Population of
Quito.--Dress.--Manners.--Character.--Commerce.--Agriculture.
--Manufactures.--Arts.--Education.--Amusements.--Quito Ladies.
Quitonians claim for their capital eighty thousand inhabitants; but when
we consider that one fourth of the city is covered with ecclesiastical
buildings, and that the dwelling-houses are but two stories high, we see
that there is not room for more than half that number. From thirty
thousand to forty thousand is the estimate of the venerable Dr. Jameson,
who has resided here for a generation.[22] 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, reveal 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 capacity, quick
perception, and uncommon civility; but they lack education and industry,
energy and perseverance. Their wealth, which is not great, consists
mainly in _haciendas_, yielding grain, cotton, and cattle. The Aguirre
family is one of the noblest and wealthiest in the city; their 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 burden. Many sell themselves for money in advance,
and then are ever kept in debt. Excepting a few Zambos (the children of
Indians and Negroes), and a very few foreigners and Negroes, the
remainder, constituting the bulk of the population, are Cholos--the
offspring of whites and Indians. They are not strictly 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 expression of countenance." This may
be true on the pampas, but Quito, where there is every imaginable
mixture of Indian and Spaniard, is wonderfully free from ugly features.
It may be owing to the more peaceful and civilized history of this
mountain city.
[Footnote 22: Spanish rhetoric is given to exaggeration. "All their
geese are swans." A Peruvian assured us that Cuzco contained 200,000
souls. It is, in fact, about as large as Quito; Gibbon says 20,000.]
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 _poncho_, 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 which the head is passed. It is the only variable
article of the wardrobe. It is an excellent riding habit, and is made of
heavy woolen for mountain travel, and of silk or cotton for warmer
altitudes. No 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 pañuelon is the most essential article of
female gear. It answers to the mantilla of the mother country, though it
is not worn so gracefully as on the banks of the Tagus. Andean ladies
are not troubled with the distressing fluctuations in the style of hats;
a bonnet in Quito is as much out of place as a turban in New York. When
the daughter 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 jewelry complete the visible attire
of the belles of Quito.
The ordinary costume of the Indians and Cholos consists of a coarse
cotton shirt and drawers, and silk, cotton, or woolen poncho of native
manufacture, the females adding a short petticoat, generally of a light
blue 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 _alpargates_, made of the fibres of the aloe. They are very fond
of bracelets and necklaces. 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 courtesy, cordiality, and
good-nature, and are not far below the grave and decorous Castilian in
dignified politeness.[23]
[Footnote 23: "I must express my admiration at the natural politeness of
almost every Chileno. We met, near Mendoza, a little and very fat
negress, riding astride on a mule. She had a _goître_ so enormous that
it was scarcely possible to avoid gazing at her for a moment; but my two
companions almost instantly, by way of apology, made the common salute
of the country by taking off their hats. Where would one of the lower or
higher classes in Europe have shown such feeling politeness to a poor
and miserable object of a degraded race?"--_Darwin's Naturalist's
Voyage._]
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 Spanish _hidalgos_. Their compliments and promises are
without end; and, made in the magnificent and ceremonious language of
Spain,[24] are overwhelming to a stranger. Thus a fair Quitonian sends
by her servant the following message to another lady: "Go to the
Señorita 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
family; 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."[25] This highly important message the servant delivers like a
parrot, not omitting a single compliment, but rather adding thereto.
[Footnote 24: The Spanish tongue is the manly son of the Latin, as the
Italian is the fair daughter; a language in which, as Charles V. said,
"God ought alone to be addressed in prayer." It is spoken in America
with an Andalusian rather than Toledan pronunciation.]
[Footnote 25: We are indebted to Mr. Hassaurek for this capital
illustration. Every lady, married or unmarried, is addressed _Señorita_,
or Miss.]
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 he stays in Quito he will not lose sight of the contrast between big
promise and beggarly performance. This outward civility, however, is not
hypocritical; it is mere mechanical 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: "Our
vices we owe to Spain; our virtues to ourselves."[26]
[Footnote 26: "When speaking of these countries, 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.]
Such is the mutual distrust, partnerships are almost unknown; 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. _Mañana_ (to-morrow), like the _Boukra_ 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 wish nor when he promises. No amount of cajolery,
bribery, or threats will induce a Quitonian to do any thing or be any
where in season. If there were a railroad in Ecuador, every body would
be too late for the first train. There are only one or two watch-tinkers
in the great city, and, as may be inferred, very few watches are in
running order. As a consequence, the people have very little idea of
time. But this is not the sole reason for their dilatoriness; they are
indifferent. Nobody 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
manifest a commendable diligence. Contempt for labor, a Spanish
inheritance, 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. Jameson, 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
gentlemen by profession walk the streets and cathedral terrace, proud as
a Roman senator under his toga, yet not ashamed to beg a cup of coffee
at the door of a more fortunate fellow-citizen. Society is in a constant
struggle between ostentation and want.
Nature has done more for Ecuador than for Ecuadorians. 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, Señor 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 Valley 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 treasures buried by the Incas, and
stories of gold deposits in the mountains. Of commerce there is scarcely
enough to deserve the name. Quito is an ecclesiastical city, and is
nearly supported by Guayaquil. Without capital, without energy, without
business habits, Quitonians never embark 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 Cordillera. 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 encourage great
undertakings; all business is periodically paralyzed by revolution.
Merchants generally buy their goods in Lima, to which city and Guayaquil
the fabrics of England 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 wholesale, 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. Articles are not wrapped in
paper; customers must get them home the best way they can. Ladies of the
higher class seldom go out shopping, but send for samples. It is
considered disgraceful to either sex to be seen carrying any thing
through the streets of Quito. The common people buy only for immediate
wants--a dose of medicine, or a handful 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 1867, 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 calé, 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 copper coin--oranges and
loaves of bread are sometimes used to make change; and nearly all the
gold in circulation are New Granada _condors_ 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 people followed) on
the plea that it would prevent the exportation of coin. The plan has
succeeded, for it does not pass out of the valley.
Nearly the only sign of progress is the late introduction of the grape
and silk-worm; and these give so much promise of success that the
threadbare nobility have already begun 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 speaking, 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 operation; 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 the day, or whenever milk is wanted. The operation
is a formidable one to these bull-fighting people. Stopping at a
hacienda near Peliléo 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,
evidently 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 outstretched
arms, milked into a calabash.
Agricultural machinery is not in use. The first threshing-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 awkward.
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. Sometimes 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 naturalized on the lowlands, while the highlands
would welcome the grains and fruits of Europe. But intertropical people
do not subdue nature like the civilized men of the North; they only pick
up a livelihood.
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 considered
downright folly in theory and practice. A large portion of the valley,
left treeless, is becoming less favorable for cultivation.
Yet, as it is, the traveler is charmed by the emerald verdure of the
coast, and by "evergreen Quito"--more beautiful 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.[27]
[Footnote 27: The vase is still shown in which Father Rixi brought the
first wheat from Europe. It was sown in what is now the San Francisco
Plaza, the chief market-place of the city.]
There is but little manufacturing industry in the interior of Ecuador,
but much more than on the coast. The chief articles manufactured are
straw hats, shoes, baskets, carpets, embroidery, tape, thread, ponchos,
coarse woolen and cotton cloth, saddles, sandals, soap, sugar, cigars,
aguardiente, powder, sweetmeats, carved images, paints, and pottery.
Wines, crockery, glassware, cutlery, silks, and fine cloth are imported.
There are three cotton mills in the country; one in Chillo (established
by Señors Aguirre in 1842), another in Otovalo (built by Señor Parija in
1859), and a third in Cuenca (1861). The machinery of the Chillo factory
came from England; that of Otovalo from Patterson, N.J. The latter was
utterly destroyed in the late great earthquake, and the proprietor
killed. The cotton is inferior to that of New Orleans; it is not "fat,"
as mechanics say; the seeds yield only two per cent. of oil. But it is
whiter than American cotton, though coarse, and can be used only for
very ordinary fabrics. The average length is five eighths of an inch.
One pod will produce on an average three pennyweights. The mills of
Chillo and Otovalo consume 425,000 pounds annually. The first sugar-mill
was erected by the Aguirres in 1840 at Nanegal.
[Illustration: Indian Dwellings.]
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 plastered on wattles, like the
Druses of Mount Lebanon. Living on the equatorial line and on the
meridian so accurately 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
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 Quito. If you wish to move, you must coax a dozen Indians,
who care little for your money or your threats. Horse-hire, peonage, and
most mechanical work must be paid for in advance. Carriages--antique
vehicles, of which there are two or three in the city--are drawn by
mules. The first was introduced by Señor 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 painfully ignorant of their own
country. The most enterprising merchant ignores every thing but Quito
and the road to Guayaquil.
We can not praise the musical talent of Spanish Americans; 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 could
not remember 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,
was never sketched by a native.
Ecuador boasts of one University and eleven colleges; yet the people are
not educated. Literature, science, philosophy, law, medicine, are only
names. Nearly 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 hundred and eighty-five
students, of whom thirty-five are pursuing law, and eighteen medicine.
There are eleven professors. They receive no fees from the students, but
an annual salary of $300. The library contains eleven thousand volumes,
nearly all old Latin, Spanish, and French works. The cabinet is a bushel
of stones cast into one corner of a lumber-room, covered with dust, and
crying out in vain for a man in the University to name them. The College
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 Ecuador. 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 Cuenca, and one in Quito. _El
Nacional_, of the capital, is an official organ, not a newspaper; it
contains fourteen duodecimo pages, and is published occasionally by the
Minister 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 amusing. Indo-Castilian
blood runs too slowly for merry-making. There are no operas or concerts,
no theatres or lectures, 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 sport is reserved for the most notable
days in the calendar: Christmas, New Year's, Inauguration-day, and
Independence-day--the 10th of August.
Cock-fights come next in popularity, and are _bona 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 Catalina,
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 sprinkling with water. Whoever
invented this prelude to Lent should be canonized. Masquerades occur
during the holidays, when all classes, in disguise or fancy dress, get
up a little fun at each other's expense. 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 silent 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-possession, their elegant but unaffected
bearing, and the choiceness of their language, would enable them to make
a creditable appearance in any foreign drawing-room." Their natural
talents are of a high order; but we must add that the señoras are
uneducated, and are incapable of either great vices 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. Prayer-books and French novels (imported, as wanted, for
there is not a book-store in the city) are the alpha and the omega of
their literature; Paris is considered the centre of civilization. They
are comely, but not beautiful; Venus 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 vifs et ardent, le pied fine et
mignon, les teintes chaudes et dorées" distinguish the latter. In the
ladies of the high capital there is nothing of this: "Les yeux ne
lancent pas de flammes, le pied est sans gentillesse, l'epiderme ne
reflète pas les rayons du soleil." The ladies on the coast take all
possible pains to preserve the small size of the foot; a large foot is
held in horror. Von Tschudi once overheard some ladies extolling in high
terms the beauty of an English lady; all their praise, however, ending
with this exclamation, "But what a foot! Good heavens! it is like a
great boat!" Gibbon is continually talking of beautiful señoras and
señoritas on the Andes; surely the lieutenant is in sport.[28]
[Footnote 28: "The young ladies of Cuzco are, in general, very
beautiful, with regular features, fresh olive complexions, bright eyes
full of intelligence, furnished with long lashes, and masses of black
hair plaited in two tails."--_Markham_.]
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 Sundays. They take more
interest in political than in domestic affairs. Dust and cobwebs are
unmistakable signs of indifference. Brooms are rarities; such as exist
are besoms made of split stick. Since our return, 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. Not only the lords, but also the ladies, are
inveterate smokers. Little mats are used for spittoons.
[Illustration: 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. No class, pure-blood or
half-breed, is given to ablution, though there are two public baths in
the city. Washerwomen repair to the Machángara, where they beat the
dirty linen of Quito over the 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 earlier 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 the 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.[29] 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.
[Footnote 29: We noticed at Riobamba 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 down beside the table, and
offers thanks in a very solemn, touching tone.]