santa Eosa we procured Indians and canoes for the
Maraiion. This was not easily done. The Indians seemed
reluctant to quit their feasts and go on such a long voyage.

Papaya-tree.

A Stubborn Alcalde. 203

and tlie alcalde was unwilling they should go, and manu-
factured a host of lies and excuses. He declared there was
but one large canoe in town, and that we must send to
Suno for another, and for men to man it. There were in-
deed few Indians in Santa Eosa, for while we were disput-
ing a large number went off with shoutings down the river,
to spend weeks in the forest hunting monkeys.* It was a
stirring sight to see these untamed red men in the depths
of the Xapo wilderness starting on a monkey crusade ; but
it was still more stirring to think of paddHng our own canoe
down^o Brazil. After some time lost in word-fighting, we
tried the virtues of authority. "We presented the president's
order, which commanded all civil and military powers on
the IS^apo to aid, and not to hinder, the expedition ; then
we put into his hand an official letter from the alcalde of
Xapo (to whom Pablo was subordinate), which, with a
flourish of dignified Sj)anish, threatened Santa Rosa with
the doom of Sodom and Gomorrah if any impediment was
placed in our way.

To all this Edwards, who had kindly accompanied us
down the river thus far, added, with fi*ightf ul gestures, that
he purposed to report him to the Quito government. After
this bombardment Sandoval was another man, and the two
canoes and four Indians we wanted were forthcoming. We
had to wait, however, two days for the Indians to prepare
their chicha for the journey and to cover the canoes with
palm awnings. The price of a canoe for the Maranon is
twenty-five varas of lienzo, and the same for each Indian.
Unfortunately we had only fifty varas left ; but, through
the influence of the now good-natured alcalde, we induced
the Indians to take the balance in coin. After many de-

* Monkeys form an article of food throughout tropical America. The meat
is tough, but keeps longer than any other in that climate. The Indians told
Gibbon that ' ' the tail is the most dehcate part when the hair is properly
singed."

204 The Andes and the Amazon.

lays, we put our baggage into one canoe, and onrselves into
the other, and pushed off into the rapid current of the IN'apo.
We had three styles of valediction on leaving. Our Indian
quartet, after several last drinks of chicha, bade their friends
farewell by clasping hands, one kissing the joined hands,
and then the other. Sandoval muttered adios in reply to
ours, meaning, no doubt, good riddance, while we shouted
a hearty good-bye to Edwards as he pushed his way up
stream to continue his lonely but chosen Indian life on the
banks of the Yusupino.

The l^apo at Santa Eosa runs at least five miles ai^hour,
and we were soon picking our way — now drifting, now pad-
dling— through a labyrinth of islands and snags. The In-
dians, so accustomed to brutal violence from the hands of
the whites, had begged of us, before our departure, that we
would not beat them. But shortly after we left, one of
them, who was literally filled with chicha, dropped his
paddle and tumbled into a heap at the bottom of the
canoe, dead drunk. Pratt, our gigantic Mississippi boat-
man, whom we had engaged at Quito as captain and cook
down the river, and who was an awful Goliath in the eyes
of the red-skins, seized the fellow and gave him a terrible
shaking, the like of which was never seen or heard of in
all JSTapo. At once the liquor left the muddled brain of
the astonished culprit, and, taking his paddle, he became
from that hour the b-est of the crew. This was the only
case of discipline on the voyage. Always obsequious, they
obeyed us with fear and trembling. J^one of them could
speak Spanish, so we had provided ourselves with a vocab-
ulary of Quichua. But some English words, like the \tsi-
^eYSiti\e paxldle / were more effective tlian the tongue of
the Incas. Indeed, when we mixed up our Quichua with
a little Anglo-Saxon, they evidently thought the latter was
a terrible anathema, for they sprang to their places without
delay.

. Nocturnal Music. 205

In seven hours we arnvecl at Suno, a collection of half a
dozen palm booths, live feet high, the miserable owners of
which do a little fishing and gold-washing. They gave
ns possession of their largest hut, in which they had
been roasting a sea-cow, and the stench was intolerable.
Nevertheless, one of our number bravely threw down his
blanket within, and went to sleep ; two swung their ham-
mocks between the trees, and the rest slept in the canoe.
Here, for the first time since leaving Guayaquil, we were
tormented by musquitoes. Bats were also quite numerous,
but none of them were blood-thirsty ; and we may add that
nowhere in South America were we troubled by those dia-
bohcal imps of imaginative travelers, the leaf -nosed species.
So far as our experience goes, we can say, with Bates, that
the vampire, so common on the Amazon, is the most harm-
less of all bats. It has, however, a most hideous physiog-
nomy. A full-grown specimen will measure twenty-eight
inches in expanse of wing. Bates found two species on
the Amazon — one black, the other of a ruddy hue, and
both fruit-eaters.

The nocturnal music of these forests is made by crickets
and tree-toads. The voice of the latter sounds like the
cracking of wood. Occasionally frogs, owls, and goat-
suckers croak, hoot, and wail. Between midnight and
3 A.M. almost perfect silence reigns. At early dawn
the animal creation awakes with a scream. Pre-eminent
are the discordant cries of monkeys and macaws. As the
sun rises higher, one musician after another seeks the for-
est shade, and the morning concert ends at noon. In the
heat of the day there is an all-pervading rustling sound,
caused by the fluttering of myriad insects and the gliding
of lizards and snakes. At sunset parrots and monkeys re-
sume their chatter for a season, and then give way to the
noiseless flio-ht of innumerable bats chasino: the hawk-moth

206 The Andes and the Amazon.

and beetle. There is scarcely a sound in a tropical forest
which is joyous and cheering. The birds are usually si-
lent ; those that have voices utter a plaintive song, or hoarse,
shrill cry. Our door-yards are far more melodious on a
May morning. The most common birds on the Napo are
macaws, parrots, toucans,, and ciganas. The parrots, like
the majority in South America, are of the green type. The
toucan, peculiar to the Xew World, and distinguished by its
enormous bill, is a quarrelsome, imperious bird. It is clum-
sy in flight, but nimble in leaping from limb to limb. It
hops on the ground like a robin, and makes a shrill yelp-
ixig—j)ia-2?o-o-co. Ecuadorians call it the predicador, or
preacher, because it wags its head like a priest, and seems
to say, " God gave it you." The feathers of the breast are
of most brilliant yellow, orange, and rose colors, and the
robes of the royal dames of Europe in the sixteenth cen-
tury were trimmed with them. The cigana or " gypsy" (in
Peru called " chansu") resembles a pheasant. The flesh has
a musky odor, and it is for this reason, perhaps, that they
exist in such numbers throughout the country. The In-
dians never eat them. In no country as in the Amazonian
Yalley is there such a variety of insects ; nowhere do we
find species of larger size or greater beauty. It is the
richest locality for butterflies; Bates found twelve hun-
dred species in Brazil alone, or three times as many as in
all Europe. The splendid metallic-blue, and the yellow
and transparent-winged, are very abundant on the Xapo ;
some rise high in the air; others, living in societies, look
like fluttering clouds. Moths are comparatively rare. The
most conspicuous beetle on the river is a magnificent green
species ( Clirysojpliora chrysochlora), always found arboreal,
like the majority of tropical coleopters ; they look like em-
erald gems clinging to the branches. There are two kinds
of bees, the black and yellow, which the Kapos name re-

Zoology of the Kapo. 207

spectively cushillo mishJce (monkey honey) and sara
mishJce (corn honey). It is singular these Indians have
no term for bees, but call them honey, and distinguish
them by their color. The black species is said to make
the most honey, and the yellow the best. The quadrupeds
of the Oriente are few and far between in the dry season.
IS'ot a sloth nor armadillo did we see. But w^hen the rains
descend the wilderness is a menagerie of tigers and tapirs,
pumas and bears, while a host of reptiles, led by the gigan-
tic boa, creep forth from their hiding-places. The most
ferocious carnivores are found in the mountains, and the
most venomous serpents haunt the lowlands. Darwin says
that we ought not to expect any closer similarity between
the organic beings on the opposite sides of the Andes than
on the opposite shores of the ocean. We will remark that
we obtained a peccari, a number of birds not accustomed
to high flights, and five reptilian species, on the Pacific
slope, identical with species found on the Napo.

Breakfasting on fried yucas, roasted plantains, fish, and
guayusa, we set sail, arriving at Coca at 2 p.m. This
little village, the last w^e shall see till we come within sight
of the Amazon, is beautifully located on the right bank,
twenty-five feet above the river, and opposite the conflu-
ence of the Rio Coca. Though founded twenty years ago,
it contains only five or six bamboo huts, a government-
house, church, alcalde's residence, and a trapiche for the
manufacture of aguardiente and sirup from the cane."^
The alcalde was a worthless bianco, who spent most of his
time swinging in a hammock slung between the posts of
his veranda, and j^la-ying with a tame parrot when not
drunk or asleep. This spot is memorable in history. Pi-
zarro having reached it from Quito by way of Baeza and

* The trapiche or sugar-mill of the Andes is a rude affair. The caue is
pressed between cogged wooden cylinders worked by bullocks, and the juice
is received in troughs made of hollowed logs.

208

The Andes and the Amazon.

the Coca, halted and bnilt a raft or canoe (Prescott says a
brig), in which Orellana was sent down the river to recon-
noitre, but who never returned. Up to this point the Napo
has an easterly course ; but after recei^ang the Coca, it turns
to the southeast. "We remained here two days co construct
a more comfortable craft for our voyage to the Amazon, a
distance of at least five hundred miles. The canoe is the
only means of navigation known to the Indians. But the

Our Craft on the Napo. 209

idea of spending fifteen da3^s cooped, cribbed, and cramped
in a narrow canoe, exposed to a tropical sun and furious
rains, was intolerable.

Our Santa Eosa canoes were about thirty feet long.
These were placed about five feet apart and parallel, and
then firmly secured by bamboo joists. Over these we
spread a flooring of split bamboo, and planted four stout
chonta sticks to support a palm-thatched roof. A rudder
(a novel idea to our red-skinned companions), and a box of
sand in the stern of one of the boats for a fire-place, com-
pleted our rig. The alcalde, w^ith a hiccough, declared we
would be forever going down the river in such a huge
craft, and the Indians smiled ominously. But when our
gallant ship left Coca obediently to the helm, and at the
rate of six miles an hour when j^addles and current worked
together, they shouted " hue7io r Our trunks and provis-
ion-cans were arranged along the two sides of the j)lat-
form, so that we had abundance of from for exercise by
day and for sleeping under musquito-tents at night. A
little canoe, which we bought of the alcalde, floated along-
side for a tender, and was very serviceable in hunting,
gathering fuel, etc. In the " forecastle" — the bows of the
large canoes which projected beyond our cabin — sat three
Indians to paddle. The fourth, wdio was the governor of
Santa Rosa, we honored with the post of steersman ; and
he was always to be seen on the poop behind the kitchen,
standing bolt upright, on the alert and on the lookout. On
approaching any human habitation, the Indians blew horns
to indicate that they came as friends. These horns must
have come from Brazil, as there are no bovines on the
Xapo. Whenever they enter an unknown lagune they
blow their horns also to charm the yacu-mama, or mother-
of -waters, as they call the imaginary serpent.

At different points down the river they deposited pots

O

210 The Andes and the Aiviazon.

of cliicha for use on tlieir return. The mass breeds wori^s
so rapidly, however, as Edwards informed ns, that after the
lapse of a month or two it is a jumble of yuca scraps and
writhing articulates. But the owner of the heap coolly
separates the animal from the vegetable, adds a httle wa-
ter, and drinks his chicha without ceremony. During lei-
sm-e hours the Indians busied themselves plaiting palm
leaves into ornaments for their arms and heads. 'Not a
note did they whistle or sing. Yet they were always in
good humor, and during the whole voyage we did not see
the slightest approach to a quarrel. At no time did we
have the least fear of treachery or violence.

The Xapos are not savages. Their goodness, however,
as Bates says of the Cucama tribe, consists more in the ab-
sence of active bad qualities than in the possession of good
ones. Of an apathetic temperament and dull imagination,
we could not stir them into admiration or enthusiam by
any scientific wonder; the utmost manifestation of sur-
prise was a cluck with the tongue.* Upon presenting the
governor with a vest, he immediately cut off the buttons,
and, dividing the cloth into four parts, shared it with his
fellows. t When it rained they invariably took off their
ponchos, but in all our intercourse with these wild men
we never noticed the slightest breach of modesty. They
strictly maintained a decent arrangement of such apparel
as they possessed. A canoe containing a young Indian,
his bride, and our governor's wife and babe, accompanied
us down to the Maranon, They w^ere going after a load
of salt for Sandoval. The girl was a graceful paddler, and

* Bates says the Mundurucvis express surprise by making a clicking sound
•mih. their teeth, and Darwin observes that the Fuegians have the habit of
making a chuckling noise when pleased.

t The like perfect equality exists among the Fuegian tribes. "A piece of
cloth given to one is torn into shreds and distributed, and no one individual
becomes richer than another." — Darwin.

Canoe-life on the Xapo. 213

liad some well-founded pretensions to beanty. Her coarse,
black hair was simply combed back, not braided into plaits
as commonly done by the Andean women. All, both male
and female, painted their faces with acliote to keep off the
sand-flies. .

Pratt managed the helm (the governor could not work
the Yankee notion) and the kitchen. At Santa Eosa we
had added to our Quito stock of provisions some manati-
lard (bottled up in a joint of a bamboo) and sirup, and at
Coca we took in three fowls, a bag of rice, and a bunch of
bananas. So we fared sumptuously every day. We left
Coca on Thanksgiving Day, November 28th, and to imitate
our distant friends, we sacrificed an extra meal— fricasseed
chicken, jerked beef, boiled yucas, bananas, oranges, lemon-
ade, and guayusa. Favoi-ed by a poAverf ul current and the
rhythmic paddling of our Santa Rosans, we made this day
sixty miles ; but our average daily run was fifty miles.
The winds (doubtless the trades) were almost unchangea-
bly from the east ; but an occasional puff would come from
the northwest, when we relieved our paddlers by hoisting
a blanket for a sail. Six o'clock was our usual hour of
departure, and ten or twelve hours our traveling time, al-
ways tying up at a plaia or island, of which there are hosts
in the Xapo, but never to the main land, for fear of un-
friendlv Indians and the still more unwelcome tio^er. Our
crew encamped at a respectful though hailing distance.

On the second day from Coca we were caught in a
squall, and to save our roof we ran ashore. Nearly every
afternoon we were treated to a shower, accompanied by a
strong wind, but seldom by thunder and lightning, though
at Coca we had a brilliant thunder-storm at night. They
always came after a uniform fashion and at a regular
hour, so that we learned when to expect them. About
noon the eastern horizon would become suddenlv black,

214 The Andes axd the A:mazon.

and when this had spread to the zenith we heard the rush
of a mighty wind sweeping through the forest, and the
crash of falling trees, and then down fell the delnge. The
Indians have a saying that " the path of the sun is the
path of the storm." These storm-clouds moved rapidly,
for in half an hour all was quiet on the Kapo. At Quito,
two hundred miles west, the usual afternoon shower occurs
two hours later. To-day we enjoyed our last glimpse of
the Andes. Far away across the great forest we had trav-
ersed we could see the beautiful cone of Cotopaxi and the
flat top of Cayambi standing out in proud pre-eminence.
Long will it be ere we forget this farewell view of the
mao-nificent Cordillera.

Manati and Tuetle. 215

CHAPTEK XY.

Sea-Cows and Turtles' Eggs. — The Forest. — Peccaries. — Indian Tribes on
the Lower Napo. — Anacondas and Howling Monkeys, — Insect Pests. —
Battle with Ants. — Barometric Anomaly. — First View of the Amazon. —
Pebas. \

The thirtieth of November was an exciting day on tlie
monotonous ISTapo. We fell in with numerous sea-cows
sporting in the middle of the stream. They were greatly
disturlDed by the sight of our huge craft, and, lifting their
ugly heads high out of the water, gave a peculiar snort, as
if in defiance, but always dived out of sight when fired
upon. The sea-cow is called vaca mari7ia by the ^-^sai-
mYds,peixe Ijoy by the Brazilians, and manati in the AYest
Indies. It has no bovine feature except in its upper lip.
The head and skin remind one of a large seal. In many
respects it may be likened to -a hippopotamus without tusks
or legs. It has a semicircular fiat tail, and behind the head
are two oval fins, beneath which are the breasts, which
yield a white milk. The fiesh resembles pork, with a disa-
greeable, fishy flavor.

To-day we anchored at several plaias to hunt turtles'
eggs. Our Indians were very expert in finding the nests.
Guided approximately by the tracks of the tortugas, as the
turtles are called, they thrust a stick into the sand, and
wherever it went down easily they immediately commenced
digging with their hands, and invariably "struck" eggs.
In four nests, whose contents we counted, there were one
hundred and thirty-two, one hundred and fourteen, one
hundred and twelve, and ninety-seven ; but we have heard
of one hundred and sixty eggs in a single nest. The tur-

216 The Andes akd the Am'azon.

ties lay in the night, and in pits about two feet deep, which
they excavate with their broad, webbed paws. The eggs
are about an inch and a half in diameter, having a thin,
leathery shell, a very oily yolk, and a white vhich does not
coagulate. The Indians ate them uncooked. We used
them chiefly in making corn griddles.

Here, as throughout its whole course, the Napo runs be-
tween two walls of evergreen verdure. On either hand
are low clay banks (no rocks are visible), and from .these
the forest rises to a uniform height of seventy or eighty
feet. It has a more cheerful aspect than the sombre,
silent wilderness of Baeza. Old aristocrats of the woods
are overrun by a gay democracy of creepers and climbers,
which interlace the entire forest, and, descending to take
root again, appear like the shrouds and stays of a line-of-
battle ship. Monkeys gambol on this wild rigging, and
mingle their chatter with the screams of the parrot. Trees
as lofty as our oaks are covered with flowers as beautiful
as our lihes. Here , are orchids of softest tints ;* flower-
ing ferns, fifty feet high ; the graceful bamboo and wild
banana; while high over all countless species of palm
wave their nodding plumes. Art could not arrange these
beautiful forms so harmoniously as nature has done.

The tropics, moreover, are strangers to the uniformity of
association seen in temperate climes. We have so many
social plants that we speak of a forest of oaks, and pines,
and birches ; but there variety is the law. Individuals of
the same species are seldom seen growing together. Every

* Some orchid is in flower all the j^ear round. The finest species is the
odontoglossum, having long, chocolate-colored petals, margined with yellow.
"Such is their number and variety (wrote Humboldt) that the entire life of
a painter would be too short to delineate all the magnificent Orchidese which
adorn the recesses of the deep valleys of the Peruvian Andes." For many
curious facts respecting the structure of these flowers, see DarAnn's Fertiliza-
tion of Orchids.

Tropical Tkees. 219

tree is surrounded by strangers that seemingly prefer its
room to its company ; and, such is the struggle for posses-
sion of the soil, it is difficult to tell to which stem the dif-
ferent leaves and flowers belong. The peculiar charm of
a tropical forest is increased by the mystery of its impene-
trable thicket. Within that dense, matted shrubbery, and
behind that phalanx of trees, the imagination of the trav-
eler sees all manner of four-footed beasts and creeping
things. Tropical vegetation is of fresher verdure, more
luxuriant and succulent, and adorned with larger and more
shining leaves than the vegetation of the north. The leaves
are not shed periodically — a character common, not only to
the equator, but also to the whole southern hemisphere.
Yet there is a variety of tints, though not autumnal. The
leaves put on their best attire while budding instead of fall-
ing— passing, as they come to maturity, through different
shades of red, brown, and green. The majority of tropical
trees bear small flowers. The most conspicuous trees are
the palms, to which the prize of beauty has been given by
the concurrent voice of all asres. The earliest civilization
of mankind belonged to countries bordering on the region
of palms. South America, the continent of mingled heat
and moisture, excels the rest of the world in the number
and perfection of her palms. They are mostly of the
feathery and fan-like species; the latter are inferior in
rank to the former. The peculiarly majestic character of
the palm is given not only by their lofty stems, but also in
a very high degree by the form and arrangement of their
leaves. How diverse, yet equally graceful, are the aspiring
branches of the jagua and the drooping foliage of the
cocoa, the shuttlecock-shaped crowns of the ubussii and the
plumes of the jupati, forty feet in length. The inflores-
cence always springs from the top of the trunk, and the
male flowers are generally yellowish. Unlike the oak, all

220 The Andes and the Amazon.

species of which have similar fruit, there is a vast differ-
ence in the fruits of the pahii : compare the triangular
cocoa-nnt, the peach-like date, and grape-like assai. The
silk-cotton tree is the rival of the palm in dignity ; it has
a white bark and a lofty flat crown. Among the loveliest
children of Flora we must include the mimosa, with its
delicately pinnated foliage, so endowed with sensibility that
it seems to have stepped out of the bounds of vegetable
life. The bamboo, the king of grasses, forms a distinct-
ive feature in the landscape of the Napo, frequently rising
eighty feet in length, though not in height, for the fronds
curve downward. Fancy the airy grace of our meadow
grasses united with the lordly growth of the poplar, and
you have a faint idea of bamboo beauty.

The first day of winter (how strangely that sounds under
a vertical sun !) was Sunday ; but it was folly to attempt to
rest where punkies were as thick as atoms, so we floated
on. It was only by keeping in mid-river and moving rap-
idly enough to create a breeze through our cabin, that life
was made tolerable. A little after noon we were again
obliged to tie up for a storm. Not a human being nor a
habitation have we seen since leaving Coca; and to-day
nothing is visible but the river, with its islands, and plaias,
and the green palisades — the edges of the boundless forest.
IS'ot a hill over one hundred feet high are w^e destined to
see till we reach Obidos, fifteen hundred miles eastward.
Were it not for the wealth of vegetation — all new to trans-
tropical eyes — and the concerts of monkeys and macaws,
oppressively lonely would be the sail down the Napo be-
tween its uninhabited shores. But we believe the day,
though distant, will come when its banks will be busy with
life. Toward evening three or four canoes pulled out from
the shore and came alongside. They were filled with the
lowest class of Indians we have seen in South America.

Savages. 221

The women were nearly nude; the man (there was only
one) had on a sleeveless frock reaching to the knees, made
from the bark of a tree called llanchama. All were desti-
tute of eyebrows ; their hair was parted in the middle, and
their teeth and lips were dyed black. They had rude pot-
tery, peccari meat, and wooden lances to sell. Like all the
Napo Indians, they had a w^eakness for beads, and they
wore necklaces of tiger and monkey teeth. They were
stupid rather than brutal, and probably belonged to a de-
graded tribe of the great Zaparo family. With Darwin,
"one's mind hurries back over past centuries, and then
asks, could our progenitors have been men like these ? —
men whose very signs and expressions are less intelligible
to us than those of the domesticated animals ; men who do
not possess the instinct of those animals, nor yet appear to
boast of human reason, or, at least, of arts consequent on
that reason. I do not believe it is possible to describe or
paint the difference between savage and civilized man. It
is the difference between a wild and tame animal; and
part of the interest in beholding a savage is the same which
w^ould lead every one to desire to see the lion in his desert,
the tiger tearing his prey in the jungle, or the rhinoceros
wandering over the wild plains of Africa."

On the morrow our falcon-eyed Indians whispered " cu-
cli^^ long before we saw any tiling.^ Williams went ashore
and came npon a herd of peccaries, killing two. The pec-
cari is a pugnacious, fearless animal. It is not frightened
by the noise of fire-arms, and when wounded is a dangerous
foe ; but captured when young, it is easily tamed. It has a
higher back than the domestic hog, and cleanlier habits ; an
odoriferous gland on the loins, and three-toed hind feet.
We preserved the skins for science and a ham for the
table ; the rest we gave to our crew and fellow- voyagers,

* In the Quichua of Quito the peccari is called saino.

222 The Andes and the Amazon.

who devoured every thing, even the viscera. They sat up
late that night, around their camp-fire, cooking peccari
meat : part they parboiled in a pot, and some they roasted,
skewered on sticks which slanted over the flames ; the rest
they cured with smoke, for lack of salt. The meat, though
rank, is palatable, but not equal to macaw, which we served
up the next day.*

We had now passed the mouth of the Aguarico, leaving
behind us the Christian Quit us and the peaceful Zaparos.
Henceforth the right bank of the l^apo is inhabited by the
Mazanes and Iquitos; while on the left are the wilder
Santa Marias, Anguteros, Oritos, and Orejones. The Ore-
jones, or " Big Ears," enlarge those appendages to such an
extent that they are said to lie down on one ear and cover
themselves with the other. This practice is now going out
of fashion. These Indians received their name, Orejones,
or Oregones, from the Spaniards, on account of this singu-
lar custom of inserting disks of wood in the ears to en-
large them ; the like practice prevailed among the tribes
on the Columbia River, Oregon. They trade in hammocks,
poisons, and provisions. The Anguteros, or Putumayos,
have a bad reputation. They are reported to have killed
and robbed sarsaparilla traders coming up stream. Nev-
ertheless, we kept watch only one night during the voyage,
though we always anchored to an island, and between
Coca and the Amazon we did not see twenty -five men.
Equally rare were the savage brutes^not a jaguar showed
himself, and only one anaconda. The anaconda, or water-
boa {Eunectes onurinus^)^ is larger and more formidable

* The Uaupes on the Napo, according to Wallace, will not eat peccari
meat. " Meat putrifies in this climate (of the Tapajos) in less than twenty-
four hours, and salting is of no use unless the pieces are cut in thin slices and
dried immediately in the sun." — Bates.

t The specific name was strangely given for its habit, when young, of dart-
ing upon mice. Anaconda is a Ceylonese word.

Howling Monkeys. 223

than the boa-constrictor which lives on the land. It has
a hideous appearance, broad in the middle, and tapering
abruptly at both ends. AYe did not learn from the natives
that anacondas over twenty feet long had been seen on the
Xapo, but specimens twice that size are found on the Ama-
zon. Land boas do not often exceed fifteen feet in lenfrth.
Gangs of the large howling monkeys often entertained
us with their terrific, unearthly yells, which, in the truthful
language of Bates, " increased tenfold the feeling of in-
hospitable wildness which the forest is calculated to in-
spire." They are of a maroon color (the males wear a
long red beard), and have under the jaw a bony goitre —
an expansion of the os hyoides — by means of which they
produce their loud, rolling noise. They set up an unusual

A Howler.

chorus whenever they saw us, scampering to the tops of
the highest trees, the dams carrying the young upon their
backs. They are the only monkeys which the natives have
not been able to tame. Yast numbers of screaming par-
rots and macaws fiew over our heads, always going in pairs
and at a great height. Groups of "gypsy-birds" were
perched on the trees overhanging the river, and black

224 The Andes and the Amazon.

ducks, cormorants, and white cranes floated on the water
or stalked along the plaias.

But one form of life superabounded. From the rising
of the sun to the going down thereof clouds of ubiquitous
sand-flies fllled our cabin, save when the wind was high.
As soon as the sand-flies ceased, myriads of musquitoes
began their work of torture, without much preparatory
piping, and kept it up all night.* These pests were occa-
sionally relieved or assisted by piums — minute flies that
alight unnoticed, and squatting close to the skin, suck their
fill of blood, leaving dark spots and a disagreeable irrita-
tion. Our hands were nearly black with their punctures.
We also made the acquaintance of the montiica, a large
black fly whose horny lancets make a gash in the flesh,
painless but blood-letting. All these insects are most abun-
dant in the latter part of the rainy season, when the Mara-
non is almost uninhabitable. The apostrophe of Midship-
man Wilberforce was prompted by sufferings which we
can fully appreciate : " Ye greedy animals ! I am ^shamed
of you. Can not you once forego your dinner, and feast
your mind with the poetry of the landscape ?" Right wel-
come was the usual afternoon squall, which sent these
pests " kiting" over the stern.

On Wednesday we fell in with a petty sarsaparilla
trader, w^th two canoes, bound for the Marauon. He was
sick, with fever. Sarsaparilla (written salswparrilha in Bra-
zil, and meaning " bramble vine") is the root of a prickly,
climbing plant found throughout the whole Amazonian
forest, but chiefl}^ on dry, rocky ground. On the morning
of the seventh day from Coca we passed the mouth of the
Curaray, the largest tributary of the Napo. It rises on the
slopes of the Llanganati mountains, and is considered au-

* Sand-flies are called by the natives musquitoes^ and what we call mus-
quitoes they call sancudos.

Battle with Ants. 225

i-iferous. It is probably derived from curi, gold. Seeing
a hut on the banks, we sent an Indian to purchase provis-
ions ; he returned with a few yucas and eggs. The day
following we were attacked from a new quarter. Stop-
ping to escape a storm, a party went ashore to cut down a
tree of which we desired a section. It fell with its top in
the river, just above our craft ; when lo ! to our consterna-
tion, down came countless hosts of ants (Ecitons). Myr-
iads were, of course, swept down stream, but myriads more
crawled up the sides of our canoes, and in one minute aft-
er the tree fell our whole establishment, from hold to roof,
was swarming with ants. We gave one look of despair at
each other, our provisions and collections, and then com-
menced a war of extermination. It was a battle for life.
The ants, whose nest we had so suddenly immersed m the
Xapo, refused to quit their new lodgings. As we were
loosely dressed, the tenacious little creatures hid themselves
under our clothing, and when plucked off would leave
their heads and jaws sticking in the skin. At last the
deck was cleared by means of boots, slippers, and towels ;
but, had the ants persevered, they might have taken pos-
session of the boat.

To-day we saw a high bank (called in Quichua jpuca-
urcu, or red hill) consisting of fine laminated clays of
many colors — red, orange, yellow, gray, black, and white.
This is the beginning of that vast deposit which covers the
whole Amazonian Yalley. It rests upon a bed of lignite,
or bituminous shale, and a coarse, iron-cemented conglom-
erate. The latter is not visible on the Napo, but crops out
particularly at Obidos and Para. The Indians prepare
their paints from these colored clays.

Our Santa Rosans seemed to have little tact in fishing ;
still their spears and our hooks gathered not a few repre-
sentatives of ichthyic life in the Napo. The species most

P

226 The Andes and the Aiviazon.

common belong to the genus Pimelodios, or cat-fish tribe.
Below the Curaray the sand bars yielded turtles' eggs of a
different kind from those found above, the tracaja. They
were smaller and oval, and buried only six or eight inches
deep, thirty in a nest.

December 9. — Passed early this morning the mouth of
the Mazan; four huts at the junction. To-day we noticed
the anomaly first observed by Herndon. From Papallacta
to the Curaray the rise of tlie mercury was regular, but
on the lower ISTapo there were great fiuctuations. At one
time both barometer and boiling apparatus, with which we
made daily and simultaneous observations, unanimously
declared that our canoes were gliding up stream, though
we were descending at the rate of five miles an hour. The
temperature is decidedly lower and the winds are stronger
as we near the Amazon.

December 10. — Our last day on the Napo. In celebra-
tion of the event we killed a fine young doe as it was cross-
ing the river. It closely resembled the Virginia deer. At
9 A.M. the Indians shouted in their quiet way — '^Mara-
non P It was as thrilling as Thalatta to Xenophon's sol-
diers. We were not expecting to reach it till night, being
deceived by Yillavicencio's map, which, in common with
all others, locates the Curaray and Mazan too far to the
north. A¥e halted for an hour at Camindo, a little fishing
hamlet claimed by Peru, and then hastened to get our first
sight of the Amazon. With emotions we can not express,
we gazed upon this ocean-stream. The march of the great
river in its silent grandeur is sublime. In its untamed
might it rolls through the wilderness with a stately, solemn
air, showing its awful power in cutting away the banks,
tearing down trees, and building up islands in a day.
Down the river we can look till the sky and water meet as
on the sea, while the forest on either hand dwindles in the

Aekival at Pebas. 227

perspective to a long black line. Between these even walls
of ever-living green the resistless current hurries out of
Peru, sweeps past the imperial guns of Tabatinga into
Brazil, and plows its way visibly two hundred miles into
the Atlantic.

At a small island standing where the ISTapo pays tribute
to the monarch of rivers, mingling its waters with the Hu-
allaga and Ucayali, which have already come down from
the Peruvian Andes, we bade adieu to our captain and
cook, who, in the little canoe, paddled liis way westward to
seek his fortune in Iquitus. At this point the Maranon
(for so the natives call the Upper Amazon) does not appear
very much broader than the l^apo ; but its depth is far
greater, and there are few sand-bars.* The water is al-
ways of a tm-bid yellow; while the Kapo, though muddy
during our voyage, is usually cleal\ The forest, moreover,
on the banks of the Maranon, is not so striking as on the
tributary. The palms are not so numerous, and the uni-
form height of the trees gives a monotonous, sea-like
horizon.

We arrived at Pebas December 12, ten hours after leav-
ing the mouth of the Napo, and a month and a half from
Quito. The first individual we met addressed us in good
English, and proved to be Mr. Hauxwell, a well-known col-
lector of birds and insects, who has resided thirty years on
the Amazon. His house, the largest and best in to^Ti,
though but a roofed stockade, was generously placed at our
disposal, and the fatted calf — an immense turtle — was im-
mediately killed. To us, after the transit of the Andes
and the dangers and hardships of the wilderness and the
river, it seemed as if we had reached the end of our jour-

* Herndon makes the mouth of the Napo 150 yards broad, and the sound-
ings six or seven fathoms. This is not a fair representation ; for the Napo,
like all the other tributaries, empties its waters by several mouths. At Ca-
mindo, five miles above the confluence, the Napo is certainly a mile wide.

228 The Andes and the Amazon.

iiej, tlioiigli we were over two thousand miles from the At-
lantic. Pebas is situated on a high clay bluff beside the
Ambi-yacu, a mile above its entrance into the Maranon.
Excepting Mr. Ilauxwell, the Peruvian governor, and two
or three other wdiites, the inhabitants are Indians of the
Orejones and Yagna tribes. The exportations are ham-
mocks, sarsaparilla, palo de cruz, and urari. Palo de cruz
is the very hard, dark-colored wood of a small leguminous
tree bearing large pink flowers. Urari is the poison used
by all the Amazonian Indians ; it is made by the Ticunas
on the Putumayo, by boiling to a jelly the juices of certahi
roots and herbs, chiefly of the Btrychnos toxifera, thougli
it does not contain any trace of strychnine. Tipped with
urari, the needle-like arrow used in blow-guns will kill an
ox in twenty minutes and a monkey in ten. " "We have
reason to congratulate ourselves (wrote the facetious Sid-
ney Smith) that our method of terminating disputes is by
sword and pistol, and not by these medicated pins." But
the poison appears to be harmless to man and other salt-
eating animals, salt being an antidote."^ We were not
troubled with sand-flies after leaving the plaias of the
Napo, but the musquitoes at Pebas were supernumerary.
Perhaps, however, it was a special gathering on our ac-
count, for the natives have a notion that just before the
arrival of a foreigner the musquitoes come in great num-
bers.

Many of the Indians are disfigured by dark blotches on
the skin, tiie effect of a cutaneous disease very prevalent in

* Urari is mentioned by Raleigh, Humboldt was the first to take any
considerable quantity to Europe. The experiments ofVirchau andMiinster
make it pvobable that it does not belong to the class of tetanic poisons, but
that its particular effect is to take away the power of voluntary muscular
movement, while the involuntary functions of the heart and intestines still
continue. See Ann. de Chim. et de PIu/s., t. xxxix,, 1828, p. 24 ; and Schom-
berg's Reisen in Britisch Guiana., th. i., s. 441. The frightful poison, tientc
of India, is prepared from a Java species oi strychnos.

Clay-eaters. 229

Central Amazonia. Here we first noticed the singular
habit among the children of eating clay. This habit is not
confined to the Otomacs on the Oronoco, nor to Indians
altogether ; for negroes and whites have the same propen-
sity— Mr. Hauxwell found it impossible to restrain his own
children. Bates ascHbes the morbid craving to the meagre
diet. This may be true to some extent, but it is certainly
strange that the extraordinary desire to swallow earth
(chiefly unctuous clays) is found only in the tropics, where
vegetation is so rank and fruit so abundant.

230 The Ai^des and the Amazon,

CHAPTEE XYI.

Down the Amazon.— Steam on the Great KiA-er. — Loreto. — San Antonio. —
Tabatinga. — Brazilian Steamers. — Scenery on the Amazon. — Tocautms. —
Fonte Boa. — Ega. — Kio Negro. — Manaos.

We left Febas for Tabatinga in the Peruvian steamer
"Morona," Captain Eaygado. Going up to Jerusalem by
railroad, or ascending the Mle by a screw whisking the
sacred waters, is not so startling as the sight of a steamer
in the heart of South America. .There is such a contrast .
between the primeval wildness of the country and the peo-
ple and this triumph of civilized life ; and one looks for-
ward to the dazzling future of this great valley, when the
ships of all nations will crowd the network of rivers for
the gold and perfumes, the gems and woods of this west-
ern Ophir. The natives call the steamer the "devil's
boat," or " big canoe ;" but they manifest little curiosity.
Our Xapo Indians were evidently afraid of it, and stood
afar off. The first steamers that broke the deep solitude
of the Maranon were the " Huallaga" and " Tirado,"
brought out in 1853 by Dr. Wliittemore, for Pern. They
were built in l^ew York, of Georgia pine, costing Peru
$75,000, and reflected no credit on the United States;
they lie rotting near Nauta. Peru has now two iron
steamers of London make — the " Morona" and " Pastassa"
— besides two smaller craft for exploring the tributaries.
These steamers are for government service, but three more
are building in England with passenger accommodations.
The " Morona" has a tonnage of ^ve hundred, and an en-
gine of one hundred and fifty horse-power. The engineers

The Upper A^iazon. 231

are Englisli, and the cook is a Chinaman. She makes
monthly trips between Ym*imaguas, on the Huallaga Riv-
er, and Tabatinga, on the Brazilian frontier. Her rate
down stream is eighteen miles an hour, and from eleven
to twelve against the current. These steamers do not pay
expenses at present; but they preserve the authority of
Peru on the Maranon, and supply with material the gov-
ernment works at Iquitos. They also do a little com-
merce, taking do^^ai sarsaparilla and Moyabamba hats, and
bringhig up English dry-goods. There were not half a
dozen passengers on board.

The only towns of any consequence west of Pebas are
Iquitos, Kauta, and Yurimaguas. Peru claims them — in
fact, all the villages on the Maranon. Iquitos is the most
thriving town on the Upper Amazon. It is situated on an
elevated plain on the left bank of the river, sixty miles
above the mouth of the Napo. In Herndon's time it was
''a fishing village of 227 inhabitants;" it now contains
2000. Here are the government iron-works, carried on
by English mechanics. In 1867 there were six engineers,
twcT iron-molders, two brass-molders, two coppersmiths,
three blacksmiths, three pattern-makers, two boiler-mak-
evs, five shipwrights, three sawyers, besides bricklayei*s,
brick-makers, carpenters, coopers, etc. ; in all forty-two.
All the coal for the furnaces is brought fi*om England —
the lignite on the banks of the Maranon is unfit for the
purpose. A floating dock for vessels of a thousand tons
has just been built. Xauta lies on the north bank of the
Maranon, opposite the entrance of the Ucayali. Its in-
habitants, about 1000, trade in fish, sarsaparilla, and wax
fi'om Ucayali. Yurimaguas is the port of Moyabamba, a
city of 10,000 souls, six days' travel southwest. This vast
eastern slope, lying on the branches of the Maranon, is
called the Montana of Peru. It is a res^ion of inexhausti-

232 The Andes and the A]siazon.

ble fertility, and would yield ample returns to energy and
caj)ital. The villages are ojDen to foreign commerce, free
of duty; but at present the voice of civilized man is seldom
heard, save on the main fluvial highway between Moyabam-
ba and the Brazilian frontier. The Portuguese are the most
adventurous traders. The value of imports to Peru by the
Amazonian steamers during 1867 was §324,533 ; of exports,
§267,748.

In two hours and a half we arrive at Maucallacta, or
" Old Town," an Indian village on the right bank of the
river. Here our passports were vised by the Peruvian
governor, and the steamer wooded up. One of the hands
on the " Morona" was Manuel Medina, a mameluco, who
was employed by Bates and Agassiz in their explorations.
We left at noon of the following day, and anchored for
the night off Caballococha, for the Peruvian steamers run
only in the daytime. Caballococha, or " Horse-lake," is a
Ticuna town, situated on a level tract of light loam, closely
smTOunded by the dense forest, and beside a caiio of clear
water leading to a pretty lake. Ecuador claims this town,
and likewise all the settlements on the Maranon ; but 'her
learned geographer, Yillavicencio, ^vith characteristic ig-
norance of the country, has located it on the north bank
of the river !

We passed in the afternoon the little tug "Kapo," hav-
ing on board Admiral Tucker, the rebel, who, with some
associates, is exploring the tributaries of the Upper Ama-
zon for the Peruvian government. They had just returned
from a voyage of two hundred and fifty miles up the Ja-
vari. One of the party -had a tame tiger-cat in his arms.
We arrived at Loreto early the next morning. This vil-
lage of twenty houses and a church is prettily situated on
the left bank, with a green slope in front. It is the most
easterly to^vn of Peru on the Amazon. Here resides Mr.

The Frontier of Brazil. 233

Wilkens, the Brazilian consul, of German birth, bnt North
American education. The inhabitants are Peruvians, Por-
tuguese, Negroes, and Ticuna Indians. The musquitoes
hold high carnival at this place. In two hours we were
at San Antonio, a military post on the Peruvian frontier,
commanded by a French engineer, Manuel Charon, who
also studied in the United States. One large building,
and a flag-staff on a high bluff of red clay, were all that
was visible of San Antonio ; but the " Morona" brought
down a gang of Indians (impressed, no doubt) to build a
fort for twenty guns. The site is in dispute, a Brazilian
claiming it as private property. The white barracks of
Tabatinga, the first fortress in Brazil, are in plain sight, the
voyage consuming but twenty minutes. Beiween San An-
tonio and Tabatinga is a rapine, on either side of which is
a white pole, marking the limits of the republic and the
empire.

Tabatinga has long been a military post, but, excepting
the government buildings, there are not a dozen houses.
Numerous Indians, however, of the Ticuna tribe, dwell in
the neighboring forest. The commandante was O Illus-
trissimo Senor Tenente Aristides Juste Mavignier, a talb
thin, stooping officer, dressed in brown linen. He received
us with great civility, and tendered a house and servant dur-
ing our stay in port. We preferred, however, to accept the
hospitalities of the " Morona" till the arrival of the Brazil-
ian steamer. Senor Ma\'ignier was commandante of Ma-
naos when visited by Agassiz, and presented the Professor
^vith a hundred varieties of wood. With the like courtesy,
he gave us a collection of reptiles, all of them rare, and
many of them new species. He showed us also a live ra-
posa, or wild dog, peculiar to the Amazon, but seldom seen.
Tabatinga stands on an eminence of yellow clay, and is de-
fended by twelve guns. The river in fi'ont is quite narrow,

234 The Andes and the Amazon.

only about half a mile wide. Here our passports, which
had been signed at Maucallacta and Loreto, were indorsed
by the commandante. They were afterward examined at
Ega, Manaos, and Para. The mean temperature of Taba-
tinga we found to be 82°.* Some rubber and salt fish are
exported, but nothing of consequence is cultivated. Grapes,
the people say, grow well, but are destroyed by the ants.
The only fruit-trees we noticed were the mamai (in Span-
ish, papaya), araca, and abio. The papaw-tree bears male
and female flowers on different trees, and hence receives
the name oi ])a])aya or mamdi^ according to one's view of
the pre-eminence of the sex. The juice of this tree is used
by the ladies of the West Indies as a cosmetic, and by the
butchers to render the toughest meat tender. The fruit is
melon-shaped, and of an orange-yellow color. Yauquelin
discovered in iifihrine, till lately supposed to be confined
to the animal kingdom.

The Peruvian steamers connect at Tabatinga with the
Brazilian line. There are eight imperial steamers on the
Amazon : the " Icamiaba," running between Tabatinga and
Manaos; the "Tapajos" and "Belem," plying between Ma-
naos and Para ; the " Inca" and " Manaos," between Obidos
and Para ; besides two steamers on the Tocantms, one be-
tween Para and Chares, and projected lines for the jSTegro,
Tapajos, and Madeira. The captains get a small salary,
but the perquisites are large, as they have a percentage on
the freight. One captain pocketed in one year $9000.

We embarked, December 12, on the " Icamiaba," which
promptly arrived at Tabatinga. The commander, former-
ly a lieutenant in the Imperial l^a^^^, and for twelve years
a popular officer on the Upper Amazon, was a polished
gentleman, but rigid disciplinarian. As an example of

* According to Lieutenant Azevedo, the latitude of Tabatinga is 4° 14'
30"; longitude, 70° 2' 24"; magnetic variation, 6° 35' 10" N.E.

Brazilian Steai^iees. 235

Brazilian etiquette, we give his full address from one of
our letters of introduction :

"Ilmo. Sr. Capn. cle Fragata

Nuno Alvez Pereira de Mello Cardozo,

Digno Commandante de Vapor

Icamiaba."

The " Icamiaba" was an iron boat of four Inmdred and
fifty tons, with two engines of fifty horse-power each. The
engineer was an Austrian, yet tlie captain gave his orders
in English, thougli neither could speak the language. The
saloon, with berths for twenty-five passengers, was above
deck, and open at both ends for ventilation. The passen-
gers, however, usually swung their hammocks on the upper
deck, which was covered by an awning. This was a de-
lightfully breezy and commanding positioii; and though
every part of the steamer was in perfect order, this was
scrupulously neat. Here the table was spread wdth every
tropical luxury, and attentively served by young men in
spotless attire. Happy the traveler who sits at the table
of Commandante Cardozo. The refreshment hours were :
Coffee as soon as the passengers turned out of their ham-
mocks, and sometimes before ; breakfast at ten, dinner at
five, and tea at eight. Live bullocks, fowls, and turtles
were kept on board, so that of fresh meat, particularly
beef (the first we had tasted since leaving Quito), there
was no lack. At breakfast we counted nine different
courses of meat. The Peruvian steamers are limited to
turtle and salt fish. Eice and farina are extensively used
in Brazil, but we saw very little tapioca. Farina is the
flour of the country, and is eaten in hard, dry grains ; it
will not keep in any other form. It can not be very nu-
tritious, as it contains little gluten. All bread and butter
are imported from the United States and England. The
captains of Bi*azilian steamers are their own stewards ; and
in the midst of other business in port, they stop to negotiate

236 The Andes akd the A]mazon.

for a chicken, or a dozen eggs, with an Indian or Kegro.
The " Icamiaba" left Tabatinga with only three first-class
passengers, besides our own party. On no Amazon steam-
er did we meet with a lady passenger. Madame Godin,
who came down the river from the Andes, and Mrs. Agas-
siz, who ascended to Tabatinga, were among the few ladies
who have seen these npper waters. But how differently
they traveled ! one on a raft, the other on the beautiful
" Icamiaba."

Between Tabatinga and Teffe, a distance of five hundred
miles, is perhaps the most uncivilized part of the main
river. Ascending, we find imj^rovements multiply as we
near the mountains of Peru ; descending, w^e see the march
of civilization in the budding cities and expanding com-
merce culminating at Grand Para. The scenery from the
deck of an Amazonian steamer, if described, appears mo-
notonous. A vast volume of smooth, yellow water, floating
trees and beds of aquatic grass, low, linear-shaped, wooded
islets, a dark, even forest — the shores of a boundless sea of
verdure, and a cloudless sky occasionally obscured by flocks
of parrots : these are the general features. No busy towns
are seen along the banks of the Middle Amazon ; only here
and there a palm hut or semi-Indian village half buried in
the wilderness. We agree with Darwin (speaking of the
Plata), that " a wide expanse of muddy water has neither
grandeur nor beauty." The real grandeur, however, of a
great river like this i^ derived from reflecting upon its pro-
spective commercial importance and its immense drainage.
A lover of nature, moreover, can never tire of gazing at the
picturesque grouping and variety of trees, with their man-
tles of creeping plants ; while a little imagination can see
in the alligators, ganoid fishes, sea-cows, and tall gray her-
ons, the ichthyosaui'us, holoptychius, dinotherijim', and bron-
tozoum of ancient davs. Here and there tlie river is

Indian Villages. 237

bordered with low alluvial deposits covered with feath-
ery-topped arrow-grass and amphibious vegetation ; but
generally the banks are about ten feet high and mag-
nificently wooded; they are abrupt, and land-slides are
fi-equent.

A few minutes after leaving Tabatinga we passed the
mouth of the Javari, which forms the natural boundary
between Peru and Brazil. Henceforth the river loses the
name of Maranon, and is called Solimoens, or, more com-
monly, simply Amazon. We were ten hours in reaching
San Paulo, a wretched Ticuna village of five hundred souls,
built on a grassy table-land nearly one hundred feet high.
Steps have been cut in the slippery clay bluff to facilitate
the ascent. Swamps lie back of the town, rendering it un-
healthy. " On damp nights (says the Naturalist on the
Amazon) the chorus of frogs and toads which swarm in
weedy back-yards creates sucli a bewildering uproar that
it is impossible to carry on a conversation in doors except
l)y shouting."

In ten hours more we had passed the Putumayo and en-
tered the Tunantms, a sluggish, dark-colored tributary emp-
tying into the Amazon about two hundred miles below the
eJavari."^ On the bank of white earth, which strongly con-
trasts with the tinted stream, is a dilapidated hamlet of
twenty-five hovels, built of bamboo plastered with mud and
whitewashed. We saw but one two-storied house ; and all
have ground-floors and double-thatched roofs. The inhab-
itants are semi-civilized Shumana and Passe Indians and
lialf -breeds ; but in the gloomy forest which hugs the town
live the wild Caishanas. The atmosphere is close and
steaming, but not hot, the mercury at noon standing at 83°.
The place is alive with insects and birds. The nights on

* Ilerndon says (p. 241), "the Tanantins is about fifty yards broad, and
seems deep with a considerable current.-"

238

The Andes axd the Amazon.

the Amazon were invariably cool; on the Lower Amazon,
cold, so that we reqmred a heavy blanket.

Taldng on board wood, beeves, turtles, salt fish, and
water-melons, we left at half past 2 p.m. The Brazilian
steamers run all night, and with no slackening of speed.
At one o'clock we were awakened by a cry from the watch.

Ageound on the Amazon. 230

" Stop lier !" And immediately after there was a crash ;
but it was only the breaking of crockery caused by the
sudden stoppage. The night was fearfully dark, and for
aught we knew the steamer was running headlong into the
forest. Fortunately there was no collision, and in a few
minutes we were again on our way, arriving at Fonte Boa
at 4 A.M. This little village stands in a palm grove, on
a high bank of ochre-colored sandy clay, beside a slue of
sluo;o^ish black water, eifi^ht miles from the Amazon.^ The
inhabitants, about three hundred, are ignorant, lazy mame-
lucos. They dress like the. majority of the semi-civilized
people on the Amazon: the men content with shirt and
pantaloons, the women wearing cotton or gauze chemises
and calico petticoats. Fonte Boa is a museum for the nat-
uralist, but the headquarters of musquitoes, small but per-
sistent. Taking in a large quantity of turtle -oil, the
*'Icamiaba" turned down the cano, but almost immediately
ran aground, and we were two hours getting off. These
yearly shifting shoals in the Amazon can not be laid down
in charts, and the most experienced pilots often run foul
of them. In twelve hours we entered the Teffe, a tribu-
tary from the Bohvian mountains. Just before reaching
the Great Eiver it expands into a beautiful lake, with a
white, sandy beach. On a grassy slope, stretching out into
the lake, with a harbor on each side of it, lies the city of
Ega. A hundred palm-thatched cottages of mud and tiled
frame houses, each with an inclosed orchard of orange,
lemon, banana, and guava trees, surround a rude church,
marked by a huge wooden crucifix on the green before it,
instead of a steeple. Cacao, assai, and pupunha palms rise
above the tovm, adding greatly to its beauty ; while back
of all, on the summit of the green slope, begins the j^ictur-

* Smyth says the town gets its name from the clearness of the water ; but
Herndon found it muddy, and, to our eyes, it was dark as the Negro.

240 The Axdes axd the A^iazox.

esqiie forest, pathless, save here and there a faint hunter's
track leading to the untrodden interior. The sheep and
cattle grazing on the lawn, a rare sight in Alto Amazonas,
gives a peaceful and inviting aspect to the scene. The
inhabitants, numbering about twelve hundred, are made
up of pure Indians, half-castes, negroes, mulattoes, and
whites. Ega (also called Teffe) is the largest and most
thriving town between Manaos and Iquitos, a distance of
twelve hundred miles. It is also one of the oldest settle-
ments on the river, having been founded during the En-
glish revolution, or nearly two centuries ago. Tupi is the
common idiom. The productions of the country are cacao,
sarsaparilla, Brazil nuts, bast for caulking vessels, copaiba
balsam. India-rubber, salt fish, turtle-oil, manati, grass ham-
mocks, and tiles. Bates calculates the value of the annual
exports at nearly forty thousand dollars. The " Icamiaba"
calls here twice a month; besides which there are small
schooners which occupy about five months in the round
trip between Ega and Para. " The place is healthy (writes
the charming Xaturalist on the Amazon), and almost free
from insect pests ; perj^etual verdure surrounds it ; the soil is
of marvelous fertility, even for Brazil ; the endless rivers
and labyrinths of channels teem with fish and turtle ; a fleet
of steamers might anchor at any season of the year in the
lake, which has uninterrupted water communication straight
to the Atlantic. What a future is in store for the sleepy
little tropical village !" Here Bates pursued butterflies for
four years and a half, and Agassiz fished for six months.

Ega is the half-way point across the continent, but its
exact altitude above the sea is unknown. Herndon's boil-
ing apparatus gave two thousand feet, and, what is worse,
the lieutenant believed it. Our barometer made it one
hundred feet ; but as our instrument, though perfect in it-
self, behaved very strangely on the Middle Amazon, we do

Bakometkic Ako:maly.

241

not rely on the calculation. The true height is not far
from one hundred and twenty-five feet, or one fifth the el-
evation of the middle point in the Korth American conti-
nent.^ Taking on board salt fish, turtle-oil, and tiles, we

* For a discussion of the barometric perturbations on the Amazon, see
American Journal of Science for Sept., 1868

Q

242 The Aot)es and the A^iazon. •

left Ega two hours after midnight, reaching Coary at
noon. The Amazon began to look more like a lake than
a river, having a width of four or five miles. Floating
gulls and rolling porpoises remind one of the sea. Coary
is a huddle of fifteen houses, six of them plastered with-
out, whitewashed, and tiled. It is situated on a lake of
the same name — the expanded outlet of a small river
whose waters are dark brown, and whose banks are low^
and covered with bushes. Here we took in turtles and
turtle-oil, Brazil nuts and cocoa-nuts, rubber, salt fish, and
wood ; and, six hours after leaving, more fish and rubber
were received at Cudaja. Cudaja is a lonely spot on the
edge of an extensive system of back-waters and lakes, run-
ning through a dense unexplored forest inhabited by Miira
savages.

At three in the afternoon of Christmas, seventy-four
hours' running time from Tabatinga, we entered the Kio
Negro. Strong is the contrast between its black-dyed wa-
ters and the yellow Amazon. Tlie line separating the two
rivers is sharply drawn, the waters meeting, not mingling.
Circular patches of the dark w^aters of the ISTegro are seen
floating like oil amid the turbid waters of the Amazon.
The sluggish tributary seems to be dammed up by the im-
petuous monarch. The banks of the latter are low^ rag-
ged, perpendicular beds of clay, covered with a bright
green foliage ; the Negro is fringed with sandy beaches,
with hills in the background clothed with a sombre, mo-
notonous forest containing few palms or leguminous trees.
Musquitoes, piums, and montucas never trouble the travel-
er on the inky stream. When seen in a tumbler, the wa-
ter of the Negro is clear, but of a light-red color ; due, un-
doubtedly, to vegetable matter. The visible mouth of the
river at this season of the year (December) is three miles
wide, but from main-land to main-land it can not be less
than twenty.

The City of ManIos. 243

In forty minutes after leaving the Amazon we arrived
at Manaos. This important city lies on the left bank of
the Xegro, ten miles from its mouth and twenty feet above
high- water level. The site is very uneven, and consists of
ferruginous sandstone. There was originally a fort here,
erected by the Portuguese to protect their slave-hunting
expeditions among the Indians on the river — hence the an-
cient name of Barra. On the old map of Father Fritz
(1707) the spot is named Taromas. Since 1852 it has
been called Manaos, after the most warlike tribe. Some
of the houses are two-storied, but the majority are low
adobe structures, white and yellow washed, floored and
roofed with tiles, and having green doors and shutters.
Every room is furnished with hooks for hanging ham-
mocks. We did not see a bed between Quito and New^
York except on the steamers. The population, numbering
two thousand,* is a mongrel set — Brazilians, Portuguese,
Italians, Jews, Kegroes, and Indians, w^ith divers crosses
between them. Laziness is the prominent characteristic.
A gentleman offered an Indian passing his door twenty-
five cents if he would bring him a pitcher of water from
the river, only a few rods distant. He declined. " But I
will give you fifty cents." Whereupon the half-clothed,
penniless aboriginal replied : " I will -give you a dollar to
bring me some.^f Wliile every inch of the soil is of ex-
uberant fertility, there is always a scarcity of food. It is
the dearest spot on the Amazon. Most of the essentials
and all of the luxuries come from Liverpool, Lisbon, and
Xew York. Agriculture is at a discount on the Amazon.
Brazilians will not work ; European immigrants are trad-
ers ; nothing can be done with Indians ; and negroes are

* Official returns for 1848 give 3614 ; Bates (1850) reckons 3000.

t Darwin met a similar specimen in Banda Oriental : "I asked two men
why they did not work. One gravely said the days were too long ; the oth-
er that he was too poor."

2-it

The Andes and the Amazon.

few in number, the slave-trade being abolished, emancipa-
tion begmi, and the Paraguayan war not ended. A laboring
class will ever be a desideratum in this tropical country.
With a healthy climate,^ and a situation at the juncture of

* It is, however, one of the warmest spots on the river. The average tem-
perature,' according to Azevedo and Finto, is only 79.7° ; but the highest

Manaos. 245

two great navigable rivers, Manaos is destined to become
the St. Louis of South America. In commercial advant-
ages it is hardly to be surpassed by any other city in the
world, having water communication with two thirds of the
continent, and also with the Atlantic. It is now the prin-
cipal station for the Brazilian line of steamers. Here all
goods for a higher or lower point are reshipped. The
chief articles of export are coffee (of superior quality), sar-
saparilla, Brazil nuts, piassaba, and fish. The Kegro at
this point is really five or six miles wide, but the opposite
shore is masked by low islands, so that it appears to be but
a mile and a half.

The country around Manaos is quite romantic for the
Amazonian Valley. The land is undulating and furrowed
by ravines, and the vegetation covering it is marvelously
rich and diversified. In the forest, two miles from the
city, there is a natural curiosity celebrated by all travelers
from Spix and Martins down. A rivulet coming out of
the wilderness falls over a ledge of red sandstone ten feet
high and fifty feet broad, forming a beautiful cascade.
The water is cool, and of a deep orange color. The
foundation of a fine stone cathedral was laid in Manaos
fourteen years ago, but this generation is not likely to
witness the dedication. Life in this Amazonian city is dull
enough : commerce is not brisk, and society is stiff ; balls
are about the only amusements. On Sunday (the holiday)
eveiy body who can afford it comes out in Paris fashions.
There are carts, but no coaches. We called upon the
President at his " Palace" — an odd term for a two-storied,
whitewashed edifice. His excellency received ns with less
formality and more cordiality than we expected to find in
the solemn officials of the empire. The first glance at tlio

point reached on the Amazon in 1862 (87.3°) was at Manaos, and the ex-
traordinary height of 95° has been noted there.

246 The Andes akd the Amazon.

reception-room, ^vitll the four chairs for visitors set in two
lines at right angles to the chair of state, promised cold
etiquette ; but he addressed us with considerable familiar-
ity and evident good-will. AVe found, however, that his
authority was quite limited, for a written order which he
gave us for a subordinate did not receive the slightest con-
sideration. At the house of a Jew named Lev}^ we met a
party of Southerners, Captains Mallory, Jones, Sandedge,
and Winn, commanded by Dr. Dowsing, who, since " the
late onpleasantness," as Nasby calls it, have determined to
settle in this country. The government grants them twen-
ty square leagues of land on any tributary, on condition
that they will colonize it. They were about to start for
the Eio Branco on an exploring tour.

Serpa. 247

CHAPTER XYII.

Dovni the Amazon. — Serpa. — Villa Nova. — Obidos. — Santarem. — A Colony
of Southerners. — Monte Alegre. — Porto do Moz. — Leaving the Amazon.
— Breves. — Para River. — The City of Para. — Legislation and Currency.
— Rehgion and Education. — Nonpareil Climate.

At 10 P.M. we left Manaos in the " Tapajos " an iron
steamer of seven hundred tons. We missed the snow-
white cleanhness and rigid regularity of the " Icamiaba,"
and Captain Jose Antunes Rodrigues de Oliveira Catram-
by was quite a contrast to Lieutenant Nuno. There were
only five first-class passengers besides ourselves (and four
of these were " dead-heads"), though there were accommo-
dations for sixty-four. Between Manaos and Para, a dis-
tance of one thousand miles, there were fourteen additions.
Passing the mouth of the Madeira, the largest tributary to
the Amazon, we anchored thirty miles below at Serpa, aft-
er nine hours' sailing. Serpa is a village of ninety houses,
built on a high bank of variegated clay, whence its Indian
name, Ita-coatiara^ or painted rock. It was the most ani-
mated place we had seen on the river. The town is irreg-
ularly laid out and overrun with weeds, but there is a busy
tile factory, and the port was full of canoes, montarias, and
cubertas. The African element in the population began to
show itself prominently here, and increased in importance
as we neared Para. The Negroes are very ebony, and are
employed as stevedores. The Indians are well-featured,
and wear a long gown of bark-cloth reaching to the knees.

Taking on board rubber and salt fish, the "Ta|:)ajos"
steamed down stream, passing the perpendicular pink-clay

248 The Andes akd the Amazon.

cliffs of Cararaiicu, arriving in ten hours at Yilla Xova,"^
one hundred and fifty miles below Serpa. Yilla Kova is
a straggling village of mud huts standing on a conglomer-
ate bank. The trade is chiefly in rubber, copaiba, and fish.
The location is healthy, and in many respects is one of the
most desirable places on the river. Here the Amazon be-
gins to narrow, being scarcely three miles wide ; but the
channel, which has a rocky bed, is very deep. One hun-
dred miles from Yilla [N'ova is Obidos, airily situated on a
bluff of pink and yellow clay one hundred feet above the
river. The clay rests on a white calcareous earth, and this
on red sandstone. It is a picturesque, substantially-built
town, with a population, mostly white, engaged in raising
cacao and cattle. Cacao is the most valuable product on
the Amazon below Yilla lN"ova. The soil is fertile, and the
surrounding forest is alive with monkeys, birds, and in-
sects, and abounds with precious woods and fruits. Obidos
is blessed with a church, a school, and a weekly newspa-
per, and is defended by thirty-two guns. This is the Ther-
mopylae of the Amazon, the great river contracting to a
strait not a mile in width, through which it rushes with
tremendous velocity. The depth is forty fathoms, and the
current 2.4 feet per second. As Bates remarks, however,
the river valley is not contracted to this breadth, the south-
ern shore not being continental land, but a low alluvial
tract subject to inundation. Back of Obidos is an emi-
nence which has been named Mount Agassiz in honor of
the Natm-alist. There is no mountain between it and Co-
topaxi save the spurs from the Eastern Cordillera. Five
miles above the town is the mouth of the Trombetas, where
Orellana had his celebrated fight with the fabulous Ama-
zons.

Adding to her cargo wood, hides, horses, and Paraguayan

* Otherwise called, on Brazilian maps, Villa Bella da Imperatriz.

fiillllllllliil!lillllllillillllillllIill!!!ilS!'^'1*3flM^^^^

la-

ir

m

IllWIiJIII

11 I

i

„

ii!!''

1

m

m

'"'Ii I ■

' i i

iiilillliliiiiili ilililii!!

iiiSllllililf!li!|l|!l|lili!S-*T ;

Santaeem. 251

prisoners (short, athletic men), the "Tapajos" sailed for
Santarem. The river scenery below Obidos loses its wild
and sohtary character, and is relieved with scattered hab-
itations, factories, and cacao plantations. "We arrived at
Santarem in seven hom-s from Obidos, a distance of fifty
miles. This city, the largest on the Amazon save Para,
stands on a pretty slope at the mouth of the Eio Tapajos,
and five hmidred miles from the sea."^ It mainly consists
of three long rows of whitewashed, tiled houses, girt with
green gardens. The citizens, made up of Brazilians, Por-
tuguese, mulattoes, and blacks, number about two thousand
five hundred. The surrounding country, which is an un-
dulating campo, with patches of wood, is sparsely inhabited
by Tapajocos. Cattle estates and cacao plantations are the
great investments, but the soil is poor. Considerable sar-
saparilla of superior quality, rubber, copaiba, Brazil nuts,
and farina come do^Ti the Tapajos. The climate is de-
lightful, the trade-winds tempering the heat and driving
away all insect pests. Leprosy is somewhat common among
the poorer class. At Santarem is one of the largest colonies
which migrated from the disaffected Gulf States for Brazil.
One hundred and sixty Southerners pitched their tents here.
Many of them, however, were soon disgusted with the coun-
try, and, if we are to believe reports, the country was dis-
gusted with them. On the 1st of January, 1868, only sev-
enty-five remained. The colony does not fairly represent
the United States, being made up in great part of the
" roughs" of Mobile. A few are contented and are doing
well. Amazonia will be indebted to them for some valua-
ble ideas. Bates says : " Butter-making is unknown in this
country ; the milk, I was told, was too poor." But these
Anglo-Saxon immigrants have no difiiculty in making but-

* Herndon makes Santarem 460 miles from the Negro, and G50 from the
sea. Bates calls it 400 miles from the Atlantic, and nearly 50 from Obidos.

252 The Andes and the Ai^iazon.

ter. Santarem sends to Para for sugar ; but the cavaliers
of Alabama are proving that the sugar-cane grows better
than in Louisiana, attaining the height of twenty feet, and
that it Avill yield for ten or twelve years without transplant-
ing or cultivation. It is not, however, so sweet or juicy as
the Southern cane. Some of the colonists are making tapi-
oca and casha9a or Brazilian rum ; others have gone into
the pork business ; while one. Dr. Jones, expects to realize
a fortune burning lime. Here we met the rebel ex-General
Dol)bins, who had been prospecting on the Tapajos Eiver,
but had not yet located himself.

Below Santarem the Amazon vastly increases in width ;
at one point the southern shore w^as invisible from the
steamer. The waves often run very high. At 10 a.m.,
eight hours from Santarem, we entered the romantic port
of Monte Alegre. The road from the river to the \dllage,
just visible inland, runs through a pretty dell. Back of
the village, beyond a low, swampy flat, rise the table-topped
blue hills of Almeyrim. It was an exhilarating sight and
a great relief to gaze upon a mountain range from three
hundred to one thousand feet high, the greatest elevations
along the Amazon east of the Andes. Agassiz considers
these singular mountains the remnants of a plain w^hich
once filled the whole valley of the Amazon; but Bates
believes them to be the southern terminus of the high land
of Guiana. Their geological constitution — a pebbly sand-
stone— favors the Professor's theory. The range extends
ninety miles along the north bank of the river, the western
limit at Monte Alegre bearing the local name of Serra
Erere. Mount Agassiz, at Obidos, is a spur of the same
table-land. The Amazon is here about five miles wide, the
southern shore being low, iminhabited, and covered with
coarse grass. Five schooners were anchored in the har-
bor of Monte Alegre, a sign of considerable trade for

LEAVmG THE A^IAZON. 253

the Amazon. The place exports cattle, cacao, rubber, and
fish.

In four hours we reached Prayinha, a dilapidated village
of forty houses, situated on a low, sandy beach. The chief
occupation is the manufacture of turtle-oil. In ten hours
more we were taking in wood at Porto do Moz, situated
just within the mouth of the Xingii, the last great tributary
to the Amazon. Dismal was our farewell sail on the great
river. With the highlands came foul weather. We were
treated to frequent and furious showers, accompanied by
a violent vnnd, and the atmosphere was filled with smoke
caused by numerous fires in the forest. Where the Xingu
comes in, the Amazon is ten miles wide, but it is soon di-
vided by a series of islands, the first of which is Grand
Island. Twenty miles below Porto do Moz is Gurupa,
where we took in rubber. The village, nearly as inani-
mate as Pompeii, consists of one street, half deserted, built
on an isolated site. Forty miles below Gurupa we left the
Amazon proper, turning to the right down a narrow chan-
nel leading into the river Para. The forest became more
luxuriant, the palms especially increasing in number and
beauty. At one place there was a forest of palms, a sin-
gularity, for trees of the same order are seldom associ-
ated. The forest, densely packed and gloomy, stands on
very low, flat banks of hard river mud. Scarcely a sign of
animal hfe was visible ; but, as we progressed, dusky faces
peered out of the woods; little shanties belonging to the
seringeros, or rubber-makers, here and there broke the soH-
tude, and occasionally a large group of half -clad natives
greeted us from the shore. A labyrinth of chamiels con-
nects the Amazon with the Para; the steamers usually
take the Tajapurii. This natural canal is of great depth,
and from fifty to one hundred yards in width; so that,
hemmed in by two green walls, eighty feet high, we seemed

254 The Andes and the Amazon.

to be sailing through a deep gorge ; in some places it was
so narrow it was nearly overarched by the foliage. One
hundred and twenty-five miles from Gurupa is Breves, a
busy little town on the southwest corner of the great island
of Marajo. The inhabitants, mostly Portuguese, are en-
gaged in the rubber trade ; the Indians in the vicinity man-
ufacture fancy earthen- ware and painted cuyas or cala-
bashes.

Soon after leaving Breves we entered the Para Piver,
which suddenly begins with the enormous width of eight
miles. It is, however, shallow, and contains numerous
shoals and islands. It is properly an estuary, immense vol-
umes of fi'esh water flowing into it fi'om the south. The
tides are felt through its entire length of one hundred and
sixty miles, but the water is only slightly brackish. It has
a dingy orange-brown color. A narrow blue line on our
left, miles away, was all that was visible, at times, of the
island of Marajo ; and as we passed the broad mouth of
the Tocantins, we were struck with the magnificent sea-like
expanse, for there was scarcely a point of mainland to be
seen.

At 4 P.M., eighteen hours from Breves, we entered the
peaceful bay of Goajara, and anchored in fi'ont of the city
of Para. Beautiful was the view of the city fi'om the har-
'bor in the rays of the declining sun. The towering spires
and cupolas, the palatial government buildings, the long
row of tall warehouses facing a fleet of schooners, ships,
and steamers,- and pretty white ^dllas in the suburbs, nest-
hng in luxuriant gardens, were to us, who had just come
down the Andes from mediaeval Quito, the ultima thult
of civilization. "We seemed to have stepped at once from
the Amazon to Xew York or London. We might, indeed,
say nejplus ultra, in one respect — we had crossed the con-
tinent, and Para was the terminus of om' wanderings, the

siiiiii

mm

Paka. 257

end of romantic adventures, of privations and perils. We
were kindly met on the pier by Mr. James Henderson, an
elderly Scotchman, whom a long residence in Para, a bot-
tomless fund of information, and a readiness to serve an
Anglo-Saxon, have made an in^'aluable cicerone. We shot
through the devious, narrow streets to the Hotel Diana,
where we made our toilet, for our habiliments, too, had
reached their ultima thide. As La Condamine said on his
arrival at Quito: ^'Je me trouvai hors d'^etat de j)aroitTe
enjnihlic avec decence^

The same year which saw Shakspeare carried to his
grave beside the Avon witnessed the founding of Para, or,
speaking more respectfully, of Santa Maria de Belem do
Gram Para. The city stands on a low elbow of land
formed by the j miction of the rivers Guama and Para, sev-
qnty-five miles fi'om the ocean. The great forest comes
close up to the suburbs ; and, in fact, vegetation is so rapid
the city fathers have a hard struggle to keep the jimgle
out of the streets. The river in front is twenty miles wide,
but the vast expanse is broken by numerous islets. Ships
of any size will float within one hundred and fifty yards of
the shore. All passengers and goods are landed by boats
at the custom-house wharf. The city is regularly laid
out, there are several public squares, and many of the
streets, especially in the commercial part, are well paved.
Magnificent avenues, lined with silk-cotton trees, cocoa-
palms, and almonds, lead out to beautiful Tocinhas^ or coun-
try residences, of one story, but having spacious verandas.
The President's house, built in the Italian style, whose mar-
ble staircase is a wonder to Brazil ; the six large churches,
including the cathedral, after patterns from Lisbon; the
post-ofiSce, custom-house, and convent-looking warehouses
on the mole — these are the most prominent buildings.
The architecture is superior to that of Quito. The houses,

K

258 The Andes and the A:mazon.

generally two-storied, are tiled, plastered, and whitewashed
or painted ; the popular colors are red, yellow, and blue.
A few have porcelain facing. The majority have elegant
balconies and glass windows, but not all the old projecting
lattice casements have disappeared. Some of the build-
ings bear the marks of the cannonading in the Revolution
of 1835. Instead of bedrooms and beds, the largest apart-
ments and verandahs have hooks in the wall for hammocks.
A carpeted, cushioned room is seldom seen, and is out of
place in the tropics. Coaches and gas are supplanting ox-
carts and candles. There are two hotels, but scant accom-
modations for travelers. Beef is almost the only meat
used; the fish are poor and dear; the oysters are horrible.
Bananas, oranges, and coffee are the best native produc-
tions on tlie table.

The population of Para is thirty-five thousand, or double
what it was when Wallace and Bates entered it twenty
years ago. It is the largest city on the largest river in the
world, and the capital of a province ten times the size of
]^ew York State. The enterprising, wealthy class consists
of Portuguese and pure Brazilians, with a few English,
Germans, French, and IN'orth Americans. The multitude, is
an amalgamation of Portuguese, Indian, and Xegro. The
diversity of races, and the mingled dialects of the Ama-
zon and Europe, make an attractive street scene. Side by
side we see the corpulent Brazilian planter, the swarthy
Portuguese trader, the merry Negro porter, and the apa-
thetic Indian boatman. Some of the more recent off-
spring are dressed cl la Adam before the fall; numbers
wear only a shirt or skirt ; the negro girls who go about
the streets with trays of sweetmeats on their heads are
loosely yet prettily dressed in pure white, with massive
•gilded chains and earrings; but the middle and upper
classes generally follow Paris fashions. The mechanic

Para.

259

Fruit Peclcllers.

arts are in the hands of free 'Ne-
groes and Indians, mulattoes and
mamelncos.* Commerce is car-
ried on almost exclusively by
Portuguese and other foreigners.
Dry -goods come chiefly from
England and France ; groceries
from Portugal; flour and hard-
ware fi'om the United States.
The principal exports are rub-
ber, cacao, coffee,! sugar, cotton,
Brazil nuts, sarsaparilla, vanilla, farina, copaiba, tobacco,
rum, hides, fish, parrots, and monkeys.:]: Para exceeds in
the number of its indigenous commodities any other port
in the world, but the trade at present is insignificant when
we consider the vast extent and resources of the country.
The city can never have a rival at the mouth of the Ama-
zon, and is destined to become a great emporium. But
Brazilian legislation stands in the way. Heavy import du-
ties are charged — from 35 to 45 per cent. ; and on the 1st
of January, 1868, it was ordered that 15 per cent, must be
paid in English gold. The consequence has been that gold
has risen from 28 to 30 above par, creating an additional
tax. Exportation is equally discouraging. There is a duty
of nine per cent, to be paid at the custom-house, and seven

* We are inclined to doubt the assertion of INIansfield that Paraguay is the
only country in eastern South America with an industrious peasantry.

t Brazil yields more than one half the quantity of coffee consumed by the
world. That of Ceara is the best.

t In January, 1868, the current prices were as follows :

Eefined Sugar, per arroba.

Rice "

Cacao "

Coffee

Farina "

..$3 00

.. 1 40

.. 3 20

.. 3 oO

75

Tapioca, per arroba

$3 00

Pure rubber "

11 50

Piassaba cord "

6 50

Tobacco "

1 50

Sarsaparilla "

11 50

The Brazilian arroba is seven pounds heavier than the Spanish.

260 The Andes and the Amazon.

per cent, more at the consulado. But this is not the sum
total. Those who live outside of the province of Para,
say above Obidos, must first pay an import of thirteen per
cent, to get their, produce into Para. For example : up the
river crude rubber can be bought for twenty-five cents a
pound ; the trader pa}* twenty-five cents an arroba (thir-
ty-two pounds) for transportation to Para from Santarem,
exclusive of canoe hire and shipping; thirteen per cent,
duty in entering Para, ten per cent, to the commission mer-
chant, and sixteen per cent, more as export tax ; making a
total loss on labor of about fifty per cent. Brazil abounds
with the most valuable woods in the world, but is prevent-
ed from competing with other nations by this system of
self -strangulation. In 1867 the import duty on timber was
twelve per cent. Though situated on the edge of a bound-
less forest. Para consumes large quantities of I^orth Ameri-
can pine. There is not a grist-mill on the Amazon, and
only two or three saw-mills. A dozen boards of red cedar
(a very common timber) costs 60$000 per thousand (about
thirty dollars) at Santarem. There is no duty on goods go-
ing to Peru. The current money, besides foreign gold, con-
sists of copper coins and imperial treasmy notes. The basis
of calculation is the imaginary rey^ equivalent to half a
mill. The coins in use are the vintem (twenty reys), answer-
ing to our cent, the half \dntem, and double vintem. The
currency has so fluctuated in value that many of the pieces
have been restamped. Fifty vintems make a milrey, ex-
pressed thus: 1§000. This is the smallest paper issue.
Unfortunately, the notes may suddenly fall below par. As
a great many counterfeits made in Portugal are in circula-
tion, the government recalls the issue which has been coun-
terfeited, notifying holders, by the provincial papers, that
all such bills must be exchanged for a new issue within
six months. Those not brought in at the end of that pe-

Para. 261

riocl lose ten per cent, of their value, and ten per cent, for
each following month, until the value of the note is nil.
The result has been that many persons trading up the
river have lost heavily, and now demand hard money.
Change is very scarce in Para.

The province of Para is governed by a president chosen
at Kio, and every four years sends representatives to the
Imperial Parliament. The Constitution of Brazil is very
liberal ; every householder, without distinction of race or
color, has a vote, and may work his way up to high posi-
tion. There are two drawbacks — the want of intelligence
and virtue in the people, and the immense staff of officials
employed to administer the government. There are also
many formalities which are not only useless, but a liin-
derance to prosperity. Thus, the internal trade of a prov-
ince carried on by Brazilian subjects is not exempt from
the passport system. A foreigner finds as much trouble
in getting his passport en regie in Para as in Yienna. The
religion of Para is Pomish, and not so tolerant as in Pio.
We arrived during 2ifesta. (When did a traveler enter a
Portuguese town on any other than ^ feast day?) That
night was made hideous with rockets, fire-crackers, cannon,
and bells. "Music, noise, and fireworks," says Wallace,
" are the three essentials to please a Brazilian populace."
The most celebrated shrine in Northern Brazil is Our Lady
of Nazareth. The little chapel stands about a mile out of
the city, and is now rebuilding for the third time. The
image is a doll about the size of a girl ten years old, wear-
ing a silver crown and a dress of blue silk glittering with
golden stars. Hosts of miracles are attributed to Our
Lady, and we were shown votive offerings and models of
legs, arms, heads, etc., etc., the grateful in inemoriam of
wonderful cures, besides a boat whose crew were saved by
invoking the protection of Mary. The facilities for edu-

262 The Andes and the Amazon.

cation are improving. There are several seminaries in
Para, of which the chief is the Lyceo da Cwpital. Too
many youths, however, as in Quito, are satisfied with a Kt-
tle rhetoric and law. The city supports four newspa-
pers.

Paracuses may well be proud of their delightful climate.
Wallace says the thermometer ranges from 74° to 87° ; our
observation made the mean amiual temperature 80.2°. The
mean daily temperature does not vary more than two or
three degrees. , The climate is more equable than that of
any other observed part of the New World. ^ The great-
est heat is reached at two o'clock, but it is never so oppres-
sive as in Xew York. The greater the heat, the stronger
the sea-breeze ; and in three hundred out of three hundred
and sixty-five days, the air is farther cooled by an afternoon
shower. The rainiest month is April ; the dryest, October or
I^ovember. Lying in the delta of a great river, in the mid-
dle of the tropics, and half surrounded by swamps, its salu-
brity is remarkable. We readilyexcuse the proverb, " Quern
"caijpara PardixtrcC^ (" He wdio goes to Para stops there") ;
and we might hav&made it good, had we not been tempt-
ed by the magnificent steamer " South America," whicli
came up from Pio on the way to Xew York. On the
moonlit night of the 7th of January, when the ice-king
had thrown his white robes over the Xorth, we turned our
backs upon the glimmering lights of Para, and noiselessly
as a canoe glided down the great river. As the sun rose
for the last time to us upon the land of perpetual verdure,
our gallant ship was plowing the mottled waters on the
edge of the ocean — mingled yellow patches of the Amazon

* "The traveler, in going from the- equator toward the tropics, is less struck
by the decrease of the mean annual temperature than by the unequal distri-
bution of lieat in different parts of the year. " — Hinnholdt. The great Ger-
man fixes the mean temperature of the equator at 81.5°; Brewster, at 82.8°;
Kirwan, 83.9°; Atkinson, 84.5°.

Leaving Paea. 263

and dark streaks from the Para floating on tlie Atlantic
green. Far behind us we could see the breakers dashing
against the Braganza Banks ; a moment after Cape Ma-
goary dropped beneath the horizon, and with it South
America vanished from our view.

264 The Andes and the Amazon.

CHAPTER XYIII.

The River Amazon. — Its Source and Magnitude. — Tributaries and Tints. —
Volume and Current. — Rise and Fall. — Navigation. — Expeditions on the
Great River.

Near the silver mines of Cerro Pasco, in the little Lake
of Lauricocha, just below the limit of perpetual winter,
rises the ^'King of Waters.""^ For the first ^ve hundred
miles it flows northerly, in a continuous series of cataracts
and rapids, through a deep valley between the parallel
Cordilleras of Peru. Upon reaching the frontier of Ecua-
dor, it turns to the right, and runs easterly two thousand
five hundred miles across the great equatorial plain of the
continent.f 'No other river flows in the same latitude, and
retains, therefore, the same climatic conditions for so great
a distance. The breadth of the Amazon, also, is well pro-
portioned to its extraordinary length. At Tabatinga, two
thousand miles above its mouth, it is a mile and a half
wide ; at the entrance of the Madeira, it is three miles ;
below Santarem, it is ten ; and if the Para be considered a
part of the great river, it fronts the Atlantic one hundred
and eighty miles. Brazilians proudly call it the Mediter-
ranean of the Kew World. Its vast expanse, presenting

* Herndon gives, for the altitude of Cerro Pasco, 13,802 feet; Rivero,
1-1,279. The lieutenant thus describes his first %1ew from the rough hills
surrounding this birthplace of the greatest of rivers : "I can compare it to
nothing so fitly as looking from the broken and ragged edges of a volcano
into the crater beneath."

t From Lauricocha to its mouth, the Amazon, following the main curves,
is 2740 miles long, as estimated by Bates ; in a straight line, 2050 ; ft-om
Para to the head of the Ucayali, 3000. From north to south the tributaries
stretch 1720 miles.

Canoe-paths.

265

below Teffe magnificent reaches, with blank horizons, and
forming a barrier between different species of animals ; its
system of back channels, joining the tributaries, and linking
a series of lagunes too many ever to be named; its network
of navigable waters stretching over one third of the con-
tinent; its oceanic fauna — porpoises and manatis, gulls
and frigate-birds — remind the traveler of a great inland
sea, with endless ramifications, rather than a river. The
side-channels through the forest, called by the Indians iga-
rajjyes^ or canoe-paths, are one of the characteristic features

Igarape, or Canoe-path.

266 The Ai^des akd the Aisiazon.

of the Amazon.* They often run to a great distance par-
allel to the great river, and intersecting the tributaries, so
that one can go from Santarem a thousand miles up the
Amazon without once entering it. These natural high-
ways will be of immense advantage for inter-communica-
tion.

But extraordinary as is this net-work of natural canals,
the tributaries of the Amazon are still more wonderful.
They are so numerous they appear on the map like a thou-
sand ribbons streaming from a main mast, and man}^ of the
obscure affluents, though large as the Hudson, are unkno'wn
to geography. From three degrees north to twenty de-
grees south, every river that flows down the eastern slope
of the Andes is a contributor — as though all the rivers be-
tween Mexico and Mount Hooker united their waters in
the Mississippi. While the great river of the northern con-
tinent drains an area of one million two hundred thousand
square miles, the Amazon (not including the Tocantlns) is
spread over a million more, or over a surface equal to two
thirds of all Europe. Let us journey around the grand
trunk and take a glimpse of the main branches.

The first we meet in going up the left bank is the Rio
Negro. It rises in the Sierra Tunuhy, an isolated mountain
group in the llanos of Colombia, and enters the Amazon at
Manaos, a thousand miles from the sea. The upper part,
down to the parallel of one degree north, has a very rapid
current ; at San Gabriel are the first rapids in ascending ;
between San Gabriel and Barcellos the rate is not over two
or three miles per hour ; between Barcellos and Manaos it
is a deep but sluggish river, and in the annual rise of the
Amazon its waters are stagnant for several hundred miles

* Igarape is sometimes limited to a creek filled Avitli back-water; parana-
miriin is the proper term for a narrow arm of the main river ; and Juros are
the diminutive mouths of the tributaries.

Tkibutaeies. 2G7

lip, or actually flow back. Its extreme length is twelve
hundred miles, and its greatest breadth is at Barcellos, where
it is twelve or fifteen miles. Excepting this middle sec-
tion, the usual breadth of the Negro below the equatorial
line is about one mile. It is joined to the Orinoco by the
navigable Cassiquiari,^ a natural canal three fourths of a
mile wide, and a portage of only two hours divides the
head of its tributary, the Branco, from the Essequibo of
Guiana. The Negro yields to commerce coffee, cacao, fa-
rina, sarsaparilla, Brazil nuts, pitch, piassaba, and valuable
w^oods. The commerce of Brazil with Yenezuela by the
Kio Negro amounted in 1867 to $22,000, of which $9000
was the value of im^^orts. The principal villages al)ove
Manaos are San Miguel and Moroa (w^hich contain about
fifty dwellings each), Tireguin, Barcellos, Toma, San Carlos,
Goana, San Gabriel, and Santa Isabel.

The next great affluent is the Japura. It rises in the
mountains of New Granada, and, fiowing southeasterly a
thousand miles, enters the Amazon opposite Ega, five hun-
dred miles above Manaos. Its principal mouth is three
hundred feet wide, but it has a host of distributing chan-
nels, the extremes of which are two hundred miles apart.
Its current is only three quarters of a mile an hour, and it
has been ascended by canoes five hundred miles. A natu-
ral canal like the Cassiquiari is said to connect it with the
Orinoco. The products of the Japura are sarsaparilla, co-
paiba, rubber, cacao, farina, Brazil nuts, moira-piranga — a
hai'd, fine-grained w^ood of a rich, cherry-red color — and
carajurii, a brilliant scarlet dye.

Parallel to the Japura is the Putumayo or Issa. Its
source is the Lake of San Pablo, at the foot of the volcano

* The Cassiquiari belongs indifferently to both river systems, the level being
so complete at one point between them as to obliterate the line of water-shed.
— Herschel.

268 The Andes and the Amazon.

of Pasto ; its mouth, as given by Herndon, is half a mile
broad, and its current two and three fourths miles an hour.

Farther west are the ISTapo and Pastassa, starting from
the volcanoes of Quito. The former is nearly seven hun-
dred miles long, navigable ^yg hundred. The latter is an
unnavigable torrent. One of its branches, the Topo, is one
continued rapid ; " of those who have fallen into it, only
one has come out alive." Another, the Patate, rises near
Iliniza, runs through the plain to a little south of Cotopaxi,
receives all streams flowing from the eastern side of the
western Cordillera from Iliniza to Chimborazo, and unites
near Tunguragua with the Chambo, wdiich rises near San-
gai. Castelnau and Bates saw pumice floating on the Am-
azon ; it was probably brought from Cotopaxi by the Pas-
tassa.

Crossing the Maranon, and going eastward, we first pass
the Huallaga, a rapid* river of the size of the Cumberland,
coming down the Peruvian Andes from an altitude of
eight thousand six hundred feet, and entering the great
river nearly opposite the Pastassa. Its mouth is a mile
wdde, and for a hundred miles up its average depth is
three fathoms. In July, August, and September the
steamers are not able to ascend to Yurimaguas. Canoe
navigation begins at Tinga Maria, three hundred miles from
Lima. The fertile plain through wdiich the river flows is
very attractive to an agriculturist. Cotton is gathered six
months after sowing, and rice in five months. At Tara-
poto a large amount of cotton -cloth is woven for export.

The next great tributary from the south is the Ucayali.
This magnificent stream originates near ancient Cuzco,
and has a fall of .87 of a foot per mile, and a length near-
ly equal to that of the IS^egro. For two hundred and fifty
miles above its mouth it averages half a mile in width, and
has a current of three miles an hour. At Sarayacu it is

The Pueus and Madeira. 269

twenty feet deep. The TJcayali is navigable for at least
seven Imnclred miles. The " Morona," a steamer of live
hundred tons, has been np to the entrance of the Pachitea
in the dry season, a distance of six hundred miles, and in
the wet season ascended that branch to Mayro. A small
Peruvian steamer has recently ascended the Tambo to
within sixty miles of Fort Ramon, or seven hundred and
seventy-three miles from Nauta.

Leaving the Ucayali, we pass by six rivers rising in the
unknown lands of Northern Bolivia : the Javari, navigable
by steam for two hundred and fifty miles; the sluggish
Jutahi, half a mile broad and four hundred miles long;
the Jurua, four times the size of our Connecticut, and nav-
igable nearly its entire length ; the unhealthy, little-known
Teffe and Coary ; and the Purus, a deep, slow river, over a
thousand miles long, and open to navigation half way to
its source. Soldan and Pinto claim to have ascended the
Javari, in a steamer, about one thousand miles, and it is
said Cliandless went up the Purus one thousand eight hun-
dred miles. The Teffe is narrow, wdtli a strong current.
Of all these six rivers, the Purus is the most important.
It is probably the Amaru-mayu, or " serpent-river," of the
Incas, and its affluents enjoy the privilege of draining the
waters of those beautiful Andes which formed the eastern
boundary of the empire of Manco Capac, and fertilizing
the romantic valley of Paucar-tambo, or " Inn of the Flow-
ery Meadow." The banks of this noble stream are now
held by the untamable Chunchos; but the steam-whistle
will accomplish what the rifle can not. The Purus com-
municates with the Madeira, proving the absence of rapids
and of intervenino; mountains.

Sixty miles below the confluence of the 'Negvo, the
mighty Madeira, the largest tributary of the Amazon,
blends its milky waters with the tiu'bid king of rivers.

270 The Andes and the A^iazox.

It is about two thousand miles in length ; one branch, the
Benij rising near Lake Titicaca, drains the fertile valleys
of Yungus and Apollo, ricli in cinchona, chocolate, and
gold ; the Marmore springs from the vicinity of Chuqui-
saca, within fifteen miles of a source of the Paraguay,
traversing the territory of the brave and intelligent Moxos ;
wdiile the Itinez washes down the gold and diamonds of
Matto Grosso. Were it not for the cascade four hundred
and eighty miles from its mouth, large vessels might sail
from the Amazon into the very heart of Bolivia. When
full, it has a three-mile current, and at its junction with
the Amazon it is two miles wide and sixty-six feet deej).
Five hundred miles from its mouth it is a mile wide and
one hundred feet deep. It contains numerous islands, and
runs in a comparatively straight course. It received its
name from the vast quantity of drift-wood often seen float-
ing down. The value of Brazilian commerce with Bolivia
by the Madeira was, in 1867, $43,000.*

At Santarem the Amazon receives another great tribu-
tary, the Tapajos (or Bio Preto, as the Portuguese call it),
a thousand miles long, and, for the last eighty miles, from
four to twelve miles in breadth. It rises amid the ghtter-
ing mines of Matto Grosso, only twenty miles from the
head-waters of the Bio Plata, and flows rapidly down
through a magnificent hilly country to the last cataract,
which is one hundred and sixty miles above Santarem,
and is the end of navigation to sailing vessels. Thence to
the Amazon it has little current and no great depth. From
Santarem to Diamantino it is about twenty-six days' travel.
Large quantities of sarsaparilla, rubber, tonka beans, man-
dioca, and guarana are brought down this river.

* In the map of Friar Fritz, published in 1707, the Madeira is one of the
most insignificant of the tributaries, and the Ucayali and Putumayo are the
largest. " ,

The Tocantins. 271

- Parallel to tlie- Tapajos, and about two hundred miles
distant, flows the Xingii. It rises in the heart of the em-
pire, has the length of the Ohio and Monongahela, and can
be navigated one hundred and fifty miles. This is the last
great tributary of the Amazon proper ; if, however, we con-
sider the Para as only one of the outlets of the great river,
we may then add to the list the grand Tocantins."^ This
splendid river has its source in the rich province of Minas
(the source, also, of the San Francisco and Uruguay), not
six hundred miles from Kio Janeiro— a region possessing
the finest climate in Brazil, and yielding diamonds and ru-
bies, the sapphire, topaz and opal, gold, silver, and petro-
leum. The Tocantins is sixteen hundred miles long, and
ten miles broad at its mouth ; but, unfortunately, rapids
commence one hundred and twenty miles above Cameta.
The Araguaia, its main branch, is, according to Castelnau,
one mile wide, with a current of three fourths of a mile
an hom\

Here are six tributaries, all of them superior to any river
in Europe, outside of Russia, save the Danube, and ten
times greater than any stream on the west slope of the

* We are inclined to hold, with Bates and others, that the Para River is
not, strictly speaking, one of the mouths of the Amazon. "It is made to
appear so on many of the maps in common use, because the channels which
connect it with the main river are there given much broader than they are
in reality, conveying the impression that a large body of water finds an out-
let from the main river into the Para. It is doubtfid, however, if there be
any considerable stream of water flowing constantly downward through these
channels. There is a great contrast in general appearance between the Para
and the main Amazon. In the former the flow of the tide always creates a
strong current upward, while in the Amazon the tiu-bid flow of the mighty
stream overpowers all tides, and produces a constant downward current.
The color of the water is diflerent; that of the Para being of a dingy orange-
brown, while the Amazon has an ochreous or yellowish-clay tint. The for-
ests on their banks have a diff"erent aspect. On the Para, the infinitely di-
versified trees seem to rise directly out of the water, the forest-frontage is
covered with greeneiy, and Avears a placid aspect ; while the shores of the
main Amazon are encumbered with fallen tnmks, and are fringed with a belt
of broad-leaved grasses." — Naturalist on the Amazon, i., p. 3-5.

272 The Andes and the Amazon.

Andes. Wliile the- Arkansas joins the Mississippi four
liundred miles above New Orleans, the Madeira, of equal
length, enters the Amazon nine hundred miles from Para.
'But, vast as are these tributary streams, they seem to make
no impression on the Amazon ; they are lost like brooks in
the ocean. Our ideas of the magnitude of the great river
are wonderfully increased when we see the Madeira com-
ing down two thousand miles, yet its enormous contribu-
tion imperceptible half way across the giant river ; or the
dark waters of the Negro creeping along the shore, and
becoming undistinguishable -Qxe miles from its mouth.
Though the Amazon carries a larger amount of sediment
than any other river, it has no true delta, the archipelago
in its mouth (for, like our own St. Lawrence, it has its Bay
of a Thousand Isles) not being an alluvial formation, but
having a rock}^ base. The great island of Marajo, in phys-
ical configuration, resembles the mainland of Guiana. The
deltoid outlet is confined to the tributaries, nearly all of
them, like " the disemboguing Nile," emptying themselves
by innumerable embouchures. To several tributaries the
Amazon gives water before it receives their tribute. Thus,
by ascending the Negro sixty miles, we have the singular
spectacle of water pouring in from the Amazon through
the Guariba Channel.

The waters of this great river system are of divers tints.
The Amazon, as it leaps from the Andes, and as far down
as the Ucayali, is blue, passing into a clear olive-green ;
likewise the Pastassa, Huallaga, Tapajos, Xingii, and To-
cantms. Below the Ucayali it is of a pale, yellowish olive ;
the Madeira,* Purus, Jurua, Jutahi, Javari, Ucayali, Napo,
19a, and Japura are of similar color. The Negro, Coary,
and Teffe are black. Humboldt observes that " a cooler

* The Madeira has often a milky color which it receives from the white
clay along its banks.

YOLUME OF THE AmAZON. 273

atmosphere, fewer musquitoes, gi-eater salubrity, and ab-
sence of crocodiles, as also of fish, mark the region of these
black rivers." This is not altogether true. The Amazon
throughout is healthy, being swept by the trade - winds.
The branches, which are not so constantly refreshed by the
ocean breezes, are occasionally malarious ; the " white-
water" tributaries, except when they have a slack current
in the diy season, have the best reputation, while intermit-
tent fevers are nearly confined to the dark-colored streams.
Much of the sickness on these tropical waters, however, is
due to exposure and want of proper food rather than to the
climate. The river system of South America will favora-
bly compare, in point of salubrity, with the river system of
its continental neighbor.*

As we might expect, the volume of the Amazon is be-
yond all parallel. Half a million cubic feet of water pour
through the narrows of Obidos every second, and fresh
water may be taken up from the Atlantic far out of sight
of land. The fall of the main easterly trunk of the Am-
azon is about six and a half inches per mile, equivalent to
a slope of 21' — the same as that of the Xile, and one third
that of the Mississippi. Below Jaen there are thirty cata-
racts and rapids ; at the Pongo de Manseriche, at the alti-
tude of 1164 feet (according to Humboldt), it bids adieu to
mountain scenery. Between Tabatinga and the ocean the
average current is three miles an hour. It diminishes to-
ward Para, and is every w^here at a minimmn in the dry
season ; but it always has the " swing" of an ocean cm-rent.

* The average temperature of the -svater in the Lower Amazon is 81°, that
of the air being a little less. The temperature of the Huallaga at Yurimaguas
was 75° when the air was 88° in the shade ; in another experiment both the
river and air were 80°. The Maranon at Iquitos was 79° when the air was
90°. At the mouth of the Juima, Herndon found both water and air 82°.
In the tropics the difference between the temperature of the water and air is
proportionally less than in high latitudes.

s

274 The Andes and the Amazon.

Though not so rapid as the Mississippi, the Amazon is
deeper. There are seven fathoms of water at ISTauta (2200
miles from the Atlantic), eleven at Tabatinga, and twenty-
seven on the average below Manaos.*

The Amazon and its branches are subject to an annual
rise of great regularity. It does not take place simultane-
ously over the whole river, but there is a succession of
freshets. At the foot of the Andes the rise commences in
January; at Ega it begins about the end of February.
Coinciding with this contribution fi'om the west, the Octo-
ber rains on the highlands of Bolivia and Brazil swell the
southern tributaries, whose accumulated floods reach the
main stream in February ; and the latter, unable to dis-
charge the avalanche of waters, inundates a vast area, and
even crowds up the northern tributaries. As the Madeira,
Tapajos, and Purus subside, the Negro, fed by the spring
rains in Guiana and Venezuela, presses downward till the
central stream rolls back the now sluggish affluents from
the south. There is, therefore, a rhythmical corres]Dond-
ence in the rise and fall of the arms of the Amazon, so
that this great fresh-water sea sways alternately north and
south ; while the onward swell in the grand trunk is a pro-
gressive undulation eastward. As the Cambridge Professor
well says : " In this oceanic river the tidal action has an an-
nual instead of a daily ebb and flow ; it obeys a larger orb,
and is ruled by the sun and not the moon." As the south-
ern affluents have the greatest volume, the Amazon receives
its largest accession after the sun has been in the southern
hemisphere. The rise is gradual, increasing to one foot
per day. One lowland after another sinks beneath the
flood ; the forest stands up to its middle in the water, and

* The assertion of the jEJncy. MetropoUtana, that "its current has great \ao-
lence and rapidity, and its depth is unfathomable," must be received with
some allowance.

EisE OF THE Great Kivee. 275

shady dells are transformed into navigable creeks.* Swarms
of turtles leave the river for the inland lakes; flocks of
wading birds migrate to the banks of the Negro and Ori-
noco to enjoy the cloudless sky of the dry season ; alliga-
tors swim where a short time before the jaguar lay in wait
for the tapir ; and the natives, unable to fish, huddle in
their villages to spend the " winter of their discontent."
The Lower Amazon is at its minimum in September or Oc-
tober. The rise above this lowest level is between seven
and eight fathoms. If we consider the average width of
the Amazon two miles, we shall have a surface of at least
five thousand square miles raised fifty feet by the inunda-
tion. An extraordinary freshet is expected every sixth
year.

The Atlantic tide is perceptible at Obidos, four hundred
and fifty miles above Para, and Bates observed it up the
Tapajos, five hundred and thirty miles distant. The tide,
however, does not flow up ; there is only a rising and fall-
ing of the waters — the momentary check of the great river
in its conflict with the ocean. The "bore," o'c ])iTOT6co^ is
a colossal wave at spring tide, rising suddenly along the
whole width of the Amazon to a height of twelve or fifteen
feet, and then collapsing with a frightful roar. •

The Amazon presents an unparalleled extent of watei"
communication. So many and far reaching are its tribu-
taries, it touches every country on the continent except
Chile and Patagonia, South America is well nigh quar-
tered iDy its river system : the Amazon starts witliin sixty
miles of the Pacific ; the Tapajos and Madeira reach down
to the La Plata ; while the Negro mingles its waters with
those of the Orinoco. The tributaries also communicate
with each other by intersecting canals, so numerous that
central Amazonia is truly a cluster of islands. Wagons

* The flooded lands are called gapos.

276 The Andes and the Amazon,

and railroads will be out of the question for ages lience in
this aquatic basin. No other river runs in so deep a chan-
nel to so great a distance. For two thousand miles fi'om
its mouth there are not less than seven fathoms of water.
Not a fall interrupts navigation on the main stream for
two thousand five hundred miles ; and it so happens that
while the current is ever east (for even the ocean can not
send up its tide against it), there is a constant trade-wind
westward, so that navigation up or down has always some-
thing in its favor. As a general rule, the breeze is not so
strong during the rise of the river. There are at least six
thousand miles of navigation for large vessels. It was
lately said that the Mississippi carries more vessels in a
month, and the Yang-tse-Kiang in a day, than the Amazon
all the year round. But this is no longer true. Steamers
already ascend regularly to the port of Moyabamba, which
is less than twenty days' travel from the Pacific coast. The
Amazon was opened to the world September 7, 1867 ; and
the time can not be far distant when the exhaustless wealth
of the great valley — its timber, fruit, medicinal plants,
gums, and dye-stuffs — will be emptied by this great high-
way into the commercial lap of the Atlantic ; when crowd-
ed steamers will plow all these waters — yellow, black, and
blue — and the sloths and alligators, monkeys and jaguars,
toucans and turtles, will have a bad time of it.

Officially free to the world, the great river is, however,
for the present practically closed to foreign shipping, as it
is difficult to compete with the Brazilian steamers. For, by
the contract which lasts till 1877, the company is allowed
an annual subsidy of $4,000,000, which has since been in-
creased by 250 milreys per voyage. In 1867 the steamers
and sailing vessels on the Amazon were divided as follows,
though it must be remembered that few of the foreign
ships, excepting Portuguese, ascended beyond Para :

COMMEECE OF THE AmAZON. 277

Nationality. No. Tonnage.

United States 37 39,90U

Brazil 49 28,039

England 52 13,27G^

Portugal 24 7,871

France 18 5,344

Prussia 4 889|

Nationality. No. Tonnage.

Holland 3 538

Denmark 2 525

Holstein 3 498

Norway 1 135

Spain 1 90

The vessels carrying the stars and stripes exported from
Para to the vahie of 3,235,073$950, or eight times the
amount carried by Brazilian craft, and 50,000 milreys more
than England. While, therefore, the Imperial Company
has the monopoly of trade on the Amazon, our ships dis-
tribute one third of the products to the world. The United
States is the natural commercial partner with Brazil ; for
not only is I^ew York the half-way house between Para and
Liverpool, but a chip thrown into the sea at the mouth of
the Amazon will float close by Cape Hatteras. The official
value of exports from Para in 1867 was 9,926,912^557, or
about five millions of dollars, an increase of one million
over 1866.

The early expeditions into the Yalley of the Amazon, in
search of the " Gilded King," are the most romantic epi-
sodes in the history of Spanish discovery. To the wild
wanderings of these worshipers of gold succeeded the
more earnest explorations of the Jesuits, those pioneers of
geographical knowledge. Pinzon discovered the mouth of
the river in 1500 ; but Orellana, who came down the Xapo
in 1541, was the first to navigate its waters. Twenty years
later Aguirre descended from Cuzco ; in 1637, Texeira as-
cended to Quito by the l^apo ; Cabrera descended from
Peru in 1639 ; Juan de Palacios by the Napo in 1725 ; La
Condamine from Jaen in 1744, and Madame Godin by the
Pastassa in 1769. The principal travelers who preceded
us in crossing the continent this century were Mawe (1828),
Poeppig (1831), Smyth (1831), Yon Tschudi (1845), Cas-

278 The Andes and the Amazon.

telnau (1846), Herndon and Gibbon (1851), and Marcoy
(1867), who came down through Eeru, and a Spanish com-
mission (Ahnagro, Spada, Martinez, and Isern), who made
the Xapo transit in 1865. To Spix and Martins (1820),
Bates and Wallace (1848-1857), Azevedo and Pinto (1862-
1864), and Agassiz (1865), the world is indebted for the
most scientific surveys of the river in Brazil.

Such is the Amazon, the mightiest river in the world,
rising amid the loftiest volcanoes on the globe, and flowing
through a forqst unparalleled in extent. "It only wants
(wrote Father Acuna), in order to surpass the Ganges, Eu-
phrates, and the IN^ile in felicity, that its source should be
in Paradise." As if one name were not sufficient for its
grandeur, it has three appellations : Maranon, Solimoens,
and Amazon ; the first applied to the part in Peru, the
second to the portion between Tabatinga and Manaos, and
the third to all below the Bio Negro.* We have no
proper conception of the vast dimensions of the thousand-
armed river till we sail for weeks over its broad bosom, be-

* The upper part of the Maranon, from its source to Jaen, is sometimes
called theTunguragua. Solimoens is now seldom heard ; but, instead, Middle
Amazon, or simply Amazon. The term Alto Amazonas or High Amazon
is also applied to all above the Negi'O. Maranon, says Velasco, derives its
name from the circumstance that a soldier, sent by Pizarro to discover the
sources of the Rio Fiura, having beheld the mighty stream from the neigh-
borhood of Jaen, and, astonished to behold a sea of fresh water, exclaimed,
' ' Hac mare an non ?" Orellana's pretended fight with a nation of female war-
riors gave rise to the Portuguese name of the river, Amazonas (anglicized •
Amazon), after the mythical women in C'appadocia, who are sa,id to have burnt
off their right breasts that they might use the bow and javelin with more skill
and force, and hence their name, 'Ajua^oi^fc, from a and fia^og. Orellana's story
probably grew out of the fact that the men wear long tunics, part the hair in
the middle, and, in certain tribes, alone wear ornaments. Some derive the
name from the Indian word amassona, boat-destroyer. The old name, Orel-
lana, after the discoverer, is obsolete, as also the Indian term Parana-tinga,
or King of Waters. In ordinary conversation it is designated as the river,
in distinction from its tributaries. ' ' In all parts of the world (says Hum-
boldt), the largest rivers are called by those who dwell on their banks. The
River, without any distinct and peculiar appellation."

Magnitude of the Aiviazon. 279

holding it sweeping disdainfully by the great Madeira as
if its contribution was of no account, discharging into the
sea one hundred thousand cubic feet of w^ater per second
more than our Mississippi, rolling its turbid waves thou-
sands of miles exactly as it pleases,— plowing a new
channel every year, with tributaries twenty miles wide,
and an island in its mouth twice the size of Massachusetts.

280 The Andes and the Amazon.

CHAPTER XIX.

The Valley of the Amazon. — Its Physical Geography. — Geology. — Cli-
mate. — Vegetation.

From the Atlantic shore to the foot of the Andes, and
fi'om the Orinoco to the Paraguay, stretches the great Val-
ley of the Amazon. In this vast area the United States
might be packed without touching its boundaries. It could
contain the basins of the Mississippi, the Danube, the Xile,
and the Hoang-Ho. It is girt on three sides by a wall of
mountains : on the north are the highlands of Guiana and
Venezuela ; on the west stand the Andes ; on the south
rise the table-lands of Matto Grosso. The valley begins at
such an altitude, that on the western edge vegetation dif-
fers as much fi'om the vegetation at Para, though in the
same latitude, as the flora of Canada from the flora of the
"West Indies.

The greater part of the region drained by the Amazon,
however, is not a valley proper, but an extensive plain.
From the mouth of tlie Napo to the ocean, a distance of
eighteen hundred miles in a straight line, the slope is one
foot in five miles.* At Coca, on the Napo, the altitude is
850 feet, according to our observations; at Tinga Maria,
on the Huallaga, it is 2200 according to Herndon j at the
junction of the Il^egro with the Cassiquiari, it is 400 ac-
cording to Wallace ; at the mouth of the Marmore, it is 800
according to Gibbon ; at the Pongo de Manseriche, below

* Professor Agassiz gives the average slope as hardly more than a foot
in ten miles, which is based on the farther assertion that the distance from
Tabatinga to the sea-shore is more than 2000 miles in a straight line. The
distance is not 1600, or exactly 1500, from Para. — See A Journey in Bra-
zil, p. 349.

Geology of the Amazon. 281

all rapids, it is 1160 according to Humboldt; and at the
junction of Araguaia with the Tocantins, it is 200 accord-
ing to Castelnau. These barometrical measurements repre-
sent the basin of the Amazon as a shallow trough lying
parallel to the equator, the southern side having double
the inchnation of the northern, and the whole gently slop-
ing eastward. Farthermore, the channel of the great
river is not in the centre of the basin, but lies to the north
of it : thus, the hills of Almeyrim rise directly from the
river, while the first falls on the Tocantins, Xingii, and Ta-
pajos are nearly two hundred miles above their mouths ; the
rapids of San Gabriel, on the ISTegro, are one hundred and
seventy-five miles from the Amazon, while the first ob-
struction to the navigation of the Madeira is a hundred
miles farther from the great river.

Of the creation of this valley we have already spoken.
Is'o region on the face 'of the globe of equal extent has
such a monotonous geology. Around the rim of the basiii
are the outcroppings of a cretaceous deposit ; this rests on
the hidden mezozoic and palaeozoic strata which form
the ribs of the Andes. Above it, covering the whole basin
fi'om New Granada to the Argentine Kepublic,* are the f oh
loTv^ng formations : first, a stratified accumulation of sand ;
second, a series of laminated clays, of divers colors, without
a pebble ; third, a fine, compact sandstone ; fourth, a coarse,
porous sandstone, so ferruginous as to resemble bog iron-
ore. This last was, originally, a thousand feet in thickness,
but was worn down, ])erlia])8^ in some sudden escape of the

* Messrs. Myers and Forbes found this red cla}- on the Negro, most abund-
antly near Barcellos ; also in small quantities on the Orinoco above Maipures.
The officers of the " Morona" assured us that the same formation was trace-
able far up the Ucayali and Huallaga. This clay from the Amazon, as ex-
amined microscopically by Prof. H. James Clark, contains fragments of gas-
teropod shells and bivalve casts. The red earth of the Pampas, according to
Ehren1)erg, contains eight fresh-water to one salt-water animalcule.

282 The Andes and the Amazon.

pent-up waters of the valley. The table-topped hills of
Almeyrim are almost the sole relics.* Finally, over the
undulating surface of the denuded sandstone an ochra-
ceous, unstratified sandy clay was deposited.

It is a question to what period this great accumulation is
to be assigned. Humboldt called it " Old Eed Sandstone ;"
Martins pronounced it " l\ew Eed ;" Agassiz says " Drift"
— the glacial deposit brought down fi'om the Andes and
worked over by the melting of the ice which transported
it.f The Professor farther declares that " these deposits
are fresh-water deposits ; they show no sign of a marine
origin ; no sea-shells nor remains of any marine animal
have as yet been found throughout their whole extent ; ter-
tiary deposits have never been observed in any part of the
Amazonian basin." This was true up to 1867. l^either
Bates, Wallace, nor Agassiz found any marine fossil on the
banks of the great river. But there is danger in building
a theory on negative evidence. These explorers ascended
no farther than Tabatinga. Two hundred miles west of
that fort is the little Peruvian village of Pebas, at the con-
fluence of the Ambiyacu. We came down the Xapo and
Maranon, and stopped at this place. Here we discovered a
fossiliferous bed intercalated between the variegated clays
so peculiar to the Amazon. It was crowded with marine
tertiary shells ! This was Pebas m. Cambridge. It was
unmistakable proof that the formation was not drift, but
tertiary ; not of fresh, but salt water origin. The species,

* " On the South American coast, where tertiary and supra-tertiaiy beds
have been extensively elevated, I repeatedly noticed that the uppermost beds
were formed of coarser materials than the lower ; this appears to indicate
that, as the sea becomes shallower, the force of the waves or currents in-
creased."— Darwin's Observations, pt. ii., 131. " Nowhere in the Pampas is
there any appearance of much superficial denudation."— Pt.iii., 100.

t A Journey in Brazil, p. 250, 411, 42-t. Again, in his Lecture before
the Lowell Institute, 1866 : " These deposits could not have been made by
the sea, nor in a large lake, as they contain no marine nor fresh-water fossils."

Fossils in the Amazon Yalley. 283

•

as determined by W. M. Gabb, Esq., of Philadelphia, are :
Neritina jpwpa, Turhonilla miiiiiSGula^ Mesalia Ortoni,
Tellina Amazonensis, Pachydon obliqua^ and P. tenuaJ^
All of these are new forms excepting the first, and the last
is a new genus. It is a singular fact that the Neritina is
now living in the West India waters, and the species found
at Pebas retains its peculiar markings. So that we have
some ground for the supposition that not many years ago
there was a comiection between the Caribbean Sea and the
Upper Amazon ; in other words, that Guiana has only very
lately ceased to be an island. There is no mountain range
on the water-shed between the Orinoco and the Negro and
Japura, but the three rivers are linked by natural canals.f
Interstratified with the clay deposit are seams of a highly
bituminous lignite ; we traced it from near the mouth of
the Curaray on the Pio !N"apo to Loreto on the Maranon, a
distance of about four hundi-ed miles. It occurs also at Iqui •
tos. This is farther testimony against the glacial theory of
the formation of the Amazonian Yalley. The paucity of
shells in such a vast deposit is not astonishing. It is as re-
markable in the similar accumulation of reddish argilla-
ceous earth, called " Pampean mud," which overspreads the
Pio Plata region.:]: Some of the Pampa shells, like those
at Pebas, are proper to brackish water, and occur only on
the highest banks. The Pampean formation is believed by
Mr. Darwin to be an estuary or delta deposit. We will men-
tion, in this connection, that silicified wood is found at the

* These interesting fossils are figured and described in the J.?/<. Journal of
Conchology.

t "The whole basin between the Orinoco and the Amazon is composed
of granite and gneiss, slightly covered with debris. There is a total absence
of sedimentary rocks. The surface is often bare and destitute of soil, the
undulations being only a few feet above or below a straight line." — Evan Hop-
kins, in Quart. Jour. Geol. Sac, vol. vi.

X See Darmn on the absence of extensive modern conchiferous deposits iu
South America, Geological Observations, pt. iii,, ch. v.

284 The Andes and the Amaz

ON.

head waters of tlie Napo ; the Indians use it instead of
flint (which does not occur there) in striking a light. Dar-
win found silicified trees on the same sloj)e of the Andes
as the Uspallata Pass.

The climatology of the Yallej of the Amazon is as sim-
ple as its physical geography. There is no circle of the
seasons as w^ith us — nature moves in a straight line. The
daily order of the weather is uniform for months. There
is very little difference between the dry and hot seasons ;
the former, lasting from July to December, is varied with
showers, and the latter, from January to June, with sunny
days, while the daily temperature is the same within two or
three degrees throughout the year. On the water-shed be-
tween the Orinoco and Negro it rains throughout the year,
but most water falls between May and November, the cool-
est season in that region. On the Middle ISTegro the wet
season extends from June 1st to December 1st, and is the
most sultry time.

Comparatively few insects, birds, or beasts are to be seen
in summer ; but it is the harvest-time of the inhabitants,
who spend the glorious weather rambling over the plaias
and beaches, Ashing and turtle-hunting. The middle of Sep-
tember is the midsummer of the valley. The rainy season,
or winter, is ushered in by violent thunder-storms from the
west. It is then that the woods are eloquent with buzzing
insects, shrill cicadas, screaming parrots, chattering monkeys,
and roaring jaguars. The greatest activity of animal and
vegetable life is in June and July. The heaviest rains fall
in April, May, and June. Scarcely ever is there a continu-
ous rain for twenty-four hours. Castelnau witnessed at
Pebas a fall of not less than thirty inches in a single storm.
The greatest amount noticed in New York during the whole
month of September was 12.2 inches. The humidity of
the atmosphere, as likewise the luxuriance of veo^etation and

Climate on tpib Aiviazon. 285

•

the abundance and beauty of animal forms, increases from
the Atlantic to the Andes. At the foot of the Andes, Poep-
pig found that the most refined sugar in a few days dissolved
into sirup, and the best gunpowder became liquid even when
inclosed in canisters. So we found the Napo steaming with
vapor. Fogs, however, are rarely seen on the Amazon.

The animals and plants are not all simultaneously affect-
ed by the change of seasons. The trees retain their verd-
ure through the dry verao, and have no set time for re-
newing their foliage. There are a few trees, like Mongru-
ba, which drop their leaves at particular seasons ; but they
are so few in number they create the impression of a few
dead leaves in a thick-gromng forest. Leaves are falling
and flowers drooping all the year round. Each species,
and, in some cases, each individual, has its own particular
autumn and spring. There is no hibernation nor aestiva-
tion (except by land shells); birds have not one uniform
time for nidification ; and moulting extends from Februa-
ry to May.

Amazonia, though equatorially situated, has a temperate
climate. It is cooler than Guinea or Guiana. This is ow-
ing to the constant evaporation from so much submerged
land, and the ceaseless trade winds. The mean annual
temperature of the air is about 81°.* The nights are al-
ways cool. There are no sudden changes, and no fiery
" dog days." Venereal and cutaneous affections are found
among the people ; but they spring from an irregular life.
A traveler on the slow black tributaries may take the ter-
tiana, but only after weeks of exposure. Yellow fever and
cholera seldom ascend the river above Para ; and on the
Middle Amazon there are neither endemics nor epidemics,

* Agassiz calls the average temperature 84°, which, it seems to us, is too
high. The mean between the temperatures of Para, Manaos, and Tabatinga
is 80.7°

286 The Andes- and the Amazon.

though the trades are feebly felt there, and the air is stag
nant and sultry. According to Bates, swampy and weedy
places on the Amazon are generally more healthy than dry
ones. Whatever exceptions be taken to the branches, the
main river is certainly as healthy as the Mississippi : the
rapid current of the water and the continual movement of
the air maintaining its salubrity. The few English resi-
dents (Messrs. Hislop, Jeffreys, and Hauxwell), who have
lived here thirty or forty years, are as fresh and florid as if
they had never left their native country. The native wom-
en preserve their beauty until late in life. Great is the con-
trast between the gloomy winters and dusty summers, the
chilly springs and frosty autumns of the temperate zone,
and the perennial beauty of the equator ! ISTo traveler on
the Amazon would exchange what Wallace calls ''the
magic halt-hour after sunset " for the long gray twilight of
the north. " The man accustomed to this climate (wrote
Herndon) is ever unwilling to give it up for a more brac-
ing one."

The mineral kingdom is represented only by sand, clay, and
loam. The solid rock (except the sandstone already men-
tioned) begins above the falls on the tributaries. The pre-
cious gems and metals are confined to the still higher lands
of Goyaz, Matto Grosso, and the slopes of the Andes. The
soil on the Lower Amazon is sandy ; on the Solimoens and
Maranon it is a stiff loam or vegetable mould, in many
places twenty feet deep.

Both in botany and zoology. South America is a natural
and strongly-marked division, quite as distinct fi'om North
America as from the Old World ; and as there are no trans-
verse barriers, there is a remarkable unity in the character
of the vegetation. No spot on the globe contains so much
vegetable matter as the Yalley of the Amazon. From the
grassy steppes of Venezuela to the treeless Pampas of Buenos

Forest on the Ai^iazoNo 287

Ayres, expands a sea of verdure, in which we may draw a
circle of eleven hundred miles in diameter, which shall in-
clude an ever green, unbroken forest. There is a most bewil-
dering diversity of grand and beautiful trees — a wild, uncon-
quered race of vegetable giants, draped, festooned, corded,
matted, and ribboned with climbing and creeping plants,
woody and succulent, in endless variety. The exuberance of
nature displayed in these milhon square acres of tangled, im-
penetrable forest offers a bar to civihzation nearly as great
as its sterility in the African deserts. A maclieta is a necessa-
ry predecessor : the moment you land (audit is often difficult
to get a footing on the bank), you are confronted by a wall
of vegetation. Lithe lianas, starred with flowers, coil up the
stately trees, and then hang down like strung jewels ; they
can be counted only by myriads, yet they are mere super-
fluities. The dense dome of green overhead is supported
by crowded columns, often branchless for eighty feet. The
reckless competition among both small and great adds to
the solemnity and gloom of a tropical forest. Individual
struggles with individual, and species with species, to mo-
nopolize the air, light, and soil. In the effort to spread
their roots, some of the weaker sort, unable to find a foot-
ing, chmb a powerful neighbor, and let their roots dangle
in the air ; w^hile many a full-grown tree has been lifted
up, as it were, in the strife, and now stands on the ends of
its stilt-like roots, so that a man may walk upright be-
tween the roots and under the trmik.*

The mass of the forest on the banks of the great river
is composed of palms (about thirty speciesf ), leguminous or

* Buttress roots are not peculiar to any one species, but common to most
of the large trees in the crowded forest, where the lateral growth of the roots
is made difficult by the multitude of rivals. The Paxiuba, or big-bellied
palm, is a fine example.

t Von Martins, in his great work on the Brazilian Palms, enumerates in all
582 species.

288 The Andes and the Amazon.

pod-bearing trees, colossal nnt trees, broad-leaved Musacese
or bananas, and giant grasses. The most prominent palms
are the architectural Pupunha, or " peach-pahn," with spiny
stems, drooping, deep green leaves, and bunches of mealy,
nutritious fruit ; the slender Assai, with a graceful head of
dehcate green plumes ; the Ubussii, with mammoth, undi-
vided fronds ; the stiff, serrated4eaved Bussii, and gigantic
Miritl One of the noblest trees of the forest is the Mas-
sarandiiba, or "cow-tree" {Brosimiom gcdactodendron),
often rising one hundred and fifty feet. It is a hard, fine-
grained, durable timber, and has a red bark, and leathery, fig-
like foliage. The milk has the consistency of cream, and may
be used for tea, coffee, or custards. It hardens by exposure,
so as to resemble gutta-percha. Another interesting tree,
and one which yields the chief article of export, is the Cau-
cho, or India-rubber tree* {8i])honia Brasiliensis)^ growing
in the lowlands of the Amazon for eighteen hundred miles
above Para. It has an erect, tall trunk, from forty to eighty
feet high, a smooth, gray bark, and thick, glossy leaves. The
milk resembles thick, yellow cream, and is colored by a
dense smoke obtained by burning palm-nuts. It is gather-
ed between August and December. A man can collect six
pounds a day, though this is rarely done. It is frequently
adulterated with sand. The tree belongs to the same apet-
alous family as our castor-oil and the mandioca; while
the tree which furnishes the caoutchouc of the East Indies
and Afi'ica is a species of Ficus, and yields an inferior ar-
ticle to the rubber of America. Other characteristic trees
are the Mongruba, one of the few which shed their foliage

* The Portuguese and Brazilians call it seringa, or syringe, in which form it
is still used extensively, injections forming a great feature in the poi^ular sys-
tem of cures. The tree mentioned above yields most of the rubber of com-
merce, and is considered distinct from the species in Guiana, S. elastica ;
while the rubber from the Upper Amazon and Rio Kegro comes from the S.
hitea and S. hrevifolia. Agassiz puts milk-weed in the same family !

Amazon Trees. 289

before the new leaf -buds expand ; the giant Samaiima, or
silk-cotton tree (called huwiba in Peru) ; the Calabash, or
cuieiraj whose gourd-like fruit furnishes the cups used
throughout the Amazon ; the Itauba, or stone-wood, furnish-
ing ship-timber as durable as teak ; the red and white Ce-
dar, used for canoes (not coniferous like the northern ever-
green, but allied to the mahogany) ; the Jacaranda, or rose-
wood, resembling our locust; Palo de sangre, one of the
most valuable woods on the river; Huacapii, a very common
timber ; Capirona, used as fuel on the steamers ; and Tauari,
a heavy, close-grained wood, the bark of which splits into
thin leaves, much used in making cigarettes. The Piassa-
ba, a palm yielding a fibre extensively manufactm-ed into
cables and ropes, and exported to foreign countries for
brushes and brooms, being singularly elastic, strong, and
more durable than hemp ; and the Moira-pinima, or " tor-
toise-shell wood," the most beautiful wood in all Amazonia,
if not in the world, grow on the Upper Rio Negro. A
small willow represents the great catkin family.

The valley is as remarkable for the abundance, variety,
and value of its timber as for any thing else. Within an
area of half a mile square, Agassiz counted one hundred and
seventeen different kinds of woods, many of them eminently
fitted, by their hardness, tints, and beautiful grain, for the fin-
est cabinet-work. Enough palo de sangre or moira-pinima is
doubtless wasted annually to veneer all the palaces of Europe.

While most of our fi'uits belong to the rose family, those
of the Amazon come from the myrtle tribe. The deli-
cious flavor, for which our fruits are indebted to centuries
of cultivation, is wanting in many of the torrid produc-
tions. We j)refer the sweetness of Pomona in temperate
climes to her savage beauty in the sunny south. It is a
curious fact, noticed by Herndon, that nearly all the valua-
ble fruits of the valley are inclosed in hard shells or acid

T

290 The Andes and the Amazon.

pulps. They also reach a larger size in advancing west-
ward. The common Brazil nut is the product of one of
the tallest trees in the forest {Bertholletia excelsa). The
fruit is a hard, round shell, resembling a common ball,
which contains from twenty to twenty-four nuts. Eight-
een months are required for the bud to reach maturity.
This tree, says Humboldt, offers the most remarkable ex-
ample of high organic development. Akin to it is the
Sapucaya or " chickens' nuts" {Lecythis swpucaya)^ whose
capsule has a natural lid, and is called " monkey's drink-
ing-cup." The nuts, about a dozen in number, are of ir-
regular shape and much richer than the preceding. But
they do not find their way to market, because they drop
out of the capsule as soon as ripe, and are devoured by
peccaries and monkeys. The most luscious fruit on the
Amazon is the atta of Santarem. It has the color, taste,
and size of the chirimoya ; but the rind, which incloses a
rich, custardly pulp, frosted with sugar, is scaled. E"ext in
rank are the melting pine-apples of Para, and the golden
papayas, fully equal to those on the western coast. This
is the original home of the cacao. It grows abundantly in
the forests of the upper river, and particularly on the banks
of the Madeira. The wild nut is smaller but more oily
than the cultivated. The Amazon is destined to supply the
world with the bulk of chocolate. The aromatic tonka beans
(Cumarii) used in flavoring snuff, and the Brazilian nutmegs
(Puxiri), inferior to the Ceylon, grow on lofty trees on the
Xeo^ro and Lower Amazon. The Guarana beans are the
seeds of a trailing plant ; from these the Mauhes j)repare the
great medicine, on the Amazon, for diarrhoea and. intermit-
tent fevers. Its active principle, caffeine, is more abundant
than in any other substance, amounting to 5.07 per cent. ;
while black tea contains only 2.13. Coffee, rice, tobacco, and
sugar-cane are grown to a limited extent. Rio Negro coffee,

Farina ais^d Coca. 291

if put into the market, would probably eclipse that of Ceara,
the best Brazilian. Wild rice grows abundantly on the
banks of the rivers and lakes. The cultivated grain is
said to yield forty fold. Most of the tobacco comes down
from the Maranon and Madeira. It is put up in slender
rolls from three to six feet long, tapering at each end, and
wound with palm fibre. The sugar-cane is an exotic from
Southeastern Asia, but grows well. The first sugar made
in the Xew World was by the Dutch in the island of St.
Thomas, 1610. Farina is the principal farinaceous pro-
duction of Brazil. The mandioca or cassava {Manihot
utilissiina) from which it is made is supposed to be indig-
enous, though it is not found wild. It does not grow at
a higher altitude than 2000 feet. Life and death are
blended in the plant, yet every part is useful. The cattle
eat the leaves and stalks, while the roots are ground into
pulp, which, when pressed and baked, forms farina, the
bread of all classes. The juice is a deadly poison : thirty-
five drops were suflicient to kill, in six minutes, a negro con-
victed of murder; but it deposits a fine sediment of pure
starch that is the well-known tapioca; and the juice, when
fermented and boiled, forms a drink. On the upper wa-
ters grow the celebrated coca, a shrub with small, light-
green leaves, having a bitter, aromatic taste. The pow-
dered leaves, mixed with lime, form yjMclu. This is to
Peruvians what opium is to the Turk, betel to the Malay,
and tobacco to the Yankee. Thirty million pounds are
annually consumed in South America. It is not, however,
an opiate, but a powerful stimulant. With it the Indian
will perform prodigies of labor, traveling days without
fatigue or food. Yon Tschudi considers its moderate con-
sumption wholesome, and instances the fact that one coca-
chewer attained the good old age of one hundi-ed and thirty
years ; but when used to excess it leads to idiocy. The

292 The Andes aisd the A^iazox.

signs of intemperance are an uncertain step, sallow com-
plexion, black-rimmedj deeply-sunken eyes, trembling lips,
incoherent speech, and stolid apathy. Coca played an im-
portant part in the religious rights of the Incas, and divine
honors were paid to it. Even to-day the miners of Pern
throw a quid of coca against the hard veins of ore, affirm-
ing that it renders them more easily worked ; and the In-
dians sometimes put coca in the mouth of the dead to insure
them a welcome in the other world. The alkaloid cocaine
was discovered by Wohler.

Flowers are nearly confined to the edges of the dense
forest, the banks of the rivers and lagunes. There are a
greater number of species under the equator, but we have
brighter colors in the temperate zone. " There is grand-
eur and sublimity in the tropical forest (wrote Wallace, aft-
er four years of observation), but little of beauty or bril-
liancy of color." Perhaps the finest example of infiorescence
in the world is seen in the Victoria Hegia, the magnifi-
cent water-lily discovered by Schdmberg in 1837. It
inhabits the tranquil waters of the shallow lakes which
border the Amazon. The leaves are from fifteen to ei^ht-
een feet in circumference, and will bear up a child twelve
years old ; the upper part is dark, glossy green, the under
side violet or crimson. The flowers are a foot in diameter,
at first pure white, passing, in twenty-four hours, through
successive hues from rose to bright red. This queen of
water-plants was dedicated to the Queen whose empire is
never at once shrouded in night.

Coca-plant

Zoology of the Amazon. 295

CHAPTER XX.

Life within the Great River. — Fishes. — Alligators. — Turtles. — Porpoises
and Manatis.

The Amazon is a crowded aquarium, holding represent-
atives of every zoological class — infusoria, hydras, fresh-
water shells (chiefly Ampullaria, Melania, and Unios),
aquatic beetles (belonging mostly to new genera), fishes,
reptiles, Tvater birds, and cetaceans. The abundance and
variety of fishes are extraordinary ; so also are the spe-
cies. This great river is a peculiar ichthyic province, and
each part has its characteristics. According to Agassiz,
the whole river, as well as its tributaries, is broken up
into numerous distinct fauna.* The jpirariocu, or " red-
fish" (the Sudis gigas of science), is at once the largest,
most common, and most useful fish. The Peruvian In-
dians call it jpayshi. It is a powerful fish, often measur-
ing eight feet in length and five in girth, clad in an orna-
mental coat-of-mail, its large scales being margined with
bright red. It ranges from Peru to Para. It is usually
taken by the arrow or spear. Salted and di'ied, the meat
will keep for a year, and forms, with farina, the staple food
on the Amazon. The hard, rough tongue is used as a grat-
er. Other fishes most frequently seen are the prettily-
spotted catfish, Pescada, Piranha, Acara, which carries its
young in its mouth, and a long, slender needle-fish. There
are ganoids in the river, but no sturgeons proper. Pick-
erel, perch, and trout are also wanting. The sting-ray rep-

* We await the Professor's examination of his "more than 80,000 speci-
mens" before we give the number of new species.

296 The Andes akd the Amazon.

resents the shark family. As a whole, the fishes of the
Amazon have a marine character peculiarly their own.

The reptilian inhabitants of this inland sea are intro-
duced by numerous batrachians, water-snakes {Heliojps),
and anacondas. But alligators bear the palm for ugliness,
size, and strength. In summer the main river swarms
with them; in the wet season they retrekt to the interior
lakes and flooded forests. It was for this reason that we
did not see an alligator on the I^apo. At low water they
are found above the entrance of the Cm-aray. About Obi-
dos," where many of the pools dry up in the fine months,
the alligator buries itself in the mud, and sleeps till the
rainy season returns. " It is scarcely exaggerating to say
(wi'ites Bates) that the waters of the Solimoens are as well
stocked with large alligators in the dry season as a ditch in
England is in summer with tadpoles." There are three or
four species in the Amazon. The largest, the Jacare-uassii
of the natives, attains a length of twenty feet. The Ja-
care-tinga is a smaller kind (only five feet long when full
grown), and has the long, slender muzzle of the extinct
teleosaurus. The South American alligators are smaller
than the crocodiles of the Nile or Ganges, and they .are
also inferior in rank. The head of the Jacare-uassu (the
ordinary species) is broad, while the gavial of India has a
long, narrow muzzle, and that of the Egyptian lizard is ob-
long. The dentition differs : while in the Old World sau-
rian the teeth interlock, so that the two jaws are brought
close together, the teeth in the upper jaw of the Amazo-
nian cayman pass by the lower series outside of them.
The latter has therefore much less j)ower. It has a ven-
tral cuirass as well as dorsal, and it is web-footed, while
the crocodile has the toes free — another mark of inferior-
ity. Sluggish on land, the alligator is very agile in its el-
ement. It never attacks man when on his guard, but it is

Amazon Turtles. 297

cunning enough to know when it may do this with safety.
It lays its eggs (about twenty) some distance from the riv-
er bank, covering them with leaves and sticks. They are
larger than those of Guayaquil, or about four inches long,
of an elliptical shape, with a rough, calcareous shell. Ke-
gro venders sell them cooked in the streets of Para.

Turtles are, perhaps, the most important product of the
Amazon, not excei^ting the pirarucii. The largest and most
abundant species is the Tortaruga grande. It measures,
when full grown, nearly three feet in length and two in
breadth, and has an oval, smooth, dark-colored shell. Ev-
ery house has a Httle pond (called currcil) in the back yard
to hold a stock of turtles through the wet season. It fur-
nishes the best meat on the Upper Amazon. We found it
very tender, palatable, and wholesome ; but Bates, w^ho was
obliged to live on it for years, says it is very cloying. Ev-
ery part of the creature is turned to account. The entrails
are made into soup ; sausages are made of the stomach ;
steaks are cut fi'om the breast ; and the rest is roasted in
the shelL* The turtle lays its eggs (generally between
midnight and dawn) on the central and highest part of the
plaias, or about a hundred feet fi'om the shore. The In-
dians say it will lay only where itself was hatched out.
With its hind flippers it digs a hole two or three feet deep,
and deposits from eighty to one hundred and sixty eggs
(Gibbon says from one hundred and fifty to two hundred).
These are covered with sand, and the next comer makes
another deposit on the top, and so on until the pit is full.
Egg -laying comes earlier on the Amazon than on the
]!^apo, taking place in August and September. The traca-
ja, a smaller species, lays in July and August ; its eggs are
smaller and oval, but richer than those of the great turtles.

* The natives have this notion about the land-tortoise, that by throwing it
three times over the head, the liver (the best part) will be enlai-ged.

298 The Andes and the Amazon.

The mammoth tortoise of the Galapagos lays an egg very
smiilar in size and shape to that of the Tortariiga, but a
month later, or in October. The hunting of turtle eggs is
a great business on the Amazon. They are used chiefly in
manufacturing oil (manteca) for illumination. Thrown
into a canoe, they are broken and beaten up by human
feet ; water is then poured in, and the floating oil is skim-
med off, purified over the fii'e in copper kettles, and finally
put up in three-gallon earthen jars for the market. The
turtles are caught for the table as they return to the river
after laying their eggs. To secure them, it suflSces to turn
them over on their backs. The turtles certainly have a
hard time of it. The alligators and large fishes swallow
the young ones by hundreds ; jaguars pounce upon the full-
grown specimens as they crawl over the plaias, and vul-
tures and ibises attend the feast. But man is their most
formidable foe. The destruction of turtle life is incredi-
ble. It is calculated that fifty millions of eggs are an-
nually destroyed. Thousands of those that escape capture
in the egg period are collected as soon as hatched and de-
voured, " the remains of yolk in their entrails being con-
sidered a great delicacy." An unknown number of full-
grown turtles are eaten by the natives on the banks of the
Maranon and Solimoens and their tributaries, while every
steamer, schooner, and little craft that descends the Ama-
zon is laden with turtles for the tables of Manaos, Santa-
rem, and Para. Wlien we consider, also, that all the ma-
ture turtles taken are females, we wonder that the race is
not well-nigh extinct. They are, in fact, rapidly decreas-
ing in numbers. A large turtle wliich twenty years ago
could be bought for fifty cents, now commands three dol-
lars. One would suppose that the males, being unmolest-
ed, would far outnumber the other sex, but Bates says
"they are immensely less numerous than the females."

Porpoises. 299

The male turtles, or Cajyitaris^ " are distinguishable by
their much smaller size, more circular shape, and the
greater length and thickness of their tails." Near the
Tapajos we met a third species, called Matd-matd. It has
a deeply-keeled carapax, beautifully bossed, and a hideous
triangular head, having curious, lobed, fleshy appendages,
and nostrils prolonged into a tube. It is supposed to have
great virtues as a remedy for rheumatism. But the most
noticeable feature of the Amazonian fauna, as Agassiz has
remarked, is the abundance of cetaceans through its whole
extent. From the brackish estuary of Para to the clear,
cool waters at the base of the Andes, these clumsy refu-
gees from the ocean may be seen gamboling and blowing
as in their native element. Four different kinds of por-
poises have been seen. A black sjpecies lives in the Bay
of Marajo. In the Middle Amazon are two distinct por-
poises, one flesh-colored ;* and in the upper tributaries is
the Inia Boliviensis^ resembling, but specifically different
from the sea-dolphin and the soosoo of the Ganges. " It
was several years (says the Naturalist on the Amazon) be-
fore I could induce a fisherman to harpoon dolphins {Bou-
tos) for me as specimens, for no one ever kills these ani-
mals voluntarily; the superstitious people believe that
blindness would result from the use of the oil in lamps."
The herbivorous manati (already mentioned. Chap. XY.) is
found throughout the great river. It differs slightly from
the Atlantic species. It rarely measures over twelve feet
in length. It is taken by the harpoon or nets of chambiri
twine. Both Herndon and Gibbon mention seals as oc-
curring in the Peruvian tributaries ; but we saw none, nei-
ther did Bates, Agassiz, or Edwards. They probably meant
the manati.

* DelpMnus paUidus. Bates observed this species at Villa Nova; we saw
it at Coaiy, 500 miles west ; and Herndon found it in the Huallaga.

300 The Andes and the Amazon.

CHAPTER XXI.

Life around the Great River. — Insects. — Reptiles. — Birds. — Mammals.

The forest of the Amazon is less full of life than the
river. Beasts, birds, and reptiles are exceedingly scarce ;
still there is, in fact, a great variety, but they are widely
scattered and very shy. In the animal, as in the vegetable
kingdom, diversity is the law ; there is a great paucity of
individuals compared with the species.* Insects are rare
in the dense forest ; they are almost confined to the more
open country along the banks of the rivers. Ants are per-
haps the most numerous. There is one species over an
inch long. But the most prominent, by their immense
numbers, are the dreaded saiibas. Well -beaten paths
branch off in every direction through the forest, on which
broad columns may be seen marching to and fi'o, each
bearing vertically a circular piece of leaf. Unfortunately
they prefer cultivated trees, especially the coffee and
orange. They are also given to plundering provisions ; in
a single night they will carry off bushels of farina. They
are of a light red color, with powerful jaws. In every
formicarium or ant colony there are three sets of individ-
uals— males, females, and workers ; but the saiibas have
the singularity of possessing three classes of workers. The
light-colored mounds often met in the forest, sometimes

* Amazonia is divided into four distinct zoological districts : those of
Ecuador, Peru, Guiana, and Brazil ; the limits being the Amazon, Madei-
ra, and Negro. The species fovmd on one side of these rivers are seldom
found on the other.

Amazon Ants. 301

measuring forty feet in diameter by two feet in height, are
the domes which overhe the entrances to the vast subterra-
nean galleries of the saliba ants. These ants are eaten by
the Rio ISTegro Indians, and esteemed a luxury ; while the
Tapajos tribes use them to season their mandioca sauce.
Akin to the vegetable-feeding saiibas are the carnivorous
ecitons, or foraging ants, of which Bates found ten distinct
species. They hunt for prey in large organized armies,
almost every species having its own special manner of
mai'ching and hunting. Fortunately the ecitons choose
the thickest part of the forest. The fire-ant is the great
plague on the Tapajos. It is small, and of a shiny red-
dish color; but its sting is very painful, and it disputes
every fragment of food with the inhabitants. All eatables
and hammocks have to be hung by cords smeared with
copaiba balsam.

The traveler on the Amazon frequently meets with con-
ical hillocks of compact earth, from three to ^yg feet high,
from which radiate narrow covered galleries or arcades.
The architects of these wonderful structures are the ter-
mites, or " white ants," so called, though they belong to a
higher order of insects, widely differing from the true ants.
The only thing in common is the principle of division of
labor. The termite neuters are subdivided into two classes,
soldiers and workers, both wingless and blind. Their great
enemy is the ant-eater ; but it is a singular fact, noticed by
Bates, that the soldiers only attach themselves to the long
worm-like tongue of this animal, so that the workers, on
whom the prosperity of the termitarum depends, are saved
by the self-sacrifice of the fighting caste. The ofiice of the
termites in the tropics seems to be to hasten the decompo-
sition of decaying vegetation. But they also work their
way into houses, trunks, wardrobes, and libraries. " It is
principally owing to their destructiveness " (wrote Hum-

302 The Andes and the A:viazon.

boldt) " that it is so rare to find papers in tropical America
older than fifty or sixty years."

Dragon-flies are conspicuous specimens of insect life on
the Amazon. The largest and most brilliant kinds are
found by the shady brooks and creeks in the recesses of the
forest, some of them with green or crimson bodies seven
inches long, and their elegant lace-like wings tipped with
white or yellow. Still more noticeable are the butterflies.
There is a vast number of genera and species, and great
beauty of dress, unequaled in the temperate zone. Some
idea of the diversity is conveyed by the fact mentioned
by Mr. Bates that about 700 species are found within an
hour's walk of Para, and 550 at Ega; while the total num-
ber found in the British Islands does not exceed 6Q, and
the whole of Europe supports only 390. After a shower
in the diy season the butterflies appear in fluttering clouds
(for they live in societies), white, yellow, red, green, pur-
ple, black, and blue, many of them bordered ^vith metallic
lines and spots of a silvery or golden lustre. The sulphur-
yellow and orange-colored kinds predominate. A colossal
morpho, seven and a half inches in expanse, and visible a
quarter of a mile off, frequents the shady glades ; splendid
swallow-tailed papilios, green, rose, or velvety-black, are
seen only in the thickets ; while the Hetaira esmeralda,
with transparent wings, having one spot of a violet hue, as
it flies over the dead leaves in the dense forest looks " Hke
a wandering petal of a flower." Very abundant is the He-
liconius, which plays such an important figure, by its varia-
tions, in Wallace's theory of the origin of species. On the
Maraiion we found Callidryas eubide, a yellow butterfly
common in Florida. The most brilliant butterflies are
found on the Middle Amazon, out of reach of the strong
trade winds. The males far outnumber the other sex, are
more richly colored, and generally lead a sunshiny life.

Bees a^d Musquitoes. 303

The females are of dull hues, and spend their lives in the
gloomy shadows of the forest. Caterpillars and nocturnal
moths are rare:

There are no true hive-bees (Ajndes) in South America,*
but instead there are about one hundred and fifty species
of bees (mostly social Molijyonas), smaller than the Euro-
pean, stingless, and constructing oblong cells. Their colo-
nies are much larger than those of the honey-bee. The
Trigona occurs on the I^apo. Unlike the Melipona^ it
is not confined to the New World. A large sooty-black
Bombus represents our humble-bee. Shrill cicadas, blood-
thii-sty mantucas, piums, punkies, and musquitoes are al-
ways associated in the traveler's memory with the glorious
river. Of the last there are several kinds. " The forest
musquito belongs to a different species from that of the
town, being much larger and having transparent wings.
It is a little cloud that one carries about his person every
step on a woodland ramble, and their hum is so loud that
it prevents one hearing well the notes of birds. The town
musquito has opaque, speckled wings, a less severe sting,
and a silent way of going to work. The inhabitants ought
to be thankful the big noisy fellows never come out of the
forest" (Bates, ii., 386). There are few musquitoes be-
low Ega ; above that point a musquito net is indispensable.
Beetles abound, particularly in shady places, and are of all
sizes, from that of a pin's head to several inches in length.
The most noticeable are the gigantic Megalosoma and Ene-
ma^ armed with horns. Yery few are carnivorous. " This
is the more remarkable," observes Darwin, "when com-
pared to the case of carnivorous quadrupeds, which are so
abundant in hot countries." Yery few are terrestrial, even
the carnivorous species being found clinging to branches
and leaves. In going fi-om the pole to the equator we find

* The honey-bee of Europe was introduced into South America in 1845.

304 The Andes and the Amazon.

that insect life increases in the same proportion as vegeta-
ble life. There is not a single beetle on Melville Island ;
eleven species are found in Greenland ; in England, 2500 ;
in Brazil, 8000. Here lives the king of spiders, the My-
gale Blondii, a monstrous hairy fellow, five inches long,
of a brown color, with yellowish lines along its stout legs.
Its abode is a slanting subterranean gallery about two feet
in length, the sides of which are beautifully lined with
silk. Other spiders barricade the walks in the forest with
invisible threads ; some build nests in the trees and attack
birds ; others again spin a closely- woven web, resembling
fine muslin, under the thatched roofs of the houses.

Of land vertebrates, lizards are the first to attract the
attention of the traveler on the equator. Great in num-
ber and variety, they are met every where — crawling up
the walls of buildings, scampering over the hot, dusty
roads, gliding through the forest. They stand up on their
legs, carry their tails cocked up in the air, and run with
the acti^dty of a warm-blooded animal. It is almost im-
possible to catch them. Some of them are far from being
the unpleasant-looking animals many people imagine ; but
in their coats of many colors, green, gray, brown, and yel-
low, they may be pronounced beautiful. Others, however,
have a repulsive aspect, and are a yard in length. The
iguana, peculiar to the l^ew World tropics, is covered with
minute green scales banded with brown (though it chan-
ges, its color like the chameleon), and has a serrated back
and gular pouch. It grows to the length of five feet, and
is arboreal. Its white flesh, and its oblong, oily eggs, are
considered great delicacies. We- heard of a lady who
kept one as a pet. Frogs and toads, the chief musicians
in the Amazonian forest, are of all sizes, from an inch to
a foot in diameter. The Biofo gigas is of a dull gray
color, and is covered with warts. Tree-frogs {Hyla) are

Reptiles.

305

iLTuaua.

very abundant ; they do not occur on the Andes or on the
Pacific coast. Their qnack-quack, drum-drum, hoo-hoo, is
one of om* pleasant memories of South America. Of
snakes there is no lack ; and yet they are not so numerous
as imao;ination would make them. There are one hundred
and fifty species in South America, or one half as many,
on the same area, as in the East Indies. The diabolical
family is led by the boa, while the rear is brought up by
the Amphisbsenas, or " double-headed snakes," which pro-
gress equally well with either end forward, so that it is dif-
ficult to make head or tail of them. The majority are
harmless. The deadly coral is found on both sides of the
Andes, and wherever there is a cacao plantation. One of
the most beautiful specimens of the venomous kind is a
new species {Elwps imperator, Cope), which we discovered
on the Maranon. It has a slender body more than two
feet in length, with black and red bands margined \vith
yellow, and a black and yellow head, with permanently
erect fangs.

"We have already mentioned the most common birds.
Probably, says Wallace, no country in the world contains
a greater variety of birds than the Amazonian Yalley.

U

306 The Akdes axd the Amazon.

But the number does not equal the expectations of the
traveler; he may ramble a whole day without meeting-
one. The rarity, however, is more apparent than real ;
we forget, for the moment, the vastness of their dwelling-
place. The birds of the country, moreover, are gregari-
ous, so that a locality may be deserted and silent at one
time and swarming with them at another. Parrots and
toucans are the- most characteristic groups. To the for-
mer belong true parrots, parroquets, and macaws. The
fii'st are rarely seen walking, but are rapid flyers and ex-
pert climbers. On the trees they are social as monkeys,
but in flight they always go in pairs. The parroquets go
in flocks. The Hyacinthine macaw (the Araruna of the
natives) is one of the flnest and rarest species of the par-
rot family. It is found only on the south side of the Am-
azon. The macaw was considered sacred by the Maya In-
dians of Yucatan, and dedicated to the sun. The Quichu-
ans call it guacamayo, guaca meaning sacred. Of toucans
there are many species ; the largest is the toco, with a beak
shaped like a banana; the most beautiful are the curb-
crested, or Beauharnais toucans, and the P. flavirostris,
whose breast is adorned with broad belts of red, crimson,
and black. " Wherefore such a beak ?" eveiy natm-alist
has asked ; but the toucan still wags his head, as much as
to say, " you can not tell." There must be some other
reason than adaptation. Birds of the same habits are
found beside it — the ibis, pigeon, sj)oonbill, and toucan are
seen feeding together. " How astonishing are the fi-eaks
and fancies of N^ature ! (wi'ote the funny Sidney Smith).
To what pui-pose, we say, is a bird placed in the woods of
Cayenne with a bill a yard long, making a noise like a
puppy-dog, and laying eggs in hollow trees ? The toucan,
to be sure, might retort, to what purpose are certain fool-
ish, prating members of Parliament created, pestering the

Umbkella-bied.

307

House of Commons with their ignorance and folly, and
impeding the business of the country ? There is no end
to such questions ; so we will not enter into the metaphys-
ics of the toucan."

Toucans.

On t]ie flooded islands of the Xegro and Upper Ama-
zon is found the rare and curious umbrella bird, black as
a crow, and decorated with a crest of hairy plumes and a
long lobe suspended fi-om the neck, covered ^ith glossy
l)lue feathers. This latter appendage is connected with
the vocal organs, and assists the bird in producing its
deep, loud, and lengthy fluty note. There are three spe-
cies. Another rare bird is the Uruponga, or Campane-
ro, in English the tolling-bell bird, found only on the bor-
ders of Guiana. It is of the size of our jay, of a pure

308 The Andes and the A:mazon.

white color, with a black tubercle on the upper side of the
bill. "Orpheus himself (says AYaterton) would drop his
lute to listen to him, so sweet, so novel, and romantic is
the toll of the pretty, snow-white Campanero." "The
Campanero may be heard three miles! (echoes Sidney
Smith). This single little bird being more powerful than
the belfry of a cathedral ringing for a new dean ! It is
impossible to contradict a gentleman who has been in the
forests of Cayenne, but we are determined, as soon as a
Campanero is brought to England, to make him toll in a
public place, and have the distance measured."* But the
most remarkable songster of the Amazonian forest is the
Realejo, or organ-bird. Its notes are as musical as the
flageolet. It is the only songster, says Bates, which makes
any imj)ression on the natives. Besides these are the Jac-
amars, peculiar to equatorial America, stupid, but of the
most beautiful golden, bronze, and steel colors ; sulky Tro-
gons, with glossy green backs and rose - colored breasts ;
long-toed Jaganas, half wader, half fowl ; the rich, velvety
purple and black Mhamjphocoelus Jacaj^a^ having an im-
mense range from Archidona to Para; the gallinaceous
yet arboreal Ciganas; scarlet ibises, smaller, but more
beautiful than their sacred cousins of the Xile; stilted
flamingoes, whose awkwardness is atoned for by their bril-
liant red plumage ; glossy black Mutums, or cm-assow tur-
keys ; ghostly storks, white egrets, ash-colored herons, black
ducks, barbets, kingfishers, sandpipers, gulls, plovers, wood-
peckers, oreoles; tanagers, essentially a South American,
family, and, excepting three or four species, found only
east of the Andes ; wagtails, finches, thrushes, doves, and
hummers. The last, " by western Indians living swnbeanfis
named," are few, and not to be compared with the swarms
in the Andean valleys. The birds of the Amazon have no

* Eeview of Waterton's Wanderinf/s in South America.

Animals of the Great Forest.

309

Brazilian Hummers.

uniform time for breeding. The majority, however, build
their nests between September and ]S"ew Year's, and rare-
ly lay more than two eggs.

Amazonia, like Australia, is poor in teiTestrial mam-
mals, and the species are of small size. Nearly the only
game a hunter can depend upon for food, besides toucans
and macaws, is peccari. One species of tapir, to represent
the elephants and rhinoceroses of the Old World ; three
small species of deer, taking the places of deer, antelopes,
buffaloes, sheep, and goats of the other continent ; three
species of large Felidse ; one peccari, and a wild dog, with
opossums, ant-eaters, armadilloes, sloths, squirrels (the only
rodents which approach ours),* capybaras, pacas, agoutis,
and monkeys, comprise all the quadrupeds of equatorial
America. The last two are the most numerous. Marsu-
pial rats take the place of the insectivorous mammals. Of
ant-eaters, there are at least four distinct species ; but they
are scattered sparingly, and are seldom found on the low

* Large rats abound on the ^laranon, but they are not American.

310 The Andes and the Amazon.

flooded lands. Four or five species of armadillo inhabit
the valley. These little nocturnal biuTowing edentates
are the puny representatives of the gigantic Glj-ptodon of
Pleistocene times, and the sloths are the dwindling shad-
ows of the lordly Megatherium. There are two species of
three-toed sloths — one inhabiting the swampy lowlands,
the other confined to the terra-firma land. They lead a
lonely life, never in groups, harmless and frugal as a her-
mit. They have four stomachs, but not the long intestines
of ruminating animals. They feed chiefly on the leaves
of the trumpet-tree {Cecrojpia), resembling om- horse-chest-
nut. The natives, both Indian and Brazilian, hold the
common opinion that the sloth is the type of laziness. The
capybara or ronsoco, the largest of living rodents, is quite

common on the river
side. It is gregarious
and amphibious, and
resembles a mammoth
guinea-pig. Pacas and
agoutis are most abun-
capybara. dant in the lowlands,

and are nocturnal. These semi-hoofed rodents, like the
Toxodon of old, approach the Pachyderms. The tapir, or
gran-bestia, as it is called, is a characteristic quadruped of
South America. It is a clumsy-looking animal, with a
tough hide of an iron-gray color, covered with a coat of
short coarse hair. Its flesh is dry, but very palatable. It
has a less powerful proboscis than the Malay species. M.
Roulin distinguishes another species from the mountains,
which more nearly resembles the Asiatic. The taj)ir, hke
the condor, for an unknown reason, is not found north of
8° N., though it wanders as far south as 40°. We met but
one species of peccari, the white-lipped {D. laMatus). It
is much larger than the " Mexican hog," and, too thick-

The Jaguar. 311

headed to understand danger, is a formidable antagonist.
The raposa is seen only on the Middle Amazon, and very
rarely there. It has a long tapering muzzle, small ears,
bushy tail, and grayish hair. It takes to the water, for the
one we saw at Tabatinga was caught while crossing the
Amazon. Fawn-colored pumas, spotted jaguars, black ti-
gers, tiger-cats — all members of the graceful feline fami-
ly— inhabit all parts of the valley, but are seldom seen. The
puma, or panther, is more common on the Pacific side of
the Andes. The jaguar* is the fiercest and most powerful
animal in South America. It is marked like the leopard —
roses of black spots on a yellowish ground ; but they are

Jaguar.

angular instead of rounded, and have a central dot. There
are also several black streaks across the breast, which easily
distinguish it from its transatlantic representative. It is
also longer than the leopard ; indeed, Humboldt says he saw
a jaguar " whose length surpassed that of any of the tigers

* The Tupi word for dog is yaguara, and for wolf, yngua-men, or old dog.

312 The Andes and the Amazon.

of India which he had seen in the collections of Europe."
The jaguar frequents the borders of the rivers and lagunes,
and its common prey is the capybara. It fears the pec-
cari. The night air is alive with bats of many species, the
most prominent one being the Dysojpes ^erotis, which
measures two feet from tip to tip of the wings. If these
Cheiropters are as impish as they look, and as bloodthirsty
as some travelers report, it is singular that Bates and Wa-
terton, though residing for years in the country, and our-
selves, though sleeping for months unprotected, were un-
molested.

About forty species of monkeys, or one half of the New
World forms, inhabit the Valley of the Amazon. Wallace,
in a residence of four years, saw twenty-one species — seven
with prehensile and fourteen with non-prehensile tails.
They all differ from the apes of the other hemisphere.
While those of Africa and Asia (Europe has only one)
have opposable thumbs on the fore feet as well as hind,
uniformly ten molar teeth in each jaw, as in man, and
generally cheek-pouches and naked collosities, the Ameri-
can monkeys are destitute of the two latter characteristics.
None of them are terrestrial, like the baboon ; all (save
the marmosets) have twenty-four molars ; the thumbs of
the fore-hands are not habitually opposed to the fingers
(one genus, Ateles, "the imperfect," is thumbless alto-
gether) ; the nostrils open on the sides of the nose instead
of beneath it, as in the gorilla, and the majority have long
prehensile tails. They are inferior in rank to the anthro-
poids of the Old World, though superior to the lemurs of
Madagascar. They are usually grouped in two families —
Marmosets and Cebidse. The former are restless, timid,
squirrel-like lilliputs (one species is only seven inches long),
with tails not prehensile — in the case of the scarlet-faced,
nearly wanting. The Barigudos, or gluttons {Lagothrix),

Monkeys. 313

are the largest of American monkeys, but are not so tall
as the Coaitas. They are found west of Manaos. They
have more human features than the other monkeys, and,
with their woolly gray fur, resemble an old negro. There
are three kinds of howlers {Mycetes) — the red or mono-
colorado of Humboldt, the black, and the M. heehebiib,
found only near Para. The forest is full of these surly,
untamable guaribas, as the natives call them. They are
gifted with a voice of tremendous power and volume, with
which they make night and day hideous. They represent
the baboons of the Old World in disposition and facial
angle (30°), and the gibbons in their yells and gregarious
habits.* The Sapajous {Cebus) are distributed throughout
Brazil, and have the reputation of being the most mis-
chievous monkeys in the country. On the west coast of
South America there are at least three or four species of
monkeys, among them a black howler and a Cebus cwpu-
cinus. The Coitas, or spider-monkeys, are the highest of
American quadrumana. They are slender-legged, slug-
gish, and thumbless, with a most perfectly prehensile tail,
terminating in a naked palm, which answers for a fifth
hand. The Indians say they walk under the limbs like
the sloth. They are the most common pets in Brazil, but
they refuse to breed in captivity. Both Coitas and Ba-
rigudos are much persecuted for their flesh, which is high-
ly esteemed by the Indians.

Mr. Bates has called our attention to the arboreal char-
acter of a large share of the animals in the Amazonian
forest. All the monkeys and bats are climbers, and live
in the trees. Nearly all the carnivores are feline, and are
therefore tree-mounters, though they lead a terrestrial life.
The plantigrade Cercoleptes has a long tail, and is entirely
arboreal. Of the edentates, the sloth can do nothing on

* Rutimeyer has found a fossil hoAvler in the Swiss Jura — middle eocene.

314 The Andes and the Amazon.

the ground. The gallmaceoiis birds, as the cigana and
cm-assow — the pheasant and turkey of the Amazon — perch
on the trees, while the great number of arboreal frogs and
beetles is an additional proof of the adaptation of the
fauna to a forest region. Even the epiphytous plants sit-
ting on the branches suggest this arboreal feature in ani-
mal life.

South American Indians. 315

CHAPTER XXII.

Life around the Great River. — Origin of the Red Man. — General Character-
istics of the Amazonian Indians. — Their Languages, Costumes, and Hab-
itations.— Principal Tribes. — Mixed Breeds. — Brazilians and Brazil.

We come now to the genus Homo. Man makes a veiy
insignificant figure in the vast solitudes of the Amazon.
Between Manaos and Para, the most densely-peopled part
of the valley, there is only one man to every four square
miles ; and the native race takes a low place in the scale of
humanity. As the western continent is geologically more
primitive than the eastern, and as the brute creation is also
inferior in rank, so the American man, in point of prog-
ress, seems to stand in the rear of the Old World races.
Both the geology and zoology of the continent were arrest-
ed in their development. Yegetable life alone has been
favored. " The aboriginal American (wrote Yon Martins)
is at once in the incapacity of infancy and unj)liancy of
old age ; he unites the opposite poles of intellectual life.""^

We ^vill not touch the debatable ground of the red man's
origin, nor inquire whether he is the last remains of a peo-
ple once high in civilization. But we are tempted to ex-
press the full belief that tropical America is not his " cen-
tre of creation." He is not the true child of the tropics ;
and he lives as a stranger, far less fitted for its climate than

* "I think I discover in the Americans (said Humboldt) the descendants
of a race which, early separated from the rest of mankind, has followed up
for s^ series of years a peculiar road in the unfolding of its intellectual facid-
ties and its tendency toward civilization." The South American Indian
seems to have a natural aptitude for the arts of civilized life not found in the
red man of our continent.

316 The Andes and the Amazon.

the Xegro or Caucasian. Yet a little while, and the race
will be as extinct as the Dodo. He has not the supple or-
ganization of the European, enabling him to accommodate
himself to diverse conditions. Among the Andean tribes
there are seldom over five children, generally but one, in a
family; and Bates, speaking of Brazilian Indians, saj^s
" their fecundity is of a low degree, and it is very rare to
find a family having so many as four children."*

While it is probable that Mexico was peopled from the
north, it is very certain that the Tupi and Guarani, the
long-headed hordes that occupied eastern South America,
came up fi'om the south, moving from the Paraguay to the
banks of the Orinoco. From the Tupi nation (perhaps a
branch of the Guarani) sprung the multitudinous tribes
now dwelling in the vast valley of the Amazon. In such
a country — unbroken by a mountain, uniform in climate —
we need not look for great diversity. The general char-
acters are these : skin of a brown color, with yellowish
tinge, often nearly the tint of mahogany ; thick, straight,"
black hair; black, horizontal eyes; low forehead, some-
what compensated by its breadth ; beardless ; of the mid-
dle height, but thick-set; broad, muscular chest; small
hands and feet; incurious; unambitious; impassive; un-
demonstrative ; with a dull imagination and little supersti-
tion ; with no definite idea of a Supreme Being, few tribes
having a name for God, though one for the " Demon ;"
with no belief in a future state ; and, excepting civility,
with virtues all negative. The semi-civilized along the
Lower Amazon, called Ttcpuyos, seem to have lost (in the
language of Wallace) the good qualities of savage life, and
gained only the vices of civilization.

There are several hundred different tribes in Amazonia,

* We do not infer, however, from this fact alone, that the race is exotic,
for the Negroes of Central Africa multiply very slowly.

Indians on the Amazon.

317

each having a different language ; even the scattered mem-
bers of the same tribe can not understand each other.*
This segregation of dialects is due in great part to the in-
flexibility of Indian character, and his isolated and narrow
round of thought and life. When and where the Babel
existed, whence the many branches of the great Tupi fam-
ily separated, we know not. We only know that though
different in words, these languages have the same gram-
matical construction. In more than one respect the poly-
glot American is antipodal to the Chinese. The language
of the former is richest in words, that of the latter the
poorest. The preposition follows the noun, and the verb
ends the sentence. Ancient Tupi is the basis of the Lin-
goa Geral, the infer-tribal tongue on the Middle Amazon.
The semi-civilized Ticunas, Mundurucus, etc., have one
costume — the men in trowsers and white cotton shirts, the
women in calico petticoats, with short, loose chemises, and
their hair held in a knot on the top of the head by a comb,

usually of foreign make,
but sometimes made of
bamboo splinters. The
wild tribes north and
south go nearly or quite
nude, while those on the
western tributaries wear
cotton or bark togas or
ponchos. The habita-
tions are generally a
frame-work of poles, thatched with palm-leaves ; the walls
sometimes latticed and plastered with mud, and the furni-
ture chiefly hammocks and earthen vessels.

Native Comb.

* Authors compute in South America from 280 to 700 languages (Abbe'
Royo said 2000), of which four fifths are composed of idioms radically dis-
tinct.

318 The Axdes and the A^iazox. .

The Mundumcus are the most numerous and warlike
tribe in Amazonia. They inhabit both banks of the Ta-
pajos, and can muster, it is said, 2000 fighting men. They
are friendly to the whites, and industrious, selling to trad-
ers large quantities of farina, sarsaparilla, rubber, and
tonka beans. Their houses are conical or quadrangular
huts, sometimes open sheds, and generally contam many
families. According to Wallace, the Mundurucus are the
only perfectly tattooed nation in South America. It takes
at least ten years to complete the tattooing of the whole
person. The skin is pricked with spines, and then the soot
from burning pitch rubbed in. Their neighbors, the
Pararauates, are intractable, wandering savages, roaming
through the forest and sleeping in hammocks shmg to the
trees. They have delicately-formeft hands and feet, an
oval face, and glistening black eyes. On the west side of
the Tapajos, near Yilla Nova, are the Mauhes, an agricul-
tural tribe, well formed, and of a mild disposition. On
the Lower Madeira are the houseless, formidable Araras,
who paint their chins red with achote (anatto), and usually
have a black tattooed streak on eacli side of the face.
They have long made the navigation of the great tributary
hazardous. Above them dwell the Farentintms, light col-
ored and finely featured, but nude and savage. In the
labyrinth of lakes and channels at the mouth of the Ma-
deira live the laz}^, brutal Muras, the most degraded tribe
on the Amazon. They have a darker skin than their neigh-
bors, an extraordinary breadth of chest, muscular arms,
short legs, protuberant abdomens, a thin beard, and a bold,
restless expression. They pierce the lips, and wear peccari
tusks in them in time of war. The Indians on the Purus
live generally on the commimal principle, and are unwar-
like and indolent. The Puru-puriis bury in sandy beaches,
go naked, and have one wife.

Middle Amazon Tribes. 319

On the great northwest tributary of the Eio N"egro, the
Uacaiari, there are numerous tribes, collectively known as
the Uaupes. They have j)ermanent abodes, m shape a
parallelogram, with a semicircle at one end, and of a size
to contain several families, sometimes a whole tribe. One
of them, Wallace informs us, was 115 feet long by 75
broad, and about 30 high. The w^alls are bullet-proof.
Partitions of palm-leaves divide it into apartments for
families, the chief occupying the semicircular end. The
men alone wear clothes and ornaments, but both sexes
paint their bodies with red, black, and yellow colors in
regular patterns. The men have a little beard, which they
pull out, as also the eyebrows, and allow the hair to grow
unshorn, tying it beliind with a cord and wearing a comb ;
while the women cut theirs and wear no comb. They are
an agricultural people — peaceable, ingenious, apathetic, dif-
fident, and bashful.

The Catauishes inhabit the banks of the Teffe. They
perforate the lips, and wear rows of sticks in the holes.
At the mouth of the Jurua are the uncivilized, but tall,
noble-looking Marauas. They pierce the ears and lips, and
insert sticks. They live in separate families, and have no
common chief. Above them live the treacherous Arauas."^
On the opposite side of the Amazon are the nearly extinct
Passes and Juris, the finest tribes in central South Amer-
ica. They are peaceable and industrious, and have always
been friendly to the whites. The Passes are a slenderly-
built, light-colored, dignified, superior race, distinguished
by a large square tattooed patch in the middle of the face.
The Juris tattoo in a circle round the mouth. Xear by are
the Usenambeus, or ''Humming-birds," distinguished by

* Near the sources of this river Castlenau locates the Canamas and Ugi-
nas ; the former dwarfs, the hitter having tails a palm and a half long — a
livbrid from an Indian and Barifrudo monkev.

320 The Andes and the Amazon.

a small blue mark on the upper lip. Higher up the Japu-
ra is the large cannibal tribe of Miranhas, living in isolated
families; and on the Tocantins dwell the low Caishanas,
who kill their fii'st-born children. Along the left bank of
the Amazon, fi'om Loreto to Japura, are the scattered
houses and villages of the Tuciinas. This is an extens-
ive tribe, leading a settled agricultural life, each horde
having a chief and a " medicine-man," or priest of their
superstitions. They are good-natured and ingenious, ex-
celling most of the other tribes in the manufacture of pot-
tery ; but they are idle and debauched, naked except in the
villages, and tattooed in numbers of short, straight lines
on the face. The Mariibos, on the Javari, have a dark
complexion and a slight beard; and on the west side of
the same river roam the Majeronas — fierce, hostile, light
colored, bearded cannibals. In the vicinity of Pebas dwell
the inoffensive Yaguas. The shape of the head (but not
their vacant expression) is well represented by Catlin's por-
trait of " Black Hawk," a Sauk chief. They are quite fi-ee
from the encumbrance of dress, the men wearing a girdle
of fibrous bark around the loins, with bunches looking like
a mop hanging down in front and rear, and similar bunches
hung around the neck and arms. The women tie a strip
of brown cotton cloth about the hips. They paint the
whole body with achote.* They sometimes five in com-
munities. One large structure, with Gothic roof, is used
in common ; on the inside of which, around the walls, are
built family sleeping-rooms. The Yaguas are given to
drinking and dancing. They are said to bury their dead
inside the house of the deceased, and then set fire to it ;
but this confiicts with their communal life. Perhaps, with
the other tribes on the Japura, Iga, and l^apo, they are

* Query : Is the name Yagua (blood) derived from the practice of color-
ing the bo'dv red ?

Cannibals. 321

fragments of the great Omagua nation ; but the languages
have no resemblance. Of the Oriente Indians we have
already spoken. The tall, finely-built Cucamas near Kauta
are slirewd, hard-working canoe-men, notorious for the sin-
gular desire of acquiring property; and the Yameos, a
white tribe, wander across the Maranon as far as Saraya-
cii. On the Ucayali are numerous vagabond tribes, Hving
for the most part in their canoes and temporary huts.
They are all lazy and faithless, using their wives (polyga-
my is common) as slaves. Infanticide is practiced, i. e.^
deformed childi-en they put out of the way, saying they
belong to the devil. They worship nothing. They bury
their dead in a canoe or earthen jar under the house (which
is vacated forever), and throw away his property.* The
common costume is a long gown, called cushma, of closely-
twilled cotton, woven by the women. Their w^eapons are
two-edged battle-axes of hard wood, as palo de sangre, and
bows and arrows. The arrows, ^yq or six feet long, are
made from the flower-stalk of the arrow-grass {Gyneriioin),
the head pointed with the flinty chonta and tipped with
bone, often anointed with poison. At the base two rows
of feathers are spirally arranged, showing the Indian's
knowledge of the rifle principle. When they have fixed
abodes several families live together under one roof, with
no division separating the women, as among the Eed In-
dians on the Pastassa. The roof is not over ten feet from
the ground. The Piros are the highest tribe; they have
but one wife. The Conibos are an agricultural people,
yet cannibals, stretching from the Upper Ucayali to the
sources of the Purus. They are a fair-looking, athletic

* Compare the ancient burial custom on the Andes : "On the decease of
the Inca his palaces are abandoned; all his treasures, except those that Avere
employed in his obsequies, his furniture and apparel, were suffered to re-
main as he left them, and his mansions, save one, were closed up forever." —
Prescott.

322 The Andes and the A^iazox.

people, and, like the Shipibos, often wear a piece of money
under the lip. The Campas are the most numerous and
warlike."^ They are little known, as travelers give them a
wide berth. Herndon fancied they were the descendants
of the Inca race. They are said to be cannibals, and from
the specimen we saw we should judge them uncommonly
shai-p. He was averse to telling us any thing about his
tribe, but turned our questions with an equivocal repartee
and a laugh. The Cashibos, on the Pachitea, is another
cannibal tribe. They are light colored and bearded.
The dwarfish, filthy Rimos alone of the Ucayali Indians
tattoo, though not so perfectly as the Mundurucus, using
black and blue colors. The other tribes simply paint. It
was among these wild Indians on the Ucayali that the
Franciscan friars labored so long and zealously, and with
a success far greater and more lasting than that which at-
tended any other missionary enterprise in the valley.

The remaining inhabitants of the Amazon are mixed-
breeds, Xegroes, and whites. The amalgamations form the
greater part of the population of the large towns. Yon
Tschudi gives a catalogue of twenty-three hybrids in Peru ,
and there are undoubtedly as many, or more, in Brazil.
The most common are Mamelucos (offspring of white with
Indian), Mulattoes (from white and ]S"egro), Cafuzos or
Zambos (from Indian and Negro), Curibocos (from Caf uzo
and Indian) ; and Xibaros (from Cafuzo and IS'egro). " To
define their characteristics correctly," says Yon Tschudi,
" would be impossible, for their minds partake of the mix-
ture of their blood. As a general rule, it may be said that
they unite in themselves all the faults without any of the

* The women circumcise themselves, and a man will not marry a woman
who is not circumcised. They perform the singular rite upon arriving at
the age of puberty, and have a great feast at the time. Other tribes flog
and imprison their daughters when they reach Avomanhood.

Beazilians. 323

virtues of tlieir progenitors. As men thej are generally-
inferior to the pure races, and as members of society they
are the worst class of citizens." Yet they display consid-
erable talent and enterprise, as in Quito; a proof that
mental degeneracy does not necessarily result from the
mixture of white with Indian blood. " There is, however,"
confesses Bates, after ten years' experience, "a considera-
ble number of superlatively lazy, tricky, and sensual char-
acters among the half-castes, both in rural places and in
the towns." Our observations do not support the opinion
that the result of amalgamation is " a vague compound,
lacking character and expression." The moral part is per-
haps deteriorated ; but in tact and enterprise they often
excel their progenitors.

Negroes are to be seen only on the Lower Amazon. By
the new act of emancipation, such as are slaves continue so,
but then- children are free, l^egroes born in the country
are called Creoles.

Of the white population, save a handful of English,
French, and German, the Portuguese immigrants are the
most enterprising men on the river. They are willing to
work, trade, or do any thing to turn a penny. Those who
acquire a fortune generally retire to Lisbon. The Brazil-
ians proper are the descendants of the men who declared
themselves " free and independent " of the mother country.
Few of them are of pure Caucasian descent, for the immi-
gration fi'om Portugal for many years has been almost ex-
clusively of the male sex." " It is generally considered bad
taste in Brazil to boast purity of descent " (Bates, i, 241).
Brazilians are stiff and formal, yet courteous and lively,
communicative and hospitable, well-bred and intelligent.
They are not ambitious, but content to Live and enjoy what
nature spontaneously offers. The most a Brazilian wants
is farina and coffee, a hammock and cio:ar. Brazilian la-

324 The Andes and the .Amazon.

dies have led a dreary life of constraint and silence, with-
out education or society, the husband making a nun of his
wife after the old bigoted Portuguese notion ; but during
the last twenty years the doors have been opened. Brazil
attained her independence in 1823 ; Brazilian women in
1848.

Here, in this virgin valley, where every plant is an ever-
green, possessing the most agreeable and enjoyable climate
in the world, with a brilliant atmosphere, rivaled only by
that of Quito, and with no changes of seasons — here we
may locate the paradise of the lazy. Life may be main-
tained with as httle labor as in the Garden of Eden. Per-
haps no country in the world is capable of yielding so large
a return for agriculture. E'ature, evidently designing this
land as the home of a great nation, has heaped up her
bounties of every description — fruits of richest flavors,
woods of finest grain, dyes of gayest colors, and drugs of
rarest virtues ; and left no sirocco or earthquake to disturb
its people. Providence, moreover, has given the present
emperor a wise and understanding heart ; and the gorern-
ment is a happy blending of imperial dignity and republi-
can freedom. White, Negro, half-caste, and Indian may
be seen sitting side by side on the jury-bench. Certainly
" the nation can not be a despicable one wdiose best men
are able to work themselves up to positions of trust and
influence."

God bless the Empire of the South !

Routes aceoss tue Continent. 325

CHAPTER XXIII.

How to Travel in South America. — Routes. — Expenses. — Outfit. — Precau-
tions.— Dangers.

The most vague and incorrect notions prevail in respect
to traveling in Sonth America. The sources of trustwor-
thy and desirable information are very meagre. Mm-ray
has not yet published a "Hand-book for the Andes;"
routes, methods, and expenses of travel are almost un-
known; and the imagination depicts vampires and scor-
pions, tigers and anacondas, wild Indians and fevers with-
out end, impassable rivers and inaccessible mountains as
the portion of the tourist. The following statements, which
can be depended upon, may therefore be acceptable to
those who contemplate a trip on the Andes and the Ama-
zon.

The shortest, cheapest, most feasible, and least interest-
ing route across the continent is from Valparaiso to Bue-
nos Ayres. The breadth of South America is here only
eight hundred miles. By railroad from Valparaiso to the
foot of the Andes ; thence a short mule-ride by the Uspal-
lata Pass (altitude 12,000 feet), under the shadow of Acon-
cagua to Mendoza ; thence by coach across the pampas to
the Rio Plata. The Portillo Pass (traversed by Darwin)
is nearer, but more lofty and dangerous.

Boli\'ia offers the difficult path of Gibbon : From the
coast to Cochabamba ; thence down the Marmore and Ma-
deira. There are three routes through Peru : First, fi'om
Lima to Mayro, by way of Cerro Pasco and Huanaco, by
mule, ten days ; thence down the Pachitea, by canoe, six

326 The Andes and the A^iazon.

days ; tlience down the Ucayali to Iqnitos, by steamer, six
days (forty-five hours' running time). When the road from
Lima to Mayro is finished the passage will be shortened
four days. JSTo snow is met in crossing the Andes in sum-
mer, but in winter it is very deep. Second (Herndon's
route), from Lima to Tinga Maria, by way of Huanaco,
by mule, fifteen days, distance three hundred miles (the
passage is difficult in the rainy season) ; thence by canoe
fifteen days down the Huallaga to Yurimaguas. Third
and best, by mule from Truxillo to Caximarca, five days
(note the magnificent ruins) ; thence to Chachapoyas, seven
days (here are pre-Incarial relics) ; thence to Moyabamba,
eight days ; thence on foot to Balsa Puerto, f om- days ;
thence by canoe to Yurimaguas, two days. Price of a
mule from Truxillo to Moyabamba is $30; canoe-hire,
$10. The Peruvian steamers arrive at Yurimaguas the
fifth of every month and leave the seventh ; reach Xauta
the ninth and Iquitos the tenth ; leave Iquitos the sixteenth
and arrive at Tabatinga the nineteenth, to connect wdth
the Brazilian line. Going up, they leave Tabatinga the
twenty-first and arrive at Iquitos the twenty-fourth, stop-
ping six days. Punning time fi'om Yurimaguas to Taba-
tinga, forty-eight hours; fare, $70, gold; third-class, $17.
La Condamine's route, via Loxa and the Maranon, is diffi-
cult; and Md. Godin's, via the Pastassa, is perilous on ac-
count of rapids and savages. The transit by the Napo we
will now give in detail.

Six hundred dollars in gold will be amply sufficient for
a first-class passage fi-om Xew York to ]N"ew York across
the continent of South America, making no allowance for
stoppages. For necessary expenses in Ecuador, take a draft
on London, which will sell to advantage in Guayaquil ; so
will Mexican dollars. American gold should be taken for
expenses on the Amazon in Brazil; at Para it commands

Faees and Outfit. 327

a premium. On the Maranon it is below par ; Peruvian
gold should therefore be bought at Guayaquil for that part
of the route. Also French medios, or quarter francs ; they
will be very useful every where on the route, especially on
the Upper Amazon, where change is scarce. Fifty dollars'
worth will not be too many ; for, as the Scotchman said of
sixpences, " they are canny little dogs, and often do the
work of shillings." Take a passport for Brazil. Leave
behind your delicacies and superfluities of clothing ; wool-
en clothes will be serviceable throughout. A trunk for
mountain travel should not exceed 24 by 15 by 15 inches —
smaller the better. Take a rubber air-pillow and mattress :
there is no bed between Guayaquil and Para. A ham-
mock for the Amazon can be bought on the Napo.

The Pacific Mail steamships, which leave New York on
the first and sixteenth of each month, connect at Panama
without delay with the British Steam Navigation line on
the South Pacific. Fare, first-class, from New York to
Guayaquil, by way of Panama and Paita, $215, gold ; sec-
ond-class, $128. Time to Panama, eight days ; to Paita,
four days; to Guayaquil, one day. A coasting steamer
leaves Panama for Guayaquil the thirteenth of each month.
There are two so-called hotels in Guayaquil. " Los tres
Mosqueteros," kept by Sr. Gonzales, is the best. Take a
front room ($1 per day), and board at the Fonda Italiana
or La Santa Kosa ($1 per day). Here complete your out-
fit for the mountains : saddle, with strong girth and crup-
per ; saddle-bags, saddle-cover, sweat-cloth, and bridle ($40,
paper), woolen poncho ($9), rubber poncho ($4), blanket
($6), leggins, native spurs and stirrups, knife, fork, spoon,
tea-pot, chocolate (tea, pure and cheap, should be purchased
at Panama), candles, matches, soap, towels, and tarpaulin
for wrapping up baggage* Convert your draft into paper,
quantum sujjicit for Guayaquil ; the rest into silver.

328 The Andes axd the Amazon.

Besides this outer outfit, an inner one is needed — of pa-
tience without stint. You will soon learn that it is one thing
to plan and quite another to execute. " To get out of the
inn is one half of the journey" is very appropriately a
Spanish proverb. Spaniards do nothing d ^ ajypressado (in
a hurry), but every thing onanana (to-morrow). You will
find fondas, horses, and roads divided into the bad, the
worse, and the worst, and bad is the best. But fi*et not
thyself. "Serenity of mind," wrote Humboldt, "almost
the first requisite for an undertaking in inhospitable re-
gions, passionate love for some class of scientific labor, and
a pure feeling for the enjoyment which nature in her fi-ee-
dom is ready to impart, are elements which, when they
meet together in an individual, insm-e the attainment of
valuable results from a great and important journey."

The journey to Quito must be made between May and
November; in the rainy season the roads are imj^assable.
From Guayaquil to Bodegas by Yankee steamer ; fare, $2 ;
time, eight hours. At Bodegas hire beasts at the Consig-
nacion for Guaranda; price for riding and cargo beasts,
$4 each. ISTo extras for the arriero. A mule will carry
two hundred and fifty pounds. Buy bread at Bodegas and
Guaranda. The Indians on the road are very loth to sell
any thing ; buy a fowl, therefore, at the first opportunity,
or you will have to live on dirty potato soup, and be glad
of that. At the tambos, or wayside inns, you pay only for
yerba (fodder). Never unsaddle your beast till it is cool ;
an Indian will even leave the bridle on for a time. To
Guaranda, three full days. There take mules (safer than
horses in climbing the mountains) for Quito ; §6 25, silver,
per beast ; time, five days. Be sure to leave Guaranda by
4 A.M., for in the afternoon Chimborazo is swept by fu-
rious winds. Also start with a full stomach ; you will get
nothing for two days. Drink sparmgly of the snow-water

Price of Living. 329

which dashes down the mountain. You will be tempted
to curse Chuquipoyo ; but thank heaven it is no worse.

There are two hotels in Quito, French" and American ;
the former has the better location, the latter the better
rooms. Best front room, furnished, half a dollar a day ;
cheaper by the month. Meals (two), twenty-five cents
each. The beef is excellent, but the cuisine — oh, onions !
" God sends the meat, and the evil one cooks." You can
hire a professional male cook (Indian) for $5 a month, but
you can't teach him any thing. Fish is not to be had in
Quito. Gibbon speaks of having some in Cuzco, but does
not tell us where it came from.* Price of best flour, §3 60
per quintal ; butter, tliirty cents a pound ; beef, gl an ar-
roba (twenty-five pounds) ; refined sugar, $3 60 an arroba ;
brown sugar {rapidtira),^ ^\e cents a pound ; cigars, from
six to sixteen for a dime ; cigarettes, five cents a hundred.
Horse hire, from fifty cents to $1 per day. If you are to
remain some time, buy a beast : a good mule costs $40 ; an
ordinary horse, $50. The Post-office Department is a
swindle. If you " pay through " you will find on your ar-
rival home that your letters have been paid at both ends.
Ask our consul at Guayaquil to forward them.

The necessary preparations for the Napo journey have
been given in a previous chapter (Chap. XI). We might add
to the list a few cans of preserved milk from New York,
for you will not see a drop between the Andes and the At-
lantic. Fail not to take plenty of lienzo ; you must have
it to pay the Indians, and any surplus can be sold to ad-
vantage. A bale of thirty varas costs about five dollars.

* The Guayaquil market is well supplied with fish of a foir quality. Usu-
ally the fish of warm tropical waters are poor, but the cold " Humboldt cur-
rent," which passes along the west coast of Ecuador, renders them as edible
as those of temperate zones.

t Called chancaca in Peru. In flavor it is very nearly equal to maple-
sugar.

330 The Andes and the A:mazon.

Eely not at all on game ; a champion sharpshooter could
not live by his rifle. Santa Rosa and Coca will be repre-
sented to you as small New Yorks ; but you will do well
if you can buy a chicken between them.

From Quito to Papallacta, two days and a half ; riding
beast, $2 silver, and $1 20 for each cargo of three arrobas.
At Papallacta hire Indians for Archidona ; each carries
three arrobas, and wants $5 silver in advance. You take
to your feet ; time, nine days, including one day of rest at
Baeza. At Archidona you take a new set of peons for
[NTapo at twenty-five cents apiece ; time, one day. From
!N"apo down the river to Santa Eosa, one day. You give
two and a half varas of lienzo to each Indian, and the same
for the canoe. From Santa Eosa to Pebas, on the Mara-
non, fifteen days ; cost of an Indian, twenty-five varas ;
ditto for a canoe. We advise you to stop at Coca and rig
up a raft or craft of some kind ; we ascribe our uninter-
rupted good health to the length . and breadth of our ac-
commodations. The Peruvian steamer from the west ar-
rives at Pebas on the sixteenth of each month; fare to
Tabatinga, $15 gold ; time, four days ; running time, eleven
hours. Brazilian steamer leaves Tabatinga the twentieth
of each month ; fare to Manaos, $44 44 gold ; time, five
days ; distance, one thousand miles. From Manaos to Pa-
ra, $55 55 gold; time, six days; distance, one thousand
miles. The Brazilian steamers make semi-monthly trips.
We found two hotels in Para — the " Italiana," dear and
poor ; the " Diana," unpretending but comfortable. Charges
at the latter for room and board, $2 a day. The best time
for traveling on the Amazon is between July and Decem-
ber. The United States and Brazilian steamships on their
homeward voyage call at Para the seventh of each month;
fare to New York, $150 gold (the same as down the whole
length of the Amazon) ; second class, $75 ; time, fourteen

Diseases and Dangers. 331

(lays; distance by way of St. Thomas, 1610 + 1400 miles.
Steamer for Eio the ninth of each month ; fare, $125 ;
time, twelve days; distance, 2190 miles. Fare from Rio
to 'New York, $200. Fare by sailing vessel from Para to
New York, fi*om $50 to $75 ; time, three wrecks. A Brit-
ish steamer from Rio stops at Para and Lisbon.

A word about health. First, take one grain of common-
sense daily ; do as the natives do, keep out of the noon-
day sun, and make haste slowly. Secondly, take with you
qumine in two-grain pills, and begin to take them before
leaving New York, as the great African traveler, Du
Chaillu, recommended us. As preventive against the in-
termittent fevers on the lowlands and rivers, nothing is
better than Dr. Copeland's celebrated pills^quinine, twelve
grains; camphor, twelve grains; cayenne pej)per, twelve
grains. Mix with mucilage, and divide into twelve pills ;
take one every night or morning as required. On the
Amazon carry guarana. Woolen socks are recommended
by those who have had much experience of tropical fevers.
Never bathe when the air is moist ; avoid a chill ; a native
will not bathe till the sun is well up. Rub yourself with
aguardiente (native rum) after a bath, and always when
caught in a shower. Freely exercise in Quito to ward off
liver complaints. Drink little water; coffee or chocolate,
is better, and tea is best. Avoid spirits with fruit, and
fruit after dinner. The sickhest time in Guayaquil is at
the breaking up of the rainy season.

As to dangers : First, fi'om the people. Travehng is as
safe in Ecuador as in New York, and safer than in Mis-
souri. There are no Spanish banditti, though some places,
as Chambo, near Riobamba, bear a bad name. It is not
wise to tempt a penniless footpad by a show of gold ; but
no more so in Ecuador than any where. We have traveled
from Guayaquil to Damascus, but have never had occasion

332 The Andes and the Amazon.

to use a weapon in self-defense ; and only once for offense,
when we threatened to demolish an Arab sheik Avith an nm-
brella. Secondly, fi*om brutes. Some travelers would
have us infer that it is impossible to stir in South Ameri-
ca without being " affectionately entwined by a serpent, or
sprung upon by a jaguar, or bitten by a rattlesnake; jig-
gers in every sand-heap and scorpions under every stone "
{Ediriburgh jReview^ xliii, 310). Padre Ternazza speaks of
meeting a serpent two yards in diameter ! But you will be
disappointed at the paucity of animal life. We were two
months on the Andes (August and September) before we
saw a live snake. They are plentiful in the wet season in
cacao plantations; but the majority are harmless. Dr.
Russel, who particularly studied the reptiles of India,
found that out of forty-three species which he examined
not more than seven had poisonous fangs ; and Sir E. Ten-
nent, after a long residence in Ceylon, declared he had
never heard of the death of an Em'ojDean by the bite of a
snake. It is true, however, that the number and propor-
tion of the venomous species are greater in South America
than in any other part of the world ; but it is some con-
solation to know that, zoologically, they are inferior in rank
to the harmless ones ; " and certainly," adds Sidney Smith,
" a snake that feels fourteen or fifteen stone stamping on
his tail has little time for reflection, and may be allowed
to be poisonous." If bitten, apply ammonia externally im-
mediately, and take five drops in water internally ; it is an
almost certain antidote. The discomforts and dangers
arising from the animal creation are no greater than one
would meet in travehng overland from Kew York to New
Orleans.

Finally, of one thing the tourist in South America may
be assured — that dear to him, as it is to us, will be the re-

Consolations of Travel. 333

membrance of those romantic rides over the Cordilleras
amid the wild magnificence of natm^e, the adventurous
walk through the primeval forest, the exciting, canoe-life
on the Napo, and the long, -monotonous sail on the waters
of the Great Eiver.

334 The Andes and the Amazon.

CHAPTEK XXIY.

IN MEMORIAL.

"A life that all the Muses decked

With gifts of grace that might express
All comprehensive tenderness,
All-subtilizing intellect." — Tex^'tson.

On the east of the city of Quito is a beautiful and ex-
tensive plain, so level that it is literally a tahle-land. It is
the classic ground of the astronomy of the eighteenth cen-
tury: here the French and Spanisli academicians made
their celebrated measurement of a meridian of the earth.
As you stand on the edge of this plain just without the
city, you see the dazzling summit of Cayambi looking down
from the north ; on your left are the picturesque defiles of
Pichincha ; on your right the slopes of Antisana. Close
by you, standing between the city and the plain, is a high
white wall inclosing a little plot, like the city above, " f our
square." You are reminded by its shape, and also by its
position relative to Quito and Pichincha, of that other sa-
cred inclosure just outside the walls of Jerusalem and at
the foot of Olivet, the Garden of Gethsemane. This is
the Protestant Cemetery.

Through the efforts of our late representative — now also
numbered with the dead — this place was assigned by the
government for the interment of foreigners who do not die
in the Romish faith. And there we buried our fellow-
traveler, Colonel Phineas Staunton, the artist of the ex-
pedition, and Vice-Chancellor of Ingham University, ISTew
York. On the 8th of September, 1867, we bore him through

r7

^ ^3^

^^

A Grave on the Andes. 335

the streets of Quito to this quiet resting-place, without pa-
rade and in solemn silence — just as we believe his unob-
trusive spirit would have desired, and just as his Savior
was carried from the cross to the sepulchre. No splendid
hearse or nodding plumes ; no long procession, save the
unheard tread of the angels ; no requiem, save the unheard
harps of the seraphs. We gave him a Protestant Christian
burial, such as Quito never saw. In this corner of nature's
vast cathedral, the secluded shrine of grandeur and beauty
not found in Westminster Abbey, we left him. We parted
with him on the mount which is to be the scene of his
transfiguration .

It would be difiicult for an artist to find a grave whose
surroundings are so akin to his feelings. He lies in the
lofty lap of the Andes, and snow-white pinnacles stand
around him on every side, just as we imagine the mount-
ains are around the city of God. We think we hear him
saying, as Fanny Kemble Butler said of another burial-
ground : " I will not rise to trouble any one if they will
let me sleej) here. 1 will only ask to be permitted, once in
a while, to raise my head and look out upon this glorious
scene." ISTo dark and dismal fogs gather at evening about
that spot. It lies nearer to heaven than any other Prot-
estant cemetery in the world. " It is good (says Beecher)
to have our mortal remains go upward for their burial, and
catch the earliest sounds of that trumpet which shall raise
the dead." And the day is coming when that precious
vein of gold that now lies in the bosom of the mighty
Andes shall leave its rocky bed and shine in seven-fold
pmity. Indeed, the artist is already in that higher studio
among the mountains of Beulah.

A simple sculptured obelisk of sorrow stands over the
dust of Colonel Staunton : his most fitting monument is
his own life-work. He was the very painter Humboldt

336 The Ai^des and the Amazon.

longed for in his writings — " the artist, who, studying in
nature's great hot-house bounded by the tropics, should
add a new and more magnificent kingdom of nature to
art." Colonel Staunton, true and lovely in his own char-
acter, was ever seeking in nature for whatsoever things are
lovely, whatsoever things are pure, and now was about to
add whatsoever things are grand. He was a Christian
artist, in sympathy with such men as Raphael and Leonardo
de Yinci. "The habitual choice of sacred subjects (says
Ruskin) implies that the painter has a natural disposition
to dwell on the highest thoughts of which humanity is
capable." ]^o shallow or false person could have con-
ceived his Ascension. Only the highest qualities of the
intellect and heart — a soul already half ascended — could
have given such ethereal lightness to those " two men in
white apparel." Only the pure in heart see God. As we
revisit in imagination the spot where he sleeps so well, we
behold, in the calm sublimity of the mountains that sur-
round his grave, an image of the undisturbed repose of his
spirit on the Rock of Ages.

APPENDICES.

APPENDICES.

APPENDIX A.

Barometrical Measurements across South America.*

Locality.

Alti-
tude.

Barom-
eter.

Boiling
Point.

Equiv.

Differ-
ence.

Other Estimates. |

Pacific Ocean

0

29.930

212.01

i .Bar. of Visse, 29.904; Boussin-i
1 gault, 29.867.
29.891 —MORE. P. of Visse. 211.8°. 1

Guayaquil

10

29.899

211.95

Guaranda

8,840
U,250

21.976
18.123

^?^. of Visse, 8S72; Hall, 8928.
Alt. of Visse,13,917 . Hall,14,26S.

Arenal

Mocha

10,900

20.393

Ambato

8,490

22.241

Alt. of Visse, 8541 ; Boussiu-

gault, 8787.

Bar. of Jameson, 22.218. !

Tacunga

9,181

21.693

Alt. of Visse, 9180; Boussin-

gault, 9384.

Bar. of Jameson, 21.700.

Tiupullo

11,662

19.858

Alt. of Vissfi. 11.709.

Machachi

9,900

21.212

''Alt. of Vissei 98237

Quito

9,520

21.530

195.8

21.485

—.0i5 Alt. of La Condamiue, 9596;

1 Humboldt, 9570.; C'aldas, 8947 1

Boussiugault, 9567 ; Aguilar,
9496; Visse, 9307; Bureau j

des Longs., 9540 ; Tramblay's 1

yl/i;i.,953S; Jameson, 9513. ' ]

Bar. of La Coudamine, 21.404 ; 1

Humboldt, 21.403 ; Aguilar, j

21.465; Jameson, 21.506. i

B. P. of Visse, 195.6° : Tramblay,

184.18°.

Panecillo

10,101

21.043

^??. of Humboldt, 10,244; Agui-
lar, 10,135.

£rtr. of Jameson, 21.207.

B. P. of Visse, 194.7°.

Pichinclia, top

15,82T

1T.088

184.5

17.030

—.008

Alt. of La Condamiue, 15,606;
Humboldt, 15,922; Boussin-
gault, 15,676 : Visse, 16,200 ;
Hall, 15,380; Jameson, 15,704.

Bar. of Visse, 16.942.

Pichincha, crater. . .

13,300

189.2

18.672

Alt. of Visse andMoreno, 13,600. '

Antisana H

13,300

18.583

4?«. of Humboldt, 13,465; Bous-i
singault, 13,356. 1

Bar. of Aguirre, 18.573 ; Jame- ;
son, 18.630. .

On Antisana

16,000

16.TS2

Pinatura

10,410

20.791

Alt. of Boussingault, 10,348.

Padregal

11,860

19.817

On Cotopaxi

12,860

19.004

Riobamba

9,200

21.705

Alt. of Visse, 9157; Boussiu-
gault, 9413.

Cajabamba

10,918

20.512

Alt. of La Condamiue, 11,000.

Itulcache

8,885

22.006

Tablon

10,516
10,511

20.800
20.803

193.8

20.598

—.205

Papallacta. . .

* First published in the American Journal of Science for September, 1868, to which the reader is referred for
other physical observations. The barometric anomaly, noticed particularly on the Lower Amazon, was also
observed by Herndon, Castelnau, Chandless, Spruce, and Wallace.

Appendix A.

339

Boilitif
eter. Point.

nault's
Equiv.

Other Estimates.

Guila

Pachamama

Baeza

Chinipleia

Cochachimbainba. .

Curi-urcu

Archidona

Napo

SautaKosa

Coca

Mouth of the River

Asuarico

Do. River Curaray..

Do. River Napo

Pebas

I Loreto

I San Antonio,

Tabatinga.

Tunantins .
Ega

Manaos,

Serpa. .
Obidos.

Santarem.

Mount Alegre,

Gurupa

Para

S,6-22
7,920
6,625
6,200
4,252
3,247
2,115
1,450
1,100
858

22.206
22.751
23.793
24.145
25.832
2G.740
27.816
28.419
28.814
29.022

5S6 29.321
500 29.408
385 29.526
345 29.510

29.655
29.656

138?
100?

199?

158
114

107

Atlantic Ocean.

29.770
29.818

29.705

29.752
29.802

29.808

29.834
29.890
29.889

209 00
209.4
210.4
210.65

21100
210.8
211.4
211.1

211.4

211.5

211.9

28.180
28.407
28.982
29.127

29.331
29.215
29.566
29.390

29.566

29.625

29.862

+.364
—.012
+.
+.105

+.010
—.193
+.040
-.120

.041

211.5

211.95

212.16

29.625

-.183

+.002

Alt. at Nauta, by Castelnau, 365.

.4i^ofHerndon,637.

B. P. of Herndon, 211.1°.

Alt. of Spix and Martins, 670;
AzevedoandPinto,150; Agas-
siz, 200.

Alt. of Azevedo and Pinto, 124.

Alt. of Herndon, 2052 ; Azevedo
and Pinto, 120.

B. P. of Herndon, 208.2°.

Alt. of Herndon, 1475; Castel-
nau, 293 ; Spix and Martius,
556 ; Azevedo and Pinto, 92.

B. P. of Herndon, 209.3° ; Gib-
bon, 210°.87; Wallace, 212°.5.

Alt. of Azevedo and Pinto, 84.

Alt. of Azevedo and Pinto, 58;
Agassi z, 45.

Alt. of Herndon, 846; Azevedo
and Pinto, 50.

B. P. of Herndon, 210.5°.

Alt. of Azevedo and Pinto, 42,

Alt. of Herndon, 320; Azevedo
and Pinto, 35 ; Dewev, 35.

Bar. of Herndon, 29.708; Dew-
ev, 29.941 ; Orton (reduced to
level of river), 29.914,

5,P. of Herndon, 211.5°.

Bar. of Dewey, 29.977.

340

Appendices.

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Appendix B.

343

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23,742
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7,612
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Appendix C.

345

II. Articles Exported from Para to the United States in 1860.

Annatto lbs. G4,832

Balsam Copaiba " 89,G70

Cacao " 145,888

Copper, old " 1,171

Hides, wet " 616,172

" dry " 4,503

Nuts, Brazil " 23,582

" unsheUed... " 19,481

Piassaba lbs

Rubber, fine

" mixed

" coarse

Skins, Deer

Tapioca ,

Tonka Beans

3,488

2,394,656

69,120

420,000

64,406

118,080

18,298

III. Articles Imported from the United States to Para in 1860.

Axes dozens, 1,826

Candles boxes, 594

Chairs dozens, 333

Codfish drums, 1,943

Clocks number, 660

Combs dozens, 7, 353

Domestics packages, 2,370

Drugs ." 435

Flour barrels, 16,755

Fire-crackers boxes, 1 ,800

Gunny-bags number, 13,000

Gunpowder kegs, 2,150

Hams tierces, 38

Hardware packages, 201

Hats, Palm-leaf. . . . .cases, 506

Knives dozens, 2, 195

Lard packages , 2, 709

Lumber feet, 75,955

Nails kegs, 588

3,398

16,428
6,891

Matches cases, 174

Oars number, 592

Pepper bags, 190

Rosin barrels, 1,556

Rubber and other )

Shoes }P""'^'

Shooks (box) number.

Soap boxes.

Specie, in Gold dollars, 113,827

Straw Paper reams, 12,903

Soda-biscuit ...12-lb. tins, 5,954

Saltpetre kegs, 95

Tea chests, 235

Tea boxes, 533

Tar and Pitch barrels, 329

Tobacco boxes, 257

Twine, Cotton pounds, 13,322

Tortoise-shell " 299i

IV. Duties on Principal Imports from United States at Para.
Axes and Hatchets 30 reys per pound.

Biscuit, Soda 400

Brooms 600

Chairs, cane-seat 1,000

" rocking 3,000

" " extra : 6,000

Cinnamon, Ceylon 500

Combs, rubber 600

" ivory 2,000

Cotton Goods 90

" " colored twills 150

arroba.
dozen,
article.

pound.

sq.

346 Appendices.

Candles 240 r

Cigars 1,200

Cordage 50

Dirks, ordinary 6,000

" extra 12,000

Flour 150

Hats, Palm-leaf 180

Hams 70

Homoeopathic Medicine 300

Knives 250

Lard 1,500

Matting, India, 240

Nails, to two inches 40

" over " 20

Padlocks, brass 250

" iron 180

Pearl Barley 400

Pepper, India 70

Plows free.

Pork 600

Powder 200

Paper, Straw 30

Pilot Bread 150

Eoman Cement .50

Rosin 1,200

Sieves, iron -wire 30

" brass 50

Shoes, Rubber 400

Store Trucks 900

Shooks, boxes 400

Soap, Yellow 30

Scales, simple 120

Tar and Pitch 200

Tortoise-shell 2,500

Tea 450

Twine, Cotton 300

Trunks, 2 to 4 palms 2,700

" over 4 " 3,600

Tobacco, chewing 4,800

cut 9,600

1^ This Tariff went into operation February 23, 1861.

eys per pound.

article.

arroba.
article,
pound,
ounce,
article.

pound.

arroba.
pound.

arroba.
pound.

arroba.

pound.

article,
arroba.
pound.

arroba.
pound.

aiticle.

arroba.
arroba.

ADDENDA.

OrchiUa, page 29. — This valuable lichen comes chiefly from Tumbez. It
is not found on the rocks, like the orchilla of the Old World, but grows on
various trees. The foliage of a tree disajjpears Avhen the orchilla commences.
The sea air is indispensable to its production, as it is found only near the
coast.

Religious Intolerance^ p. 91. — The expression " Protestant dogs" has since
been publicly repeated by a priest in a sermon, Avho told the people to con-
fess, or they would be treated in a similar way. It called forth a remon-
strance from Mr. Hamilton, the British Minister, directed to the archbishop,
declaring such conduct inhuman and unchristian. The Pope's Nuncio left
Quito for good in July, 1869.

Fish in the Quito Valley, p. 107. — Dr. Gill informs me that the true name
of this little fish is Cyclopium Humboldtii, Swainson. It belongs to the sub-
family Trachelypterinas, under Siluridre.

Hummers' Nests, p. 108. — They are not always of a lengthened form, as
the text Avould imply, but are sometimes quite shallow. They are invariably
lined with the softest vegetable materials and covered with moss. The nests
are not as compact as those of our Northern hummer, and, so far as we ob-
served, are never shingled with flat lichens.

Humboldt in 1802, p. 156. — He spent five months in the valley of Quito.

Febas Fossils, p. 282. — In a letter to the author, Mr. Darwin says : " Your
discovery of marine shells high up the Amazon possesses extreme interest,
not only in itself, but as one more most striking instance how rash it is to as-
sert that any deposit is not a marine formation because it does not contain
fossils. As for myself, I never believed for a moment in Agassiz's idea of
the origin of the Amazonian formation." Agassiz " candidly confesses (Ly-
ell's Principles, i., 468) that he failed to discover any of those proofs which
we are accustomed to regard, even in temperate latitudes, as essential for the
establishment of the former existence of glaciers where they are now no more.
No glaciated pebbles, or far-transported angular blocks with polished and
striated sides ; no extensive surface of rock, smooth, and traversed by rectil-
inear furrows, were observed. " The fossiliferous bed at Pebas is as plainly in
situ as the Medina sandstone at Genesee Falls.

348 Addenda.

Tropical Flowers, p. 292. — "During twelve years spent amid the grandest
tropical vegetation, I have seen nothing comparable to the effect produced on
our landscapes by gorse, broom, heather, wild hyacinths, hawthorns, purple
orchises, and buttercups."— Wallace's Malay Archipelago.

Coca-plant, p. 293. — The engraving conveys the impression that the leaves
are parallel-veined ; but the coca is a dicotyledon, with the under surface of
the leaf strongly marked with veins, of which two, in addition to the midrib,
run parallel with the margin.

Fedrero, Map. — This town on the Rio Negro is also written Pedreira.

INDEX.

Adobe dwellings, page 46.
Agassiz, Mount, 250.

" Prof., on the geology of the
Amazonian vaUev, 280, 282, 347.
Agriculture on the Amazon, 243.

" " Andes, 75.

Aground on the Amazon, 239.
Aguano, 201.
Aguardiente, 175.
Alcalde's house, 202.
Alligators, 35, 296.
Almeyi-im HiUs, 252.
Aloe, American, 100.
Alpargates, 70.
Altar, volcano of, 150.
Amazon Kiver, annual rise, 274.

" " birds on, 306.

" " cetaceans, 299.

" climate, 273, 284.

" " commerce, 277.

" " current, 273.

" " delta, 272.

" " depth, 274.

" " etymology, 278.

" " expeditions, 277.

" " first view of, 226.

" " fishes, 295.

" " foreignvesselson, 276.

" " insects, 300.

" " life within, 295.

" " magnitude, 264, 272,

278.

'' " natural canals, 265.

" " navigation, 276.

" reptiles, 296.

" " scenery, 236.

" " source, 264.

" " tints, 272.

'' " tributaries, 266, 271.

" " volume, 273.

" VaUey, 280.

" " creation of, 117.

" forest, 287.

Amazon Vallev, fruits, 289.

" ' geology, 281,347.
" " minerals, 286.

slope, 280.
soil, 286.
" " trees, 289.

zoology, 284.
Amazonian Indians, 316.
Ambato, 52, 153.
America, the continent of vegetation,

103.
America, South, geology of, 114.
Amphisboena, 194.
Amusements in Quito, 80.
Anacondas, 222.
Andean chain, 119.
Andes, as a geological boimdary, 207.
" birds on the, 105, 146.
" equipped for the, 37.
" first sight of the, 33.
" heart of the, 48.
" last view of the, 214.
" of Ecuador, 121.
". reptiles on the, 107.
" rise of the, 115.
" sinking of the, 138.
" summit of the, 49, 134.
'• valleys of the, 130.
j •' views from the, 45, 134, 141.
! Anguteros Indians, 222.
Animal life, dearth of, 188.
Animals on the Napo, 207.
Antisana, volcano of, 144, 180.

" hacienda, 144.
Ants, battle mth, 225.
" on the Amazon, 300.
" on the Napo, 194.
Apothecaries in Quito, 93.
Archidona, 191.
Architecture in Quito, 78.
Arenal, 49.
Armadillo, 310.
Armv of Ecuador, 87.

350

Index.

Arrieros, 36.

Arrows, Indian, 321.

Arts in Quito, 78.

Ascending the Andes, 43, 96, 144.

Astronomy on the Andes, 97.

Atahuallpa, 56.

Atmosphere of Quito, 97.

Baeza, 187.
iialsas, 32.

Bamboos on the Napo, 220.
Banana, 34.
Baiios, 149.

Barometric measurements, 337.
" anomaly, 241, 226.

" variations at Quito, 92.

Barra, 243.
Bartholomew, St., 54.
Bats, 205, 312.
Bears, 105.
Bed, Andean, 181.
Bees on the Amazon, 303.
" of Quito, 108.
" on the Napo, 207.
Beetles on the Amazon, 303.

" on the Napo, 206.
Bells of Quito, 89.
"Big-ear" Indians, 222.
Birds on the Amazon, 306.

" coloration of, in the tropics, 105.

" mouking of, 285.

" of South America, 105.
Blow-guns, 170.
Boa-constrictor, 223.
Bodegas, 35.

Botany of South America, 286.
Brazilian etiquette, 235, 246.
" frontier, 233.
" steamers, 234.
Brazilians, 323.
Brazil-nut trees, 290.
Bread-tree, 34.
Breves, 254.
Buildings, Andean, 46.
Bull-baits, 80.
Burial customs, 91, 321.

" at Quito, 91.
Butter, 251.
Butterflies on the Amazon, 302.

" on the Napo, 206.
Buzzards, 29.

Caballococha, 232.
Cacao, 30, 290.
Cajabamba, 153.
Calabash-tree, 289.

Camino Real, 45.
Camellones, 43.
Camindo on the Napo, 226.
Campas Indians, 322.
Canelos, 172.

Canoe-hfe on the Napo, 213.
Canoe-paths, 265.
Canoes on. the Napo, 200.
Capybara, 310.
Caraguairazo, 132.
Carnival, 81.
Carranqui, 157.
Cassiquari Canal, 267.
Cathedral of Guayaquil, 26.

" of Quito, 66.
Cattle on the Andes, 145.
Caucho-tree, 288.
Cayambi, 143.
Cedar on the Amazon, 289.
Cemetery, Protestant, 91.
Century-plant, 100.
Cerro, 33.

Cetaceans in the Amazon, 299.
Chicha, 167, 210.
ChiUo hacienda, 155.
Chimbo, VaUey of, 46.
Chimborazo, 33, 44, 49, 127.
Chimneys, absence of, 44.
Chirimoya, 101.
Chuquipoyo, 51.
Chuquiragua, 100.
Cigana, 206, 308.
Cinchona, 47.
Cinnamon, American, 172.
Circumcision, 322.
Civility, Ecuadorian, 35^ 71.
Civilization on the Amazon, 236.
Clay-eating, 229.

" formation of the Amazon, 22^
Climate of Guayaquil, 28.

" of Quito, 91.

" of the Amazon, 238, 251.
Coary, Eiver, 242, 269.
Coca-chewing, 291, 348.
Coca village, 207.
Cochineal, 108.
Cock-fighting, 35, 80.
Cocoa-palm, 35.
Coffee, 31, 259, 290.
Colleges of Ecuador, 79.
Combativeness on the Andes, 95,
Commerce on the Amazon, 342.
Compressed heads, 171.
Compulsory commerce, 195.
Condor, 106, 131.
Cones of volcanoes, 122.

Index.

351

Conibos Indians, 321.

Cookery in Quito, 44, 84.

Copal-gum, 193.

Cordillera, 33, 12G.

Cosanga River, 1 89.

Costumes of Amazonian Indians, 239,

241.
Cotocachi, village, 154.
" volcano, 142.
Cotopaxi, 55, 146.

" eruptions of, 125.
Cotton-mills, 77, 155.
Cow-tree, 288.
Craft on the Napo, 209.
Craters, deep, 133.
Crocodiles, 296.
Cudaja, 242.
Cuenca, 152.
Cunchebamba, 53.
Curaray River, 224.
Curassow, 308.
Curi-urcu, 191.
Currency of Para, 260.
" " Quito, 75.

Cuzco ladies, 82.

Dangers in South America, 331.

Darwin on the geology of the Pam-
pas, 282.

Darwin on the geology of the x\ma
zon, 347.

Debt of Ecuador, 87.

Deer on the Napo, 226.
" fossU, 154.

Descent into Pichincha, 139.

Discipline' on the Napo, 204.

Diseases on the Andes, 93, 331.

Dogs on the Andes, 95.

Dolphins, 299.

Dragon-flies, 302.

Dress in Quito, 69.

Drunkenness at Quito, 146.

Earthquake at Ibarra, 157.

" at Riobamba, 153.

" effect of, on climate, 91.

" experience of, 163.

" theories of, 161.

Eastern Cordillera, 179.
Eciton ants, 301.
Ecuador, army, 87.
" Congress, 86.
" debt, 87.
" extent, 85.
" flora and fauna, 103.
" government, 86.

Ecuador, population, 85.

" religion, 89.

' ' repudiation, 86.

" revenue, 87.

" revolutions, 86.

" supreme court, 87.

" volcanoes, 122, 148.
Ecuadorian cooking, 44, 84.
Education on the Andes, 79.
Edwards, George, 195.
Ega, 239.
Eggs of the alligator, 297.

" of the turtle, 297.
El Dorado, 183.
Elephant at high altitudes, 155.
Equator, mean temperatui'e, 262,
Expenses of travel, 327.

Farina, 235, 291.
Ferns, tree, 38.
Fever remedies, 331.
Fire-flies, 25.
Fish in the Napo, 226.
" in Quito Valley, 107, 347.
" in the tropics, 329.
Fishes ejected from volcanoes, 107.

132, 143.

" of the Amazon, 295.
Fishing with barbasco, 169.
Flamingoes, 308.
Flowers on the Amazon, 292, 347.

" on the Andes, 50, 102, 186.
Fonte Boa, 239.
Forest on the Napo, 216, 219.

" trail, 182, 186.

" tropical, 36, 38, 287.
Fossil bones on the Andes, 154.
Fossils in the Amazon Valley, 282,

347.
Frogs in Quito Valley, 107.

" of the Amazon, 304.
Fruits of Quito, 101.

" on the Amazon, 289.

Galapagos Islands, 105, 124.
Gentians, 103.

Geology of South America, 114.
" of the Amazon Vallev, 225.
347.
Glacial theory of Agassiz, 282, 347.
Glaciers, absence of, 131.
Glimpse of the Andes, 33.
Goitre, 94.

Gold on the Napo, 196.
Grapes on the Amazon, 234.
Grebe on the Andes, 146.

352

Index.

Guacamayo Mountain, 190.

Guamani, 144, 179.

Guapulo, 178.

Guarani race, 31G.

Guarana, 290.

Guaranda, 46.

Guayaquil, city and people, 25.

" climate, 28.

" commerce, 29.

" histoiT, 28.

market, 30.
Guayas Eiver, scenes on, 32.
Guayusa tea, 193.
Gurupa, 253.
Gypsy-birds, 223.

Hammocks, 202.
Hats of Guayaquil, 31 .
Hatuntaqui, battle of, 56, L"^4:.
Hauxwell,Mr.,227, 229.
Health in the tropics, 331.

" on the Andes, 93.
Heart of the Andes, 48.
High altitudes, experience at, 06, 142.
Himalayas, vegetation on, 50, 100.
Horns, blowing of, 209.
Horses, extinct species of, 154.

" for the Andes, 36.
Hospitality, Ecuadorian, 35, 71.
Hotels, Andean, 40, 53.

" in Guayaquil, 328.

" in Quito, 329.
Howhng monkeys, 223, 313.
Huallaga River,' 268.
Humboldt, 136, 156, 348.
Hummers in Quito, 107, 347.

" on the Amazon, 3u3.
Hybrids, 43.
Hypsometric zones, 50.

Ibarra, 157.

Ibis, 308.

Ida Pfeiffer, 53.

Iguana, 304.

Imbabura, 143, 154.

Immorality of priests, 89.

Incarial rehcs, 109, 112, 124.

Incas in Quito, 56.

Indian character, 153, 203, 243.

" dwellings, 78.

" ■ peons, 36, 183.

" savages, 221.

' • villages, 237.
Indians, Amazonian, 315.
" Andean, 69, 109, 111.
" as travelers, 186.

India-rubber-tree, 288.
In memoriam, 334,
Insect pests, 224.
Insects, Amazon, 206, 300.

", in Quito, 108.
Iquitos, 231.
Itulcachi, 178.

Jacamars, 308.
Ja9anas, 308.
Jacapas, 308.
Jaguars, 311.
Japura Kiver, 267, 320.
Javari River, 269, 320.
Jesuits, 89, 321.
Jiggers, 108.

Jivaros Indians, 165, 171.
Jui'i's Indians, 319.
Jurua River, 269, 319.
Jutahi River, 269.

Lady travelers on the Amazon, 236.

La Mona, 38.

Language of Ecuador, 71.

Latacunga, 53.

Lava, absence of, 122.

" streams, 144.
Lepers, 55, 94.
Lianas, 188.
Lice-eating, 181.
Life within the Amazon, 295.
" around the Amazon, 300.
Lignite on the Amazon, 225, 283.
Lion, American, 105.
Living on the Amazon, 235.
Lizards- of the Amazon, 304.
Llama, 104.

" fossil, 154.
Llanganati Mountains, 149.
Locro, 44.
Loja, 152.

Longevity on the Andes, 92.
Loreto, 232.
Lotteries in Quito, 90.
Lungs of mountaineers, 95,
Lvell on the VaUey of the Amazon,

■'347.

Macaws, 306.

Machachi, 55.

Madeira River, 269.

Mama'i, 234.

Mamelucos, 239.

Mammals on the Amazon, 309.

Manaos, 243.

Manati, 215, 299.

Index.

353

Mandioca, 291.
Mango, 34.

Manufactures of Quito, 77.
Marafion River, 227.

" steamers, 230. .
Maravilla, 48.
Market of Quito, 77.
Mashka, 36.
Maspa, 186.

Masquerade, Indian, 110.
Mastodon, Andean, 154.
Mata-mata turtle, 299.
Maucallacta, 232.
Mauhes Indians, 318.
Mazan River, 226.
Meat, preservation of, 222.
Merchants of Quito, 74.
Mica Lake, 146.
Milk on the Andes, 179.
Milkv Way at Quito, 98.
Mixed races, 68, 322.
Mocha, 52.

Mongruba-tree, 288.

Monkey meat, 203.

Monkeys, 223, 313.

Montana of Peru, 231.

Monte Ale'gre, 252.

Montuca flies, 224.

Moreno, President, 54, 86, 138.

Mountaineers, 43, 69, 95.

Mountains on the Amazon, 252.

Movabamba, 231.

Mules, 43.

Muleteers, 36.

Mundurucus Indians, 318.

Miiras Indians, 318.

Music in the forest, 205.

Musquitoes, 224, 228, 303.

Napo country, 164.
diseases, 198.
" fish, 226.
'^ Indians, 165, 197, 180, 210.

" journey, 174.

" navigation, 197, 209.

" productions, 196.

" rapids, 200.

" river,197, 199, 227, 268.

" scenery, 216, 220.

" tea, 193.

" turtles, 226.

" village, 194.

" wilderness, 188, 191.
Nauta, 231.

Negroes on the Amazon, 247, 323.
Negro River, 242, 266, 319.

Newspapers in Ecuador, 27, 80.
Nocturnal music, 205.

Obidos, 248.

Obsidian, 124, 148.

Orchids, 216.

Orchilla, 347.

Orejones, 222.

Orellana's expedition, 183, 207.

Organ-bird, 308.

Oriente, 164.

Otovalo, 157.

Outfit for travel, 327. •

Paita, raised beach at, 115.
Paja, or Paramo grass, 49.
Palms, cocoa, 35.

" on the Amazon, 287.
" on the Napo, 219.
Palo de cruz, 228.
Pampas, geology of, 282.
Panama hats, 31 .
Panuelon, 69.
Papallacta, 177, 181.
Papaya-tree, 202, 234.
Para City, buildings, 257.
" climate, 262.
" commerce, 259.
" currency, 260.
" government, 261.
" people, 258.
" view of, 254.
Para River, 254, 271.
Paramo, 33.
Parrots, 206, 306.
Passes Indians, 319.
Pastassa River, 150, 268.
Pebas, 227.

" fossils, 282, 347.
Peccaries, 221, 310.
Peons, 36, 183.
Peruvian bark, 47.

" ■ steamers, 230.
PfeifFer, Ida, 53.
Piassaba palm, 289.
Pichincha volcano, 124, 133, U(\
Pigs, mode of dressing, 49.
Pirarucu fish, 295.
Piiims, 224.

Pizarro at Coca, 183, 207.
Plantain, 34.
Poison antidote, 332.
Politeness, Ecuadorian, 35, 71.
Politics in Quito, 86.
Polylepis-trees, 50, 179.
Poncho, 69.

354

Index.

Porphyroid trachytes, 124,
Porpoises, 299.
Porto do Moz, 253.
Potatoes on the Andes, 101 .
Potato soup, 44, 50.
Prayinha, 253.
President's order, 176.
Priests of Quito, 89.
Protestant cemetery, 90, 334.
Puma, 105.
Pumice, 148.

" on the Amazon, 26^^.
Puna, 96.

Purus Indians, 318.
" Elver, 269.

Quadrupeds on the Amazon, 309.
Quartz, paucity of, 122.

Quito agriculture, 75.

',' amusements, 80.

" architecture, 78.

" arts, 78.

" atmosphere, 96.

" bells, 89.

" birds, 106.

" bull-baits, 80, 94.

" butterflies, 108.

" capital, 66.

" carnival, 81.

" climate, 91.

" cock-fights, 81.

" cookery, 84.

" currency, 75.

" diseases, 93.

" dress, 69.

" drunkenness, 142.

" education, 79.

" fashions, 70.

" fish, 108.

" flour, 98, 101.

" history, 56, 152.

" insects, 108.

" ladies, 70, 81.

" manufactures, 77.

" market, 77.

" masquerades, 81 .

" merchants, 74.

" newspapers, 80.

" politics, 86.

" population, 68.

" potatoes, 101.

" prices, 329.

" Protestant cemetery, 90.

" rehgion, 87.

" reptiles, 107.

" scenery, 178.

Quito servants, 83.

" situation, 55, 59, 62.

" streets and buildings, 64, 65.

" street scene, 60.

" suburbs, 55, 59.

" under the Incas, 56.

" under the Spaniards, 57.

" VaUey, 51, 55, 73, 149, 152.

" " archaeologv' of, 109, 1 1 2.
Quitonians, character of the, 71, 86.
" primeval, 109.

Rain-fall at Quito, 93.

" line on the Andes, 45.
Raposa, 233, 311.
Regularity of nature, 92.
Religion of Ecuador, 87.
Religious intolerance, 91, 347.
Reptiles at Quito, 107.

" on the Amazon, 296.
Revenue of Ecuador, 87.
Ride doAvn the Andes, 180.
Rimos Indians, 322.
Riobamba, 150, 153.
River systems of South America, 118,

275.
Roads on the Andes, 43, 53, 74.
Rodents on the Amazon, 309.
Romanism on the Andes, 88.
Rose of the Andes, 1 03.
Routes across South America, 325.
Ruminagui, 146.

Salt on the Andes, 19^!.

San Antonio, 233.

Sand-flies, 224.

Sangai volcano, 150.

San Paulo, 237.

Santarem, 251.

Santa Rosa, 201.

Sapucaya nut, 290.

Sarsaparilla, 224.

Saiiba ants, 1 94, 300.

Savages on the Napo, 221 .

Savaneta, 40.

Scenery on the Amazon, 253.

Sea-cows, 215.

Serpa, 247.

Shells in Quito Valley, 109.

" in the Amazon Valley, 295.
Sierra, 33.

Silk-cotton-tree, 220, 289.
Sincholagua, 146.
Sloths, 310.

Slow-worm on the Napo, 194.
Snakes, scarcity of, 195, 332.

Index.

355

Snakes on the Amazon, 305.
Snow at high ahitudes, 138.

" limit in the Andes, 125.
Soil in the Amazon Valley, 286.
Solimoens, 237.
South America, geology of, 1 l-t.

" American fauna and flora, 103.

" American Indians, 315.
Southerners on the Amazon, 246, 251 .
Spanish character, 328.
" language, 71.
" Republicanism, 58.
Spiders on the Amazon, 304.
Stars at Quito, 97.
Staunton, Col., burial of, 91, 33-t.
Steam on the Amazon, 230, 234, 330.
Storm on the Napo, 213.
Sugar on the Amazon, 252.

" on the Andes, 329.
Sugar-cane on the Amazon, 291.
Suno, 205.
Superstition, 54.

Tabatinga, 233.

Table-lands of the Old World, 152.
Tablon, 178.
Tacunga, 53.
Tambillo ridge, 55.
Tambo on the mountains, 40.
Tapajos River, 270.
Tapir. 104, 310.
Tetife River, 269.

Temperature, correspondence of alti-
tude and latitude as to, 145.
Termite ants, 301.
Thermometer, variations of, 92.
Tide on the Amazon, 275.
Timber on the Amazon, 289.
Tiupullo, 54.

Toads of the Amazon, 304.
Tobacco on the Amazon, 291.

" use of, by the Napos, 197.
Tocantins River, 271.
rolling-bell bird, 307.
Tortoise-shell wood, 289.
Toucan, 206, 306.
Trade wind, 118.
Trail in the forest, 182.
Trapiche, 207.

Traveling in South America, 325.
Trees in Quito Valley, 100.

" on the Amazon, 288.
Trogon, 308.

Tropical flowers, 292, 347.
forest, 287.

Tropical vegetation, 84, 38, 188, 190,

219.
Tuciina Indians, 320.
Tucker, Admiral, 232.
Tunantins, 237.
Tunguragua volcano, 149.
Tupi race, 316.
Turtles in the Amazon, 297.
" in the Napo, 215, 226.

Uaupes Indians, 319.
Ucayali Indians, 321.

" River, 268.
Umbrella bird, 307.
Upper Amazon towns, 231.
Urari poison, 228.

Valediction on the Napo, 204.
Valley of the Amazon, 280.
" of the Andes, 130.
" of the Chimbo, 46.
" of Quito, 51, 55, 73, 149, 151,
155.
Vanilla on the Napo, 196.
Vegetation in the tropics, 34 , 38.
" on the Amazon, 287.

" zones of, on the Andes,

50.
Verdure on the Amazon, 285.
Veta, 96.

Victoria Regia, 292.
Views from the Andes, 45.
Villa Nova, 248.
Vocabularies, Indian, 339.
Volcanoes of Ecuador, 122, 125, 151.

Washerwomen of Quito, 83.

Water-beetles, 295.
' ' carriers, 6 1 .

Water-shed of the Atlantic and Pa-
cific, 54.

Water-snakes, 296.

Wayside inn, 40.

White ants, 301.

Wisse, j\I., descent into Pichincha,
138.

Wool, Andean, 104.

Xingu River, 271.

Yagua Indians, 320.
Yana-urcu, 142.
Ypadu, 291.
Yuca, 167.
Yurimaguas, 231.

356

Index.

Zaparo Indians, 165, 170.
Zodiacal light, 98.
Zones of vegetation, 50.
Zoology of the Napo, 206.

Zoology of South America, 286.
Zoological pro-vdnces of Amazonia,
300.

THE END.

1

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