Visit to Cayapas....Village....Inhabitants....Houses and Furniture
....Visit to the Malabas, Wild Indians....Arrival at the Vijia....
Interview with the Cacique, Family of....Tribe of the Malabas....
Tradition of the Origin of....Dress of....Manners....Laws....Return
to Cayapas....Visit Tumaco....Description of....Barbacoas....
Description of....Gold Mines....Manner of Working them....Leave the
Coast, Malbucho Road....River Mira...._Puentes de Maroma_, and
_Taravitas_...._Piquigua_....Arrive at Ibarra, and Return to Rio
Verde and Esmeraldas....Ascend the River Quinindi....Boa
Constrictors....Santo Domingo de los Colorados....Indians....Dress
....Houses....Food....Cocaniguas....Quito.
During my stay on the coast I visited the new village of Cayapas: it is
composed of indians, living entirely free from the controul of any
Spanish governor or any authority. So ignorant were they of the forms of
the Spanish administration, that they only considered the royal audience
to be superior to their own alcalde. They did not even know what the
royal audience was, and they repeatedly called me the royal audience,
having mistaken the expression of the lieutenant-governor of La Tola,
who told them the royal audience expected they would attend on me, and
procure for me whatever I might want.
After a tedious journey up the river Tola, in a canoe, managed by four
indians, I arrived at New Cayapas, and was received by the alcalde, who
insisted on my taking possession of his baston, insignia of authority,
and retaining it as long as I remained with them: he ordered the indians
to obey me, and they advanced one after another to kiss the head of the
baston, and accompanied me to the house of the alcalde, which was
situated about thirty yards from the river side.
Cayapas scarcely deserves the name of a hamlet, there being only a small
church, the house for the parish priest, and two others; but the
situation is most beautiful: the small river, navigable for canoes, the
rich foliage of the large trees which overhang it, the branches in some
parts meeting each other, the enormous banana leaves, the stately coco
palm, and the verdant gamalote, every where enrich the scene. Houses are
scattered along the sides of the river, each having its small plantation
of sugar-cane, yucas, and camotes, its hogs and its poultry.
The indians are low in stature, very muscular, and of a lighter colour
than those of the interior. The dress of the men is a pair of drawers,
reaching from the waist to the middle of the thighs, and sometimes a
poncho. The women have a piece of blue cloth wrapped round the waist,
which reaches down to their knees, and a profusion of glass beads hangs
round their necks; but the children to the age of eight or nine years
are all naked. Both men and women paint their bodies with achiote, to
which they sometimes add a few dots or stripes of indigo, manufactured
by themselves from the plant which grows wild in every part of the
country where the shade of the trees does not destroy it.
The furniture of their houses is composed of a long bench made of canes,
which serves as a table, a sofa, or a bed; damajaguas, which serve as in
Esmeraldas, and the never-to-be-dispensed-with toldo, with curtains to
avert the attacks of the mosquitos at night. Their cooking utensils are
manufactured by themselves; their plates and dishes are the shells of
calabashes, their cups those of the tutuma, and their spoons of the
muscle: nature having thus provided them with the necessary equipage for
their food, in the same manner as she has with the ground for a table,
and the plantain leaves for cloths and napkins, which without any
expence may be renewed at every meal.
The principal employment of the natives is hunting, fishing, and
cultivating their small patches of sugar-cane, yucas, camotes, and
gourds. From the leaves of the aloe they make very fine thread, pita, in
considerable quantities. This article is either sent to Quito or to the
coast, where it finds a ready market, and procures for the indians the
few clothes which they require, as well as salt, which is brought from
the Punta de Santa Elena, in large canoes, and piraguas, (canoes with
planked sides and a sail), by the inhabitants of La Tola, Atacames, and
other places.
From the information which I had of the existence of a tribe of wild
indians, called Malabas, who reside on the river de San Miguel, which
joins that of Cayapas, I determined on visiting them, contrary to the
advice of my friends at La Tola. I accordingly requested a small canoe,
and two indians at Cayapas, and my request was reluctantly complied
with; however, on promising the alcalde a reward in the name of the
royal audience, I was equipped with what I wanted. Having with me a
considerable quantity of beads and hawks' bills, I was not afraid of
meeting with a kind reception: my servant declined accompanying me, and
remained at Cayapas.
I left my friendly alcalde, in possession of his baston, at about five
o'clock in the morning, and began to ascend the river with my two
palanqueros, who sometimes were obliged to use a considerable degree of
exertion to stem the current with a canoe that only measured eleven feet
in length, and was barely sufficient to carry us; and it is certain that
had they not been very expert, and I very quiet, we should have been
frequently upset. At four o'clock in the afternoon we arrived at the
house of the _vijia_, or look-out, where we remained till the following
morning. An indian was immediately despatched to inform the Cacique that
a viracocha, white man, or child of the sun, had arrived with two
Cayapos, and wanted to see him. About ten o'clock the Cacique came in
his canoe, with the messenger that had been sent to him, and as the
language of the Malaba bears a strong resemblance to the _Quichua_, I
soon entered into conversation with him. I assured him, that mere
curiosity had led me to pay him a friendly visit, and in a short time
the old man was satisfied; we embarked together in his canoe, the two
Indians being ordered to wait my return at the vijia house.
Before noon we arrived at the house of the alcalde, and found his family
highly delighted at his return, for the poor fellow who was sent from
the vijia had informed them, that I was a strange looking man, in a
strange dress, and that I had told him I was neither a Spaniard nor a
Creole. Although this excited the curiosity of the alcalde, it did not
alarm him, because, said he, I have been at the Spanish town of
Cotacache, and know that all white men do not come from the same place:
_this_ is perhaps as much as many travellers have to report when they
return from a grand tour. Question now followed question, without
waiting for answers; nor was the alcalde less teased than myself, it
being naturally inferred, that having been with me for two hours, he
must certainly know every thing about me. After allowing the noise to
continue for about half an hour, he ordered the females to retire, which
they did immediately. To my great surprise they went down the ladder
which we had ascended, after which they went up another at the back part
of the house; when I turned round, I observed that they were separated
from us by a division made of cane, three feet high above the floor,
where, with true female curiosity, they stood and listened, but never
spoke, except to one another in low whispers.
The Cacique and myself now seated ourselves on a damajagua, and four
young indians stood with their backs against the partition; I again
assured the old man that curiosity alone had induced me to visit him and
his people: he replied, that probably my _curiosity_ had tempted me to
come in search of lavaderos, gold mines, or to request of him to receive
missionaries, or to force him to become tributary. Having protested that
nothing of the kind was meant, as my inquiries and conduct while among
them would evince, he begged of me to make myself happy, for I was
perfectly at liberty to remain or to leave them whenever I chose, and
that if I thought proper to send my two Cayapos home, two of his sons
should accompany me to Cayapas at any time. To this I very readily
acceded, although I did not intend to remain more than a day or two; but
I wished to tease my friends, who were anxious with regard to my safety,
and then to convince them of the goodness of man in a natural state.
The tribe, at the head of which was Cushicagua, consisted of about two
hundred _ishcay huarango_ families, living within the distance of two
leagues of his house; besides these he assured me that a great number
of tribes were scattered about the woods lying between the Spanish
settlements in the interior and those on the coast. This information
sufficiently accounted for the reports which I had several times heard
at Quito, of smoke having been repeatedly seen ascending from different
parts of the woods to the westward of Otavalo.
According to the tradition of the Malabas, they and the other tribes
that inhabit the woods are descendants of the Puncays of Quito; and
although the Conchocando of Lican, the supreme chief of the territory
now called Quito, became the vassal of Tupac Yupangui, they were not
conquered by that prince, for he never passed the mountains towards the
coast; and since the conquest of the country by the Spaniards, although
the Cayapos solicited a Christian priest, and became tributary to the
whites, the Malabas have as yet lived quite independent.
The dress of the men consists of a pair of wide drawers reaching from
the waist to about the middle of the thighs, of a purple hue, which tint
or dye they procure from the bark of a tree growing in the neighbouring
woods, known at Quito under the name of _grana ponciana_, and which when
known in Europe will undoubtedly become an article of commerce. The
women are dressed in a very strange manner; a large piece of cotton
cloth is girded round the waist, two corners of the upper half cross the
breast, pass under the arms, are again brought over the shoulders, and
hang down in front almost to the waist; the two lower corners pass
between the legs, and are fastened to the back part; the whole body is
covered, and the appearance altogether is not ungraceful; the colour of
this garment is generally brown: the women have their ears perforated,
but instead of rings they use small bunches of the most beautiful
feathers they can procure, wearing another tuft of the same on their
heads. In the same manner the men often place three or four feathers
from the wing of the parrot in the _wincha_, an ornamented piece of
leather which they wear tied round their heads; both men and women
ornament their bodies with achiote, and some of the latter very
tastefully.
Nothing could exceed the joy which these people evinced when after my
first meal with them I borrowed a pair of drawers of one of the young
men, and putting off my own clothes I substituted the drawers, and
requested the females to paint me: to this the Cacique consented, and
they immediately descended their own ladder, and ascended the other;
after a great deal of laughter, and some disputes as to the beauty of
the figures drawn on my body with this red unctious matter, I was
complimented with a kiss from each of my _damas del tocador_, and told,
that if I were not so white I should be very handsome. I returned the
kindness which I had received by distributing among the females beads,
bells, and combs; I also gave to Cushicagua my spoon, knife, and fork,
and to the young men two glass bottles. My watch was the cause of
universal astonishment, the motion of the seconds' hand when lying on
the floor astounded them, conceiving that while I held the watch in my
hand I communicated the motion to it: when I applied the watch to their
ears their amazement was expressed in the most boisterous manner--they
shouted and jumped, and then listened again! and at last it was
concluded that I had a bird shut up in the little case, and that it was
endeavouring to release itself by pecking a hole. I then opened it, and
every one as he peeped laughed, and exclaimed, _manan, manan, chy
trapichote_--no, no, it is a sugar-cane mill, this being the only piece
of machinery they had ever seen, and the only resemblance consisted in
its rotatory motion.
These Indians have two meals a day, one in the morning the other in the
evening, composed chiefly of plantains, bananas, yucas, camotes, a
little flesh meat procured in the woods, and fish, of which there is a
great abundance in the river, to catch which they use the same means as
the Esmeraldeños.
I asked the old Cacique what crimes he had to punish among his subjects;
he told me, very few: theft he punished, he said, by taking from the
thief double what he had stolen, which he gave to the person injured; if
the thief could not satisfy the fine, he was delivered to the plaintiff
as a slave until his services might satisfy the claim. Adultery he
punished by obliging the man to maintain the woman as long as the
husband might think proper, or else by keeping him in the stocks, which
were under the house, till the husband begged his release. Murder, said
he, never happens among us; and all small crimes I punish by flogging
the criminals myself.
After remaining two days I left the Cacique of the Malabas, and returned
to Cayapas, his two sons being my palanqueros or canoe men. On leaving
him, he begged of me to send him some salt, which is very scarce among
them, and that when I was tired of living among the whites to come and
live at Malaba, assuring me, that I should have one of his daughters for
a wife, and be the Cacique. When I stood on the river side all the
females came to me and kissed me, and as the canoe floated down the
stream they all joined in a farewell ditty, which was answered by my two
young Indians. Nature claimed her tribute, and I paid it: I turned my
face to wipe away my tears, and blushed that I was ashamed at shedding
them.
On my arrival at Cayapas, I found that the cura of the Tola, on hearing
of my trip to Malabas, had come up to Cayapas with my four soldiers,
with the intention of demanding me of the Cacique; however, to his great
joy, my arrival made this unnecessary: his surprize, and that of my
soldiers and servant at seeing me step ashore in the garb of a Malaba
cannot be expressed: to complete the costume I had borrowed the lance,
made of chonta, of one of the indians. I sent to the kind Cacique
Cushicagua as much salt as the canoe could carry, and gave some trifles
to his two sons, who took leave of me in a very tender manner: they came
to me separately, and each laying his hands on my shoulders, kissed my
breast and retired. How easily such men might be reduced to what is
called civilized society! But would they be benefited by it? Would they
be more virtuous? Would they be more happy?
From Cayapas I returned to La Tola, and thence proceeded by the estuary
of Limones to Pianguapi, and crossing a small gulf I arrived in the
evening at Tumaco. This is an island in the bay, called Gorgona, which
takes its name from that of the Cacique Gorgona, who governed the island
on the first arrival of the Spaniards. The bay has a very good anchorage
for small vessels, but large ones generally anchor at the outer
roadstead, called el Morro. The island of Tumaco is about two miles long
and one broad, remarkably fruitful, and well cultivated, abounding in
tropical fruit trees. The town is formed of about a hundred houses; they
stand on the western side of the island, facing the anchorage, and
present a very beautiful view. The inhabitants are generally mulattos,
but call themselves Spaniards. It is the residence of a
lieutenant-governor, and is of itself a parish. Besides the island of
Tumaco there are in the same bay the islands called el Viudo, la Viuda,
el Morro, and Placer de Pollas. The river Mira enters the sea here at
three embouchures, called Boca Grande, Rio Claro, and Mira.
Tumaco is the sea-port to the city and province of Barbacoas, which is
approached by an estuary; at the head of this the canoes are dragged
across a piece of low ground, called el Arrastradero, and then launched
in the river which leads to Barbacoas, called el Telembi.
Barbacoas was founded in the year 1640 by the Jesuit Lucas de la Cueva,
who was a missionary sent from Quito for the conversion of the tribe of
indians called Barbacoas. After some time it was discovered that the
sand along the side of the river contained grains of gold: this induced
several persons to settle in the neighbourhood, and to employ themselves
in collecting the precious metal. Their success brought down others from
Quito and different parts of the interior, and a town was formed, which
was afterwards honoured with the title of city.
The climate of Barbacoas is extremely warm, and the rains continue
during the greater part of the year, so as to preclude the cultivation
of the land; hence all kinds of provisions are extremely dear, the
supplies being chiefly brought from the Province de los Pastos on the
shoulders of men, because it is impossible in the present state of the
road for any beast of burthen to travel; and so accustomed are the
carriers to their laborious way of living, that when, in 1804, it was
proposed to open a road, those men used all their influence to oppose
the execution of the plan; and as it was not of any pecuniary importance
to the Government, it was abandoned.
Among the inhabitants of Barbacoas are some very respectable families,
and many rich ones, all of which are employed in the lavaderos; but the
principal labour is done by negro slaves, who are here treated with
greater cruelty by their masters than in any other part of the colonies
that I visited; nakedness is of little importance to them in such a
climate, but hunger in all countries requires the antidote, food, and
this is really distributed to them very sparingly.
The city is the capital of the province of the same name, and the
residence of the lieutenant-governor. Here is also a _casa de
fundicion_, where the gold which is collected at the lavaderos is
melted, and where it pays the royal fifth. It is also the residence of
the vicar of the province, who exercises the ecclesiastical jurisdiction
of the whole coast belonging to the bishopric of Quito; the cabildo has
six regidores, and two alcaldes annually elected.
I returned from Barbacoas to Tumaco, and thence to La Tola, but before I
took my departure for Quito, by the road of Malbucho, I went to the
Playa de Oro, a gold mine belonging to the Valencias. At that time
(1809) this was one of the most popular mines, and I visited it for the
purpose of observing the manner of working them on a large scale, which
I had not then seen.
I have already mentioned, that the gold is found in a stratum of yellow
or orange-coloured earth, of different dimensions, but seldom more than
five or six feet deep, the inferior limit being a stratum of indurated
clay, called by the miners _laxa_. The first object after the site is
selected is, to form an embanked reservoir at the highest part of the
_capa_ or stratum, for the purpose of collecting the rain water; the
next is to throw aside all kinds of rubbish to the lateral limits of the
stratum; the slaves then begin to dig the ground or pick it over,
throwing aside all the large stones, after which the water which is
collected is allowed to run over the ground, while the slaves are
employed in forming with it and the earth a kind of puddle; after this
the stones and rubbish are again collected and separated, the water is
turned on, and in its course washes away the earth: these operations are
performed till the laxa begins to appear. The water is then conducted
along the sides by small channels cut for this purpose, and it is kept
running along the sides while the slaves are continually stirring it, so
that the earth is carried off by the water. When the whole is nearly
washed away the laxa is carefully swept, and every small crevice closely
examined, and a small channel is formed along the middle of the
lavadero, where the water is allowed to run down it; but particular care
is necessary not to make any perforations in the laxa or indurated clay,
as it might be the cause of a great loss of gold. The last washing is
generally performed in the presence of the master, as the larger grains,
_pepitas_, begin to be visible. After all the earth has been separated
by the repeated washings, the gold mixed with sand, iron sand, and
platina, is swept into the small channel, and collected by placing a
piece of board across it at a short distance from the reservoir, and
allowing a small portion of water to run for the purpose of cleaning out
all the crevices; the first quantity is then put into a trough or canoe,
and carried to the house of the miner; and another operation similar to
the last takes place with another portion of the earth, and so on till
the whole of the gold is collected. After the miner has allowed what was
carried to his house to dry, he then spreads it on a table, and with a
loadstone or magnet he separates from it all the iron sand, which is
always very abundant, and placing the gold, platina, and sand in a
shallow trough, he allows a small stream of water to pass over it,
keeping the trough in motion till the water has washed away the sand.
The last operation is to separate the gold from the grains of platina,
which is done with a small stick, a pen, or a piece of wire, with which
the platina is picked from the gold. Owing to the enormous duty imposed
by the Spanish government on the platina, which rendered it almost
invaluable, the miners usually throw it away.
After visiting Playa de Oro I left the coast, and proceeded on my
journey towards Quito. The first part of the road is by the river Tola
to Carondolet, or Naris de Peña, which was formerly the name of the
landing place. The river is not so rapid as that of Esmeraldas; but it
has the disadvantage of being so shallow near a place called the
Porquera, that loaded canoes are forced to stop there, or unload, pass
the sand banks, and load again. Carondolet is a small village, bearing
the name of its founder; from this place a road forty feet wide was
opened to Malbucho, a small village at the foot of the Cordilleras,
thirteen leagues from Carondolet; _tambos_, or lodging-houses, are built
on the road, four leagues from each other, and at Licta, four leagues
from Malbucho, two negroes and their families, belonging to the
government, are stationed in charge of the repairs of the tambos.
Owing, as I have before mentioned, to the inadvertency of cutting down
the large trees for the formation of this road, the brush-wood sprang up
with increased vigour, and the roots of the large trees produced
numberless young suckers, so that in a very short period what was
intended as a road became quite impassable, and was entirely abandoned
by travellers.
At Licta the river Mira presents itself on the north side of the road,
dashing along with astonishing rapidity, while a dense mist rises from
the foam; in some places the river is six hundred feet wide, and in
others, where the rocks have opposed its ravages, it is not more than
one hundred. The Mira derives its first waters from the lake San Peblo,
and afterwards receives those of Pisco, Angel, Taguanda, Escudillas,
Caguasqui, and Chiles, which flow from the mountains of Pelliso; it
afterwards receives those of Camunixi, Gualpi, Nulpi, and Puelpi, and
enters the Pacific Ocean by nine mouths, between the Point de Manglares
and Tumaco. The Mira divides the province of Esmeraldas from that of
Barbacoas.
On the sides of the river Mira there are many farms and plantations of
sugar cane, scattered along from the Villa de Ibarra to San Pedro, and
on the north side there are many small houses and plantations, even
lower down the river, and as the road is on the south side, the natives
have to avail themselves of _puentes de maroma_, and _taravitas_. The
puentes de maroma, or swing bridges, I have described at Cochas, on a
general principle, but those used to cross the Mira are merely for foot
passengers; they are formed of the stems of the creeper called piquigua,
which are generally about half an inch in diameter, and sometimes from
fifty to a hundred yards long; they generally spring up under large
trees, or creep up the trunk and along the branches, and hang down again
to the ground, but do not take root; they then ascend another, or
perhaps the same tree again, or, carried by the wind, stretch along from
a branch of one tree to that of another; so that where they are common,
the trees in a forest have the appearance of the masts of ships with
their rigging. The stem is remarkably fibrous and tough, and for the
purpose of constructing bridges, it is first beat, and then twisted, by
which means it forms a kind of cord, and five, six or more of these
combined make a rope, the duration of which is almost indefinite, for
the age of some of the bridges across the Mira is unknown. Some of these
puentes de maroma are from one to two hundred feet long, and only three
feet wide; the bottom is generally covered with pieces of bamboo,
_huadhua_, laid crosswise; hand ropes made of piquigua are also fastened
to the side of the bridge to prevent passengers from falling into the
river; this would otherwise be inevitable from the motion of the bridges
when any one crosses them, for some of them not only spring under the
feet, but by hanging loose they swing; the ends are generally fastened
to trees standing near the river side, or else to large posts placed for
this purpose. I have seen some of these puentes formed just like a
ladder; and they are crossed by stepping from one bar to another, with
the assistance of one hand rope, while a foaming stream is roaring at
the depth of eighty or a hundred feet below.
The _taravitas_ are formed by securing the two ends of a rope, generally
made of raw hide, but sometimes of piquigua, to rocks, trees, or posts,
on the opposite sides of the river, the rope passing either over a
pulley, or through a ring; to this they attach another rope, which
first passes through a pulley or ring fastened on each side the river;
to the pulley or ring, on the large rope, a basket made of raw hide is
suspended, and is called a _capacho_; in this a person stands, and by
pulling the small rope he drags himself along, or else he is drawn
across by persons stationed on the other side of the stream; all kinds
of goods are passed over in this manner, and for horses or cattle slings
are used, being suspended by a hook to the ring or pulley.
Having arrived at Ibarra, circumstances obliged me to return to the
coast; I sent my escort to Quito, being perfectly satisfied that a
military guard was quite unnecessary, and taking two guides, I crossed
by an almost unfrequented route some extensive forests to the mine of
Cachiyacu, belonging to Don Pedro Muños. This is a gold mine similar to
Playa de Oro, situated on the sides of a small river, whence the mine
derives its name. I here added another guide to my party, and by a
solitary path arrived at the Rio Verde, about two leagues from the
mouth, where it empties itself into the Pacific Ocean. I proceeded on to
Esmeraldas, and ascended the river to the mouth of the Quinindi, for the
purpose of exploring the road from Santo Domingo de los Colorados to
Quito. The river Quinindi is navigable for small canoes; it is generally
about fifteen feet wide, the current neither rapid nor deep, and it
abounds with excellent fish. To my great surprize and delight, on
entering the mouth of this river, I saw two boa constrictors basking on
a sand-bank, very near to the edge of the water, and we passed them at
the distance of about twenty feet. One appeared to be at least
twenty-five feet long, the other about half that length. They were both
of them in the most beautiful posture that can be imagined, their heads
raised, and their bodies forming festoons, or arches; those formed by
the greater one were six, the largest in the centre being about two feet
high; the smaller formed only five arches, and these much lower than the
other. Their colours were a most brilliant yellow, a deep green, and
stripes along the back of a dark brown hue. The tremulous motion of
these animals, occasioned probably by the posture in which they had
placed themselves, gave to their colours a most imposing effect; the
brilliancy was heightened too by the rays of the sun darting full upon
them; I felt as if under a charm, and I sat gazing on them in a
transport of delight for more than half an hour. Two African negroes
and my servant, a native of Quito, were almost frantic with fear; but
the two Esmeraldeños, my palanqueros, expressed no other emotion than
that of sorrow, at not being prepared to kill them, and to smoke their
flesh, which, certainly, if as good eating as that of other snakes which
I had several times tasted, was a great loss to them.
As we passed along the river almost innumerable monkeys of the small
brown kind crowded the tops of the trees, dinning our ears with their
unceasing chattering, and throwing down leaves upon us till the surface
of the river was nearly covered; however the two Esmeraldeños with their
sorbetanas killed upwards of fifty, out of which we chose the fattest,
and made an excellent dinner, selecting it in preference to any of the
dried provisions which I had with me. On the second day after our
entrance on the Quinindi we landed, and in three hours arrived at the
house of the cura of Santo Domingo de los Colorados.
The settlement or reduction of the Colorados is merely the house of the
cura, and a small church; the indians live dispersed in different parts
of the surrounding woods, generally on the banks of the small rivers,
and only appear on the Sundays and holidays at mass. These indians,
like the Malabas and Cayapos, trace their origin to the times of the
Conchocandos of Lican: they also state, that they were never subject to
the Incas, and only to the Spaniards within the last thirty years
(1810). They are not tributary, but each indian from the age of eighteen
pays one dollar annually to the parish priest, who has no other stipend.
Including the two annexed _semi paroquias_ of San Miguel and Cocaniguas,
the curacy contains about three thousand indians, but the curate seldom
receives more than eight hundred dollars a year, or rather the amount of
eight hundred. The indians always pay their quota in raw wax, at half a
dollar a pound, which is sent to Quito for sale; but a considerable
profit is derived from it, because it is worth a dollar a pound when
purified.
The indians of Santo Domingo are called red _colorados_ from the
quantity of achiote with which their bodies are besmeared; in their
persons they resemble the Malabas; the dress of the men is composed of a
pair of very short white drawers, and a white poncho about
three-quarters of a yard square; their hair is cut round and hangs like
a mop, but it is confined to the head with a fillet of silver lace, or a
thin slip of sheet silver; round their necks, the small part of their
arms, and below their knees, they wear other slips of silver, about an
inch broad, and to the lower edge a great number of small silver drops
hang loose, forming altogether a very pleasing appearance. The women
wear a piece of flannel or cotton cloth, wrapped round the waist, and
reaching below the knees, with a profusion of beads round their necks,
wrists, and ankles; white and pale blue glass beads are held in great
estimation among them; they plat their hair in long tresses, and allow
them to hang loose.
The houses of the indians at Santo Domingo are very similar to the sheds
which my carriers used to make in the woods for a night's shelter; being
nothing better than a few slender poles placed in a slanting position,
supported by others, like the roof of a house, having only one side
covered to exclude the rain.
These indians cultivate capsicum, aji, to a very large extent, and find
a ready market for it at Quito, where they also carry fruit, fresh fish
caught in the rivers, and wax taken from the nests of the Moquingana
bees. Their food is principally composed of plantains, ground nuts,
maize, yucas, fish, and game.
From Santo Domingo I pursued my route to Quito, passing through
Cocaniguas, and crossing the southern skirts of Pichincha by the Alto de
San Juan, having, in three months, traversed the forests lying between
the capital and the coast, in search of a new road of more easy
communication between these two places than that from Guayaquil. The
road recommended by Don Pedro Maldonado is undoubtedly the best in every
respect, and I have since had the satisfaction to know, that my report
has hastened the opening of it, which will add greatly to the advantage
of the inhabitants, to the ease and convenience of travellers, and will
facilitate the carriage of merchandize; so that I may hope that I have
added my mite towards increasing the prosperity of one of the richest
capitals of the new world, by assisting to produce the means by which
its intercourse may be rendered more easy and expeditious with the old.
END OF VOLUME II.