Villa of Ibarra, Description.....Villa of Otavalo, Description....
Lakes San Pablo and Cuicocha....Visit to the River Mapo....Gold
Mines on the Banks of....Indians pay their Tribute in Gold....Bæza,
the Capital of the District....Description of the Inhabitants, &c.
....Commissioned by the Government to Explore a Road from the
Capital to the nearest Point of the Coast....Maldonado's Road....
Leave Quito....Cross the Skirts of Pichincha, arrive at the River
Piti....Description of the Country....Description of Piti....
Proceed to Esmeraldas....Description of the River of Jaguar....
Houses, Plantations, Cattle....Method of Distilling Rum....Food of
the Inhabitants...._Saino_ Tatabra, and _Aguti_, or Huatus....
Monkey and Charapa....Method of Killing Game with the _Sorbetana_
and Poisoned _Pua_.
Eighteen leagues to the northward of Quito is the town, _villa_, of
Ibarra: it contains about twelve thousand inhabitants, many of whom are
employed in the manufactories of cotton and woollen cloths, stockings,
coverlets, and ponchos; the last of which are superior to those of any
other part of the kingdom. Here are a parish church and four convents,
San Francisco, Santo Domingo, San Augstin, and la Merced, and a nunnery
of La Conceptión. The houses are generally good, the streets wide and
convenient, and the market-place capacious. Some of the shops are
tolerably stored with European goods, and the trade carried on is very
considerable. The climate is warmer than that of Quito, and the market
is supplied with meat, pulse, fruit, and vegetables. Ibarra, being the
capital of the district of the same name, is the residence of the
Corregidor.
In the district of Ibarra are many very fruitful valleys, in which there
are extensive plantations of sugar cane, from which the best sugar in
the kingdom is manufactured. The wheat grown in this district is also of
the finest quality.
To the south west of Ibarra is the town, villa, of Otavalo, the capital
of the province or district of the same name. It contains from eighteen
to twenty thousand inhabitants, many of whom are mestisos, of a fair
complexion, and handsome in appearance; some of the men are remarkably
robust and muscular, indeed I never saw a race of finer looking people
than an assembly of Otavaleños on a Sunday, when they meet at church, or
at a feast. The climate of this town is much colder than at Ibarra, or
Quito, owing to its greater elevation, as well as to its proximity to
Cayambe urcu. Cotton and wool are manufactured here in the same manner
as at Ibarra, the natives appearing more inclined to this kind of
labour than to the cultivation of the earth. Large quantities of cattle
are bred in the district of Otavalo, and some of the large estates have
from four to five hundred indians attached to them, who are employed
either in the cultivation of the land, or in the manufactories, obrages.
One large estate belongs to the Count of Casa Xijon, who brought several
mechanics and artisans from Europe for the purpose of establishing a
manufactory of fine cloths, woollens, and cottons; also for printing
calicoes, and other goods; but being prevented by the interference of
the royal audience, and a subsequent order from Spain, he was prevailed
on to destroy all his machinery, and to re-embark the artisans for
Europe.
In this district there are two lakes; the larger one, called de San
Pablo, is about a league long and half a league wide, and is most
abundantly stored with wild geese, ducks, widgeons, herons, storks, and
other aquatic birds, but no fish. The smaller one is called Cuicocha; in
the centre of this there is a small island, where there are abundance of
guinea pigs in a wild state, named by the natives _cuis_, and hence the
name _Cuicocha_, cocha signifying a lake. Some small fish called
prenadillas, are caught here; they are somewhat similar to prawns, but
when boiled retain their colour, which is almost black.
After I had visited Ibarra and Otavalo, I was ordered by the President,
in December, 1808, to visit the river Napo, for the purpose of reporting
on the state of the gold mines on the shores of that river. This
commission was extremely flattering to my wandering inclinations, not
only on account of my being thus able to visit some parts of the country
little known to Europeans, but because I should have an opportunity of
witnessing the very river where the undaunted Orellana embarked, and
among undiscovered and unheard of nations traversed the greatest extent
of country that had ever been crossed at that time by any human being.
I was accompanied by six indians from Quito, and four yumbo indians. The
latter inhabit a valley between Quito and Bæza, and frequently bring to
the former place pine-apples, bananas, yucas, camotes, besides other
fruits and esculents. The yumbos were our guides, while the Quito
indians carried my provisions, clothes, bedding, and other necessaries.
Our first day's journey was to Pomasqui, where we passed the night at
the house of a friend, who kindly added some machica and dried tongues
to my stock of eatables. On the following day we began to ascend the
eastern chain of the Cordillera, and slept at night in a small hut made
of a few slight poles, covered with pajon; the following night we slept
to the eastward of Antisana. On the fourth day we began to descend by a
very rugged path, and in some places so nearly perpendicular that we
were obliged to prevent ourselves from falling by taking hold of the
roots of trees, or the crags of rocks; however, about three o'clock in
the afternoon we reached the first small plantation and first hut of the
yumbos, where we remained that night, and on the following day I found
myself travelling along the north side of the Napo.
I was met here by the son of Don Diego Melo, Governador of Archidona,
who pointed out to me the soil which contained gold. It was of a reddish
hue, and generally lay about three or four feet deep, having underneath
it a stratum of indurated clay; some of these _capas_, as they are
called, extend from one to two hundred yards or more from the margin of
the river, and are of different breadths, from twenty to sixty yards. No
trees or vegetables grow in this kind of soil, and the gold, its only
produce, is obtained by washings: hence they are called _lavaderos_,
washing places, which I shall describe when on the coast of Choco.
The indians of the district of Archidona pay their tribute in gold dust,
which they collect from the sand along the sides of the different
rivulets; but owing to their ignorance of the comforts which this metal
would procure them, or perhaps to a dread of their being enslaved by the
_mita_, to work the mines, should they ever present themselves to pay
the tribute with an excess of it, they generally take care to pay it at
five or six different times, always complaining of the scarcity of gold,
and the trouble it costs to procure a small quantity. It is nevertheless
known, that if any remain after the payment is made, they throw it into
the river; but Don Diego Melo assured me, that one indian always paid
his tribute in a kind of gold, which he showed to me, and which was
evidently not in natural grains, but in small particles apparently cut
with a knife, or some other instrument, from a solid lump of that metal.
Don. N. Valencia sent some negroes to work a lavadero on the Napo; but
his death occasioned them to be recalled shortly afterwards, and the
project was abandoned, the negroes being ordered to return to Choco.
There can be no doubt as to the immensity of treasure which is buried
in the capas, nor of that which is annually washed down by the rains
through the small ravines and rivulets into the river Napo, and thence
into the Marañon, where it is lost. I think the necessity of negroes for
working these mines might be superseded by a kind treatment of the
native indians; by indulging them in their foibles at first, and
afterwards gradually convincing them of the benefit that would result to
themselves from their free labour in the mines. It would certainly be
superior to that of cultivating a few patches of land, and carrying the
produce to Quito or any of the other Spanish towns, to barter for iron,
fish-hooks, brads, and indigo. It is very evident, that such a project
would require a considerable degree of patience and self-command, and I
may add of honesty too, because the principal object would be to secure
the confidence of the indians, which, owing to the conduct generally
observed to them by the Spaniards, would not be easily accomplished.
From the accounts which I was able to collect, it appears that all the
rivers and streams in the neighbourhood of the Napo contain gold; and in
different parts of the province of Archidona, or, as it is more
generally termed, Quixos y Macas, there are capas, or strata of earth
whence gold may be extracted by washings.
Bæza is the ancient capital, and formerly contained upwards of ten
thousand inhabitants; but since the expulsion of the Jesuits it has
become entirely depopulated, as well as Archidona and Avila, two other
cities, and twenty-two missions, the greater part of the indians having
taken to their original way of living in a wild state. Those that remain
are generally called yumbos; they employ themselves in the cultivation
of cotton, sugar-cane, mam, and some tropical fruits, which they carry
to Quito to barter for those commodities which they find necessary
either for fishing or for the chase. They also manufacture the small
quantity of cloth which they require for themselves; this is of cotton,
and is generally no more than a _toldo_, mosquito curtain, in the shape
of a small tent, under which they sleep, besides one or two sheets of
the same material. The clothing of the men is merely a pair of short
drawers, reaching from the waist to about the middle of the thighs, and
is generally white; that of the women consists of a piece of blue cotton
cloth wrapped round the waist, reaching down to the knees; but a
profusion of glass beads adorn their necks, arms, wrists, and ankles.
Both men and women daub themselves with annota, achiote. In this half
dress they traverse the Cordillera, and with a basket made of
_piquigua_, a very tough creeper, carry their surplus to Quito.
On my return to the capital of the kingdom, I was commissioned by his
Excellency the President to re-explore the roads leading from Quito to
the coast, namely, that explored in 1741 by Don Pedro Maldonado
Sotomayor, and that opened in 1803 by the President, Baron de
Carondelet.
It had always been considered an object of the greatest importance to
open a communication between the capital and the nearest sea-port, for
the purpose of facilitating the commerce between this place, Panama, and
Terra-firma, and to avoid the inconveniences which are met with in the
circuitous road to Guayaquil, and which were highly injurious to
business in general.
In 1621 Don Pablo Durango Delgadillo was nominated Governador of
Esmeraldas; he contracted with the Royal Audience of Quito to open a
road at his own cost from the town of Ibarra to the coast, and to
establish _tambos_, lodging houses, on the road; but he failed in the
fulfilment of his contract, and in 1626 was deprived of his government,
which was conferred, on the same conditions, on Don Francisco Peres
Munacho, who failed, like his predecessor, and was removed. Don Juan
Vicencio Justinian and Don Hernando de Soto Calderon were afterwards
appointed. They proposed a route to the coast different from their
predecessors, but they also failed in the execution of their plan. It
was adopted, however, by the Baron de Carondelet, who ordered the road
leading from Ibarra along the bank of the river Mira to that of La Tola
to be opened; but it was soon discovered, that the river Tola, owing to
a sand bank, or bar, which crosses the mouth of it, could never answer
the purposes of a port; and, from the manner in which the road had been
formed, in three years it became impassable, and passengers generally
preferred the paths along the woods to the highway. The continuance of
this road as a communication between the capital and the coast was not
the only objection--a distance of eighteen or twenty leagues was added
to that proposed in 1735 by Don Pedro Maldonado Sotomayor.
This intelligent Quiteño employed himself for more than two years in
examining the country lying between the capital and the coast, and being
invested with the same powers that were given to other projectors, in
1741 he opened a road leading directly from Quito to the river Piti,
which has its origin in Pichincha, and forms part of the Esmeraldas
river. Maldonado immediately went to Spain, and solicited a confirmation
of the contract, and from the favourable report of the council, the King
erected Esmeraldas into a government and a Lieutenant-Captain
Generalship in 1746, conferring on Don Pedro Maldonado the appointment
of Governor.
On the return of Maldonado to Quito the Royal Audience opposed the
appointment, and immediately informed the Council of Indies, that the
projected port and road would only open to the enemies of Spain an
entrance to one of her richest American cities, without at any time
rendering an increase to the royal revenue. This report produced a
counter order, when Maldonado abandoned his native country in disgust,
and retired to France.
The importance of the projected communication was so glaring, that the
merchants and natives never abandoned any opportunity of proposing it.
The President Baron de Carondelet had been induced to open the road
called de Malbucho; but this failing to answer the expectations of the
people, the President Count Ruis de Castilla was solicited to order an
examination of Maldonado's projected road; and the commission for this
purpose was conferred on me in May, 1809.
I immediately prepared for my expedition, by ordering a surveying chain,
and by putting my sextant and some other instruments in order;
re-engaging also the indians who had accompanied me to Napo, as well as
six others. One of these was to be my carrier, and he waited on me for
the purpose of measuring me for a chair. My stock of provisions and
other necessaries having been procured, I left Quito with my suite; it
was composed of ten indians, with my luggage, one indian with my chair,
a servant, and four soldiers; forming a procession which would have
attracted the attention and drawn a smile from the inhabitants of any
city in England.
The indians had their usual dresses, composed of white drawers, brown
capisayas, and sandals made of bullock's hide. Each carried on his back
a basket, like those of the yumbo indians, having a girth passing under
the bottom of it, which crossed the forehead; another was fastened round
the basket, one end of which the indian held in his hand to steady his
cargo. My carrier had a chair made of canes, and just large enough for
me to squeeze myself into; it had a board to rest my feet upon, and two
or three canes formed an arch over my head; these were for the purpose
of placing leaves on when it might happen to rain. The two hind feet of
the chair rested on two straps, which passed round the arms of the
indian close to his body, and one attached to the top went round his
forehead; so that when seated my back was towards the back of my
supporter.
Leaving Quito, we travelled along the plain of Añaquito about two
leagues, and then began to ascend the skirts of Pichincha, at a small
village called Cotocollo: the ascent was very gentle, and after a
journey of five leagues, we rested on the western side of the summit, at
a small hamlet called Yana Cancha. We had here a most beautiful prospect
of the crater of Pichincha, which was only about half a mile distant,
and during the whole of the night I could hear a rumbling noise, and I
sometimes imagined that I felt a tremulous motion. These appalling
circumstances kept me awake for a considerable time, though they had no
such effect on my indians and the guard, nor on the inhabitants of the
house, who all slept soundly, and many of them snored most lustily. At
sunrise the view from Yana Cancha was most enchanting; from the slope of
the mountain, apparently from the crater, the river Mindo rolled down
to the fertile valley which it irrigates, dispensing its necessary
support to the many small plantations of sugar-cane, camotes, yucas,
bananas and plantains, which are cultivated at the bottom of the ravine:
to the westward immense forests extended themselves, forming the
boundary of the horizon to the naked eye; but with the assistance of a
good eye-glass I could perceive the Pacific Ocean beyond the limit of
the woods.
Having crossed two eminences called Yarumos, and another called Inga
Chaca, the remainder of the road to the place of embarkation on the
river Piti was quite level, being intersected about every three leagues
with small rivulets. The whole distance from Quito to Piti being only
eighteen leagues, without any obstacles whatever to prevent it from
being converted into a most excellent road, makes a difference between
this and that leading to Guayaquil of about fifty leagues of land
travelling.
When on our journey we had to halt for the night, the indians unloaded
themselves, and cut down six or eight slender poles, ten feet long,
which they stuck into the ground; they then cut others, which they tied
crossways to the former, with strips of bark; they next pulled the
upper part forward till this half roof formed an angle with the ground
of about forty-five degrees, and sticking a pole into the ground in
front, they tied the cross pole to the top of it to keep the building in
a proper position. The next business was to cover it, and for this
purpose each of them had procured when at Yana Cancha a roll of about
twenty _vijao_ leaves, which were laid in rows along it from the bottom
to the top, each leaf hanging over the next inferior one, so that the
rain was entirely carried off, and to secure the dryness of this rude,
yet comfortable cabin, a small gutter was always dug at the back to
carry off the water. During this operation part of the indians were
engaged in procuring water, either from some neighbouring rivulet, or,
after we had descended the hill called el Castillo, from the _huadhuas_.
These are large canes, the largest species I believe of the gramina
tribes; they grow to the height of forty feet, perfectly straight, and
at the bottom are about six inches in diameter. The whole of the cane is
divided by knots, from ten to fifteen inches asunder; when green, they
are filled with excellent water, so that from each division about two
quarts may be obtained by cutting a notch in the cane; when they are
approaching to a state of ripeness, the water becomes like a jelly, and
when quite ripe it is converted into a white calcareous substance, some
of the knots holding upwards of two ounces of this matter, which a few
months before was held in solution in a perfectly transparent fluid: on
this account the indians object to drink the water, on the supposition
that it may produce calculi.
The leaves are in shape somewhat similar to those of the banana, about a
yard long, and half a yard broad; the upper side is of a beautiful pale
green, the under white; it is covered with a substance which melts when
held near the fire, and collected has the appearance and possesses all
the qualities of bees' wax. A small portion of it being added to tallow
hardens it considerably, and the candles made from this composition are
rendered much more durable in hot climates. These leaves are preferable
to those of the plantain, or banana, for they are quite pliable, and are
therefore often used for packing instead of paper, whereas the banana
leaf is easily torn into shreds; this, however, may be prevented by
holding them over the fire till they become pliable. It is customary for
the indians to pay a real at Yana Cancha for the loan of each bundle,
which they engage to deliver on their return, or they give two bundles
for one instead of a real; thus travellers carry under their arms during
the day the roof which is to shelter them at night.
The soil of the country between Quito and Piti is very rich, and abounds
in many kinds of most excellent timber, suitable for buildings as well
as for the cabinet maker; among these there are cedars, huachapeli,
ebony, cascol, guayacan, lumas, and many others. One kind, called
_sangre de drago_, dragon's blood, grows in many places near to Piti. It
attains the height of forty or fifty feet; the leaf is somewhat similar
to that of the laurel, and the gum which it produces, and which gives it
the name it bears, oozes immediately whenever an incision is made in the
bark; it is then received on a leaf, or in a small hollow cane, or else
it is left to harden in the sun, by which means each drop becomes in
size and shape like an almond; the indians collect it and carry it to
Quito, where it is sold as a dye.
The appearance of the yarumos scattered in clusters in different parts
of the woods is most beautiful from an eminence. They are a species of
bombax; the wood is porous and light, the leaves extremely large, and of
a very pale green colour, so that amid the dark green foliage of these
extensive woods they look like enormous flowers.
The richness of the soil, the plenteousness of water, even for
irrigation should it be necessary, the serenity of the climate, and the
facility of procuring indians as labourers, with every advantage that
can be desirable, render it very probable, that this part of Quito will
soon become populous, and that Panama, and the mines of Chocó, will in a
few years be supplied with the produce of land now in an uncultivated
state. There can be no doubt but that herds of cattle and fields of
grain will crown the labours of those who may form establishments in
this charming territory, where maize, wheat, rice, and plantains, the
daily bread of the four quarters of the globe, will be produced in
abundance to reward the labour of the husbandman.
At Piti I found an old man, his wife, and two sons living in a
comfortable house, built like those of the Puna in the Guayaquil river,
shaded with half a dozen lofty coro palms, and fanned with the
magnificent leaves of the plantain, while the banana, several orange,
lemon, palta, guava, arnona, and other intertropical fruit trees were
laden with fruit, at the same time that small patches of sugar-cane,
yucas, and camotes, seemed to vie with each other in luxuriance: numbers
of turkeys, fowls and ducks ran about on a small plot of ground lying
between the house and the river, which is here about a hundred yards
wide. Two canoes were tied to two trees, in one of which there was a
small casting net, several harpoons and fishing lines--every thing
seemed to bespeak comfort, nay, even profusion.
The old man informed me, that he was a native of Guayaquil; but that he
had resided on this spot for more than fifty years, on which account the
natives of the country had surnamed him _taita_ Piti, father Piti. He
shewed me forty-eight tiger or jaguar skins, and assured me, that the
animals had all been slain by his own lance; but he was sorry, he said,
that the sport was at an end, not because he was old, but because there
were no tigers left in the neighbourhood for him to kill, upwards of
seven years having elapsed since he took the last skin. He assured me,
that whenever he found the track of a tiger he always followed it alone,
and never rested till he had slain his victim. The skins were hung on
the inside of the roof and round the sides of the house, forming a very
pretty, but rather uncommon kind of tapestry.
I here discharged my indians, and paid them only three dollars each,
although I had detained them eleven days on the road; my carrier told
me, that he had never had a lighter cargo, having had nothing but the
chair to carry; indeed I never entered it but twice, once out of
curiosity, and another time through persuasion: they all laid out their
money in fruit, roots, and dried fish, which they took to Quito, and
which would pay them at least cent. per cent.
I rested one day at Piti, and then proceeded down the river in a small
canoe with the two sons of old Piti, leaving orders for my servant,
luggage, and the soldiers to follow me in a larger one.
We glided down the stream about two miles, the river in some parts being
so narrow, that the branches of the trees which grew on each side were
entwined with each other over our heads, and formed a leafy canopy
almost impenetrable to the rays of the sun, and we could observe the
fishes frisking about in the water beneath; sometimes where the river
became wider, the margins were covered with the luxuriant gamalote, the
leaves of which are generally a yard long and two inches broad, being
somewhat like those of the maize; the stem is sometimes two yards high,
as green as the leaves, so long as the soil in which it grows continues
to be moist; but as soon as the earth becomes dry the plant immediately
decays. Here we saw some beautiful fat oxen grazing on this plant; they
belonged to the inhabitants of three houses, each of which was as
charmingly situated as that at Piti. We soon arrived at the place called
the _Embarcadero de Maldonado_, where we left our canoe tied to a pole,
and took a breakfast composed of smoked fish broiled, fried eggs, and
plantains; and for drink we had some _masato_ and rum made by the
natives.
The masato is made by boiling a quantity of ripe plantains till they are
quite soft; these are reduced to a pulp by beating them in a trough;
this pulp is then put into a basket lined with vijao leaves, and allowed
to ferment two, three, or more days; when it is wanted a spoonful or
more is taken out and put into a tutuma bored full of holes like a
cullender, a quantity of water is added to it, and the whole is rubbed
through the holes of one tutuma into another without holes, which serves
as a bowl to drink out of; or small tutumas are filled from it, and
handed round. I was highly pleased with the masato, and scarcely took
any thing else for my breakfast; the taste is a sub-acid, but remarkably
agreeable. I purchased a small basket for the remainder of our passage
down the river, at which my two _palanqueros_ were not a little pleased.
At the distance of three leagues from the Embarcadero de Maldonado a
most enchanting prospect suddenly burst on our sight. We had almost
insensibly glided along the unrippled surface of the river Piti, a
distance of about four leagues, during which the view was limited on
each side by the lofty and almost impenetrable woods, and before us by
the windings of the river--where not a sound was heard save the
occasional chattering of the parrots and monkeys on the trees, or the
shout of my palanqueros to the inmates of some solitary houses scattered
along the banks. Our sphere of existence seemed solitary, and as silent
as a dungeon, and I lolled in the canoe as if oppressed with
uninterrupted solemnity, such as might be congenial to the pious musings
of a holy anchorite; but I was suddenly roused from my reverie by the
loud roaring of the river Blanco, and in a moment the scene was changed;
at once our narrow river formed part of another, three hundred yards
wide; on our left the whole range of the country as far as the coast was
extended in the prospect. The Blanco, which rises in the neighbourhood
of Tacunga, after collecting part of the waters of el Corason and
Pichincha, and receiving those of several tributary streams, becomes
navigable at its junction with the Piti. The country on the western side
of the river is to a considerable extent very level, the soil good, but
the trees neither so numerous nor so lofty as in other parts, owing
perhaps to a scanty depth of soil, which seems extremely well calculated
for a rice country; indeed the natives assured me, that the small
patches sometimes cultivated here multiplied the seed six hundred fold.
After passing the mouths of several minor rivers we arrived at that of
Guallabamba, equal in size to the river Blanco. The union of the two is
called Esmeraldas. We continued our course, and reached the city of
Esmeraldas in the evening. The distance from Piti to this place is about
eighteen leagues, which notwithstanding our delays we completed in nine
hours.
During our passage down the river I was very much delighted with the
sight of a full grown tiger, which lay basking in the sun on a sand-bank
that projected from the side of the river almost across it. The noble
brute was stretched close to the edge of the bank, frequently dipping
his tail into the water, and sprinkling it over him, while his muzzle
and feet touched the stream. After watching the animal for a quarter of
an hour, my palanqueros became impatient, and at last taking their
lances they jumped ashore from the canoe, but at the same moment the
tiger sprang on his feet, yawned, stretched himself, and trotted into
the woods, leaving the two young fellows to lament the effects of their
less nimble feet.
Between Piti and Esmeraldas I counted forty-two houses, built on the
sides of the river, each having plantations of sugar-cane, yucas,
camotes, aji (capsicum), plantains, and bananas. Near many of the houses
horned cattle were feeding on the luxuriant gamalote, and at every house
pigs and poultry were running about. Each farmer has a hand-mill for
grinding sugar-cane; its construction is very simple, being composed of
two wooden rollers placed horizontally in grooves cut in two upright
pieces. The ends of the rollers project, one on each side, having cross
levers for the purpose of turning them; with this simple wooden machine,
for not one of all those that I saw had a nail, nor any other iron work
about it, the natives express the juice from the cane, for the purpose
of making _guarapo_, molasses, and rum; two men are generally employed
at the rollers, and a woman attends to place the cane between them,
while the boys and girls bring it from the plantation.
It was here that I observed the peculiar mode of cultivating the
sugar-cane, which I have already spoken of; that is, of cutting the ripe
canes every three months, uncovering the roots of the remainder,
incorporating the soil with new earth, or digging it as well as that of
the space between the two rows, and then hoeing the earth up to the
roots again. By these means the cane here is perennial; while in the
province of Guayaquil, where the same mode of cultivation is not
observed, the plant yields only two, or at most three crops. Although
the cane at Esmeraldas is of the creole kind, I have seen it when ripe
more than ten feet high, six inches in diameter, and seven or eight
inches between the knots or geniculi.
The means employed by the natives in the manufacture of their rum are
remarkably simple: the juice of the cane is allowed to obtain the proper
degree of fermentation, and is then distilled. The apparatus used for
this purpose is a deep earthen pot, having a hole on one side near the
top; through this they pass a large wooden spoon, having a groove in the
handle; on the top of the pot there is a pan luted to it with clay, and
this being repeatedly filled with cold water, and emptied, serves as a
condenser; the spirit drops into the spoon, and running along the groove
is received in a bottle. I considered this alembic as an invention of
the natives of this part of America, because I never saw it used in any
other place; the general custom of the indians is to content themselves
with fermented liquors from the manufactories of the white inhabitants,
especially where spirits cannot be purchased.
Spirits are also distilled from an infusion of very ripe bananas in
water; this is allowed to ferment, and is strained before it is put into
the alembic. Another fermented beverage, as well as spirit, is prepared
from the yuca; the root is boiled, reduced to a pulpy substance, and
placed in baskets to ferment, in the same manner as the plantains are
for the masato; when mixed with water and strained, it is called
_kiebla_, and the spirit distilled from it _puichin_. The water
contained in the coco-nut is also allowed to ferment, but this is seldom
drunk, it being considered very unwholesome. Although these people have
so many intoxicating liquors, they are not prone to drunkenness.
The food of the inhabitants consists of beef and pork, which is cut into
thick slices, salted and smoked. The beef which is fed on gamaloti is
good, but that fed on the savanas near to the sea is much better: the
hogs are fed on ripe plantains, and become very fat, but the meat is not
solid. Fowls are bred in great abundance; they feed well on ripe
plantains, and are delicate eating. Besides these, the woods produce
game in great abundance. Among the quadrupeds are sainos, tatabras,
deer, monkeys, agutis, iguanas, charapas: among the birds, poujis,
huacharacas, turkeys, parrots, and wild ducks of several varieties.
The saino, tatabra, and aguti are three varieties of the caira tribe;
the first is about two feet high and three feet long, and is slightly
covered with coarse black hair; the snout is shorter than that of a pig;
it has on its back a soft protuberance, which when opened emits a very
offensive musky odour, so much so, that the animal itself rolls about,
and places its nose close to the ground, as if to avoid the stench, and
its companions immediately desert it. The flesh of this animal, however,
is extremely delicate, and by the natives or any other person who has
tasted it, it is held in the greatest estimation: to preserve it the
natives smoke it in preference to using salt.
The tatabra is smaller than the saino; is very similar to it, but it has
no protuberance on its back. The aguti is not so large as a rabbit; it
is of a very dark grey colour, and the hind legs are much longer than
the fore ones; it generally sits on its haunches like a squirrel, and
might be mistaken for one; as well as the other two varieties, however,
it has no tail, at least not visible. These two species are easily
domesticated, they become very fat, and are good eating.
The monkey which is eaten by the natives is the black long-armed monkey.
I objected for a long time to taste it, but seeing the people around me
eat it, and hearing them all praise it, I laid aside prejudice, tasted
it, and afterwards became so fond of it, that I considered it superior
to any kind of meat I had ever eaten. The flesh is similar in colour to
mutton, the fat resembles that of pork.
The charapa is a small tortoise, the shell not being above four inches
in diameter: the natives generally season all the eatable parts, and put
them into the shell, which serves as a stew-pan: the eggs are remarkably
delicate, and when stewed with the meat the whole is very savoury.
The natives make use of the lance in killing the saino and tatabra. They
usually form parties for the purpose, and never go singly; for although
these animals will not attack a man who does not molest them, yet the
sainos when provoked are very desperate antagonists, and will attack
those who offend them. They make a hollow moaning noise, which leads the
natives to their feeding places, when they attack them with their long
lances; two or more men stand back to back, surrounded by these
poisonous brutes, and kill as many as they judge convenient; they then
pierce one on the back, when the rest immediately disperse to avoid the
smell. The tatabra is not so furious, and is an easier prey to the
huntsman.
During my stay at Esmeraldas I was requested to go into the woods, about
a league and a half from the town, to see a great curiosity; not being
able to learn what it was, I went, and found the two hind quarters of a
full grown jaguar suspended from the trunk of a tree, into which the
claws were completely buried; all the fore parts appeared to have been
torn away, and fragments of it were scattered on the ground: the sight
astonished me, and I was not less surprized at the account which I
received from the natives. The jaguar, for the purpose of killing the
saino, on which it feeds, rushes on one of a herd, strikes it, and then
betakes itself to a tree, which it ascends, and fastening its hind
claws into the tree, hangs down sufficiently low to be able to strike
the saino with its paws, which having effected in a moment it draws
itself up again, to escape being hurt by the enemy. However, it appeared
that in this case the jaguar had been incautious, and the saino had
caught it by the paw, when the whole herd immediately attacked it, and
tore as much of it to pieces as they could reach.
For taking birds the natives use a hollow tube of wood, from five to
eight feet long, called a _sorbetana_, or _bodojera_, the diameter of
the perforation being not more than half an inch; the dart used is
called _pua_, it is about seven or eight inches long, and very slender;
at one end a sharp point is cut, and it is notched round so as easily to
break off. This point is dipped in some poison, a small quantity of raw
cotton is wrapped round the pua, near the point, so as to fill the tube
into which it is put; the sportsman then applies his mouth to the tube,
gives a smart puff, and the pua is thrown to the distance of a hundred,
or a hundred and fifty yards, with an almost unerring certainty against
the object marked out, which in a moment falls to the ground and
expires. The poison used is brought from Maynas, on the banks of the
Marañon, where it is procured from a vegetable. It probably owes its
poisonous quality to the quantity of prussic acid which it contains,
although it does not possess either the taste or odour of that acid. The
activity of this poison is so astonishingly great, that I have seen a
monkey while jumping from one tree or branch to another, if wounded with
the poisoned point of a pua not larger than a fine needle, fall to the
ground before it could reach the adjacent bough; and birds as large as
turkeys will fall from their perch without being able to throw
themselves on the wing. A small black spot is left in the flesh by the
poison, but the whole of the meat is uninjured for food.
The natives use this poison as a purgative, and I was assured by several
who have taken it, that it operates very mildly; they always take it in
the form of a pill, carefully enveloped in a portion of the pulp of the
plantain, to prevent the possibility of its touching the gums, or any
lacerated part of the body, as death would almost inevitably be the
consequence. The only partial antidote known, when by accident a person
is wounded, is to eat a considerable quantity of sugar, and to this the
sportsmen have recourse after they have been employed for any
considerable length of time with the sorbetana, as sometimes a swelling
of the lips is produced, which they suppose to be occasioned by inhaling
the contaminated air in the tube. As a defensive weapon the sorbetana
and poisoned pua are excellent; in the hands of these people they would
commit the greatest havoc, because they might be used in an ambuscade or
defile, without any noise or report; and the pua being almost invisible
in the air, an army ignorant of such missiles might be destroyed in the
same manner as a troop of monkeys, when one of which drops the rest
immediately flock to the spot, as if to examine the cause, and one after
another become the prey of the hunters.
The dexterity with which the sorbetana is used is very great; but the
men are trained to it from their earliest infancy. Boys of three or four
years old have their tubes of a proportionate size, and use the puas
without poison, with which they shoot small birds: they also frequently
entertain themselves in the evening with shooting the wasps, which build
their nests under the eaves or floors of the houses. I have often been
astonished at the extraordinary precision with which the little naked
rogues direct the pua.
Although the natives are such expert marksmen, either with their almost
unerring throw of the lance, or aim with the sorbetana, they are
passionately fond of fire-arms, and will give almost the whole of what
they possess for a fowling-piece or musket, and this notwithstanding
their want of skill in its use.