DESCRIPTION OF QUITO.--VISIT TO THE VOLCANO OF PICHINCHA.--THE DEEPEST
CRATER IN THE WORLD.--ROUTE OVER THE ANDES TO THE AMAZON.--RETURN TO THE
COAST.
[Illustration: CROSSING THE MOUNTAINS.]
The journey from Bodegas to Quito had exhausted the strength of our
friends, and they were quite willing to rest in the hotel during the
first evening of their stay in the capital. The time was improved by a
study of the history of the city, and when they started out the next
morning they were well stocked with information.
"Nobody now living can tell how old Quito is," said the Doctor; "it was
founded many centuries ago by the Quitas or Quichas, and its early
history is buried in obscurity. According to some traditions it is
nearly two thousand years old. It is positively known to have existed
about 1000 A.D., when it was captured by the Cara nation, who were more
civilized than the Quitas.
"About the year 1475 it was conquered by Peru, and was made the capital;
it retained that honor until captured by Pizarro in his famous conquest,
and the glory of Atahnalpa, then its ruler, was extinguished forever. If
you wish to know in detail of the romantic history and tragic fate of
Atahualpa, the son of Huayna-Capac, you can find it in Prescott's
'Conquest of Peru.'"
"I remember, in my school history," said Fred, "it was said that
Atahualpa was imprisoned by Pizarro, and offered to fill with gold the
room where he was confined, on condition of receiving his liberty. He
filled the room as agreed, but was afterwards put to death by order of
Pizarro."
[Illustration: A STREET IN QUITO.]
"The story does not rest on very good authority," said the Doctor; "but
the conduct reported of Pizarro is quite in keeping with the character
of the Spanish conquerors of the New World. Pizarro's biographer says he
was guilty of the greatest cruelties and perfidies in the acquisition of
gold, but he distributed it freely among his followers, and spent most
of the vast treasures obtained from the Incas in the erection of public
buildings and other improvements for the general benefit. That he was a
brave man is shown by the fact that the conquest of Peru was undertaken,
and successfully accomplished, with a force of three vessels, one
hundred and eighty men, and twenty-seven horses."
"And all this country was captured with such a mere 'handful of men!'"
exclaimed Frank.
"Yes," replied Dr. Bronson, "that was the force with which Pizarro left
Panama, though it was afterwards increased by the arrival of recruits.
Pizarro received a royal commission from the King of Spain, with a title
of nobility. His descendants may now be found at Truxillo, in Spain, and
they point with pride to their great ancestor, whose education was so
neglected that he was unable to read or write.
[Illustration: PALACIO DE GOBIERNO (GOVERNMENT HOUSE), QUITO.]
"Quito was a more magnificent city under the Incas of Peru than it has
ever been since the Spanish conquest. The extent of its population is
not known, but it was certainly larger than to-day. The palace of
Atahualpa was one of the finest in South America, and its roof is said
to have been covered with gold. All the gold of the city was seized by
the Spaniards, and the palace was destroyed. A convent now occupies its
site, and we will look at its gloomy walls to-morrow. The magnificent
Temple of the Sun is reduced to a few stones which mark the spot where
it stood."
With a running conversation concerning the history of Ecuador the
evening went on until it was time to go to bed. All retired early, and
were up betimes to inspect the wonderful city they had toiled so hard to
see.
"We are not in the highest city of the globe," said Fred in his
note-book, "but we are two thousand feet farther above the sea than is
the Hospice of St. Bernard, the most elevated spot in Europe which is
inhabited all the year round. According to our barometers, and those of
other travellers, we are 9520 feet above the beach of the Pacific Ocean
at its nearest point, or only 1040 feet less than two miles.
"Cooking is performed under difficulties, as water boils at 194°
Fahrenheit; potatoes, beans, and similar things require much longer time
for cooking than in the lowlands, and somebody says it is an excellent
provision of nature that the potatoes are small. Frank suggests that
when a traveller among mountains has no thermometer or barometer he can
ascertain his elevation by observing how long it takes to boil a potato
of a given size.
[Illustration: WATER-CARRIERS.]
"We started out of the hotel escorted by a guide who was to show us the
sights of Quito. The streets are not crowded, and nobody seems to be in
a hurry; there are many beggars, and some of them were very persistent,
as is generally the case with beggars all over the world when strangers
come within their reach. The water-carriers seem to form quite a class,
and we were forcibly reminded of the same professionals of Cairo. There
was this difference, however, that the latter transport their
merchandise in skins, while those of Quito carry enormous jars on their
shoulders or backs. They fill these jars at the public fountains, and
then start off at a slow trot to supply the houses that employ them. We
met a great many monks and priests, whose calling could be recognized at
a considerable distance by their peculiar robes and the enormous hats
which covered their heads. Quito is eminently a city of priests, and is
liberally provided with churches and convents for its population of
forty or fifty thousand.
[Illustration: PRIESTS AND MONKS.]
"Donkeys and mules are the beasts of burden, and occasionally some of
them brushed against us with their loads, that projected far on each
side. But they do not have a monopoly of the carrying trade, as we saw a
good many Indians laden with baskets of vegetables and fruit from the
neighboring country, and they appear to be as strong as the donkeys, if
we may judge by their great loads. Many of these porters are women, and
in some instances we saw men, without burdens, walking by the side of
women carrying baskets large enough to be a load for two persons.
Evidently the aborigines of Ecuador are no believers in the exemption of
women from hard work.
"There is probably little resemblance between the Quito of to-day and
that of Atahualpa and the Spanish conquest. The city had suffered much
from earthquakes, and was partially destroyed by fire; the Spanish
conquerors founded a new Quito in 1534, and laid out the streets on
lines of their own, and, since their advent, the earthquakes have again
shaken it to its foundations. There were severe and destructive shocks
in 1797 and 1859, and another in 1868. In the one last mentioned many
lives were lost, numerous buildings were thrown down, and, according to
the official report, every house in the city was so shaken and weakened
that not one was fit to live in. Half a dozen churches, the government
buildings, and the archbishop's palace were wholly or partially
demolished, such of them as were not thrown down being so weakened as to
render their removal necessary.
"In almost every street there are piles of ruins, and it is a wonder
people will continue to live here with the effects of the earthquake so
constantly before them. Nearly all the houses are of but a single story,
and the most ambitious of the edifices rarely exceeds two stories. Most
of the streets are narrow and have channels in the centre, through which
streams of water flow during and after a rain. We observed a great
variety in the costumes of the people, and were told that every district
had its distinct way of coloring its garments, so that its inhabitants
could be distinguished from others. Occasionally we saw people with
hardly any clothing whatever; but the absence of wardrobe was made up by
a free use of paint. The natives thus decorated were from the eastern
slopes of the Andes, but they did not appear to be numerous.
"The common houses have no fireplaces or chimneys; fires are built
almost anywhere on the earthern floor, and the smoke is allowed to get
out the best way it can. Even in our hotel the kitchen is little more
than a dark hole, where the pots and kettles are so indiscriminately
assembled that the cooks are liable to mix things up fearfully, while
preparing a meal. Neatness is not fashionable, and there is no country
in the world where the appetite would suffer more discouragement than
here by a revelation of the culinary mysteries.
"Our guide called attention to the distinction among the men on the
streets, some of them wearing cloaks and others _ponchos_. No gentleman
would wear a poncho in public any more than a Frenchman of the middle or
upper classes would don a blouse for a promenade. The poncho is far the
more picturesque of the two garments, and I am inclined to think its
wearers are more comfortable than the genteel part of the population.
Ladies wear the _panuelon_, which corresponds to the Spanish mantilla,
and they eschew hats and bonnets altogether. The only head-covering
beyond the hair is a lace veil or a fold of the panuelon; but its use is
by no means obligatory. It is said that when the daughter of an
American minister-resident wore a bonnet in the cathedral on the Sunday
following her arrival, she was criticised as severely as she would be
for wearing a masculine 'stove-pipe' in a New York church.
"A gentleman who has lived here for some time says there are about eight
thousand people of Spanish origin in Quito, ten or twelve thousand
Indians of pure blood, and perhaps twenty thousand _cholos_ or mixed
races. Then there are a few foreigners and negroes, and other few who
cannot be readily classified. The whites are the aristocracy or ruling
race, and, owing to the numerous revolutions which have reduced the male
population, women outnumber the men. For a white man to work would be
degrading, and many a gentleman will not hesitate to beg for a dinner or
a cup of coffee, though he would scorn to earn the money to pay for it.
The poverty-stricken hidalgo of Spain is no more proud of his lineage
than is the Spanish-descended resident of Quito, who wraps his tattered
cloak around him, and comforts himself with reflections upon the past
glories of his family.
[Illustration: LAUNDRESSES OF QUITO.]
"In the course of our wanderings we came to the bank of the river which
flows past Quito. It is an insignificant stream, ordinarily, but swells
to a torrent at certain seasons of the year, when the rains fall in the
neighboring mountains. Laundresses were at work at their trade, and from
the way the linen of Quito is washed, it is certain to need frequent
renewal. The garments are dipped in the river, and then spread on the
rocks, where they are pounded with mallets or bowlders until the desired
condition of cleanliness is attained. It reminded us of the way the
Bengalee _dhobies_ at Madras washed our clothing, and accounts for the
large importation of cotton goods into Ecuador in proportion to the
population.
"While we were passing a potato-field Dr. Bronson reminded us that we
might consider ourselves near the birthplace of an intimate friend.
"We tried to think what friend of ours was born in Quito, but could not
remember any. We said so to the Doctor, and he then explained that the
one he referred to was the potato.
"'Certainly,' exclaimed Frank, 'I remember, now you mention it, that the
potato was found at Quito by the Spaniards and taken by them to Europe
early in the sixteenth century. From Spain it was carried to Germany,
France, Belgium, and Italy, and last of all to Ireland, where it was
introduced by Sir Walter Raleigh on his estate near Cork.'
"'You are quite right,' said the Doctor. 'The so-called "Irish potato"
is really a native of South America.'
"'The descendant is worthier than the parent,' Frank remarked, as he
pointed to the potato-field we were passing. 'The potato of Ireland and
of the United States is much larger and finer than that of Ecuador.
Cultivation in a foreign land has done a great deal for this vegetable.'
"We both agreed with him, as we had already remarked the diminutive size
of the potatoes of Quito. The same comment applies to the cherries,
pears, peaches, strawberries, and tomatoes, which do not seem to enjoy
the climate, but there are other fruits and vegetables that get along
better. The finest fruit here is the _chirimoya_; its name comes from
_chiri_ (cold), and _moya_ (seed). It grows in Peru and other parts of
South America as well as in Ecuador; the fruit often reaches a weight of
sixteen pounds, and has a thick green skin enclosing a snow-white pulp,
in which about seventy black seeds are imbedded. Professor Orton says
its taste is a happy admixture of sweetness and acidity; Hamke calls it
'a masterwork of nature;' and another traveller describes it as 'a
spiritualized strawberry.' We have tried to find a description of it,
but must fall back upon that of our predecessors. Dr. Holmes says all
the pens in the world cannot tell how the birds sing and the lilacs
swell; no more can we give in words a satisfactory account of this
prince among fruits.
[Illustration: BALCONY VIEW OF THE ANDES.]
"But all the time, during our walk through and around Quito, we find
ourselves every few minutes fixing our eyes on the great peaks of the
Andes and Cordilleras that rise around us. We are in the centre of the
most volcanic region of the globe; there are fifty-one volcanoes in the
chain of the Andes, and out of this number no less than twenty surround
the valley where Quito stands. Three of the twenty are active, five are
dormant, and twelve are extinct; they are all in a space two hundred
miles long and thirty wide, and in addition to these volcanoes there are
many other peaks not strictly volcanic. There are twenty-two mountains
whose tops are covered with perpetual snow, and fifty that are each more
than ten thousand feet high. Do you wonder that while looking at the
city our thoughts are drawn towards the mountains in whose midst it is
built?"
In the evening our friends arranged to visit the summit of Pichincha,
the volcano which towers above Quito, and is easily reached. Mules can
be ridden to the very edge of the crater, but there are not a dozen
gentlemen of Quito who have ever made the journey to it; they are
intending to do so at some future time, and this future never comes.
Apart from the guides, it is probable that the mountain has been
ascended more frequently by strangers than by native-born residents of
the city.
Our party started from Quito in the afternoon, accompanied by two
guides, and rode to a Jesuit monastery in the valley of Lloa, where they
passed the night. Rising at daybreak the next morning, they rode through
the forest which surrounds the mountain, up to the timber line, twelve
thousand feet above the sea; the path was intricate and very difficult,
as it was frequently blocked by fallen trees and obstructed by huge
stones, which it was necessary to pass around. From the timber line they
passed into a belt of stunted bushes, and then reached the point where
vegetation ceases.
Here it was less laborious travelling, but by no means easy. By nine in
the forenoon they were at the foot of the cone, where they left the
mules in the care of one of the guides and finished the ascent on foot.
[Illustration: THE CRATER OF PICHINCHA.]
Frank and Fred were of different opinions; the former declared the cone
easier of ascent than that of Vesuvius, while the latter thought it was
not. But they agreed that there was less of it than of the cone of
Vesuvius, and therefore it was preferable; it was little more than two
hundred feet high, and covered with sand and cinders at an incline of
about thirty-five degrees. They had many slips and falls, but nothing of
consequence; Frank was a few feet in advance of Fred when they reached
the edge of the crater, and both gave a loud hurrah by way of
encouragement to the Doctor, who was lagging behind.
They wanted to descend into the crater, but the guide refused to
accompany them, and the Doctor counselled prudence, as the crater of
Pichincha is the deepest in the world, and the descent is dangerous.
Humboldt pronounced it inaccessible, from its great depth and
precipitous descent, but since his time it has been explored. The first
who ventured there were Garcia Moreno and Sebastian Wisse, in 1844; and
next after them was Professor Orton, in 1867. The latter says he was
obliged to use the greatest caution, and a single misstep would have
sent him tumbling to the bottom of the abyss. At times he was almost
paralyzed with fear, and felt that death was staring him in the face.
"To give you an idea of the crater of Pichincha," said the Doctor, as
they stood on its edge and watched the clouds of smoke and steam curling
upwards, "let me give you some figures. This crater is 2500 feet deep;
that of Kilauea, in the Sandwich Islands, is 600; Orizaba is 500; Etna
is 300; and Hecla 100. Professor Orton says Vesuvius is a portable
furnace by comparison with this crater, which is a mile wide and half a
mile deep. We are standing nearly 16,000 feet above the level of the
sea, 5000 feet higher than Etna, almost four times the height of
Vesuvius, and five times that of Stromboli, the 'lighthouse of the
Mediterranean.'"
"I cannot do better," said Fred, afterwards, in describing the view from
the summit of Pichincha, "than quote the words of Professor Orton in
'The Andes and the Amazon.' Here they are:
"'Below us are the smouldering fires, which may any moment spring forth
into a conflagration; around us are the black, ragged cliffs--fit
boundary for this gateway to the infernal regions. They look as if they
had just been dragged up from the central furnace of the earth. Life
seems to have fled in terror from the vicinity; even lichens, the
children of the bare rocks, refuse to clothe the scathed and beetling
crags. For some moments, made mute by the dreadful sight, we stood like
statues on the rim of the mighty caldron, with our eyes riveted on the
abyss below, lost in contemplating that which cannot be described.
[Illustration: EL ALTAR, VOLCANO, ECUADOR.]
"'The panorama from this lofty summit is more pleasing, but equally
sublime. Towards the rising sun is the long range of the Eastern
Cordilleras, hiding from our view the great valley of the Amazon. To
right and left are the peaks of another procession of august mountains,
from Cotocachi to Chimborazo. We are surrounded by the great patriarchs
of the Andes, and their speaker, Cotopaxi, ever and anon sends his
muttering voice over the land. The view westward is like looking down
from a balloon. Those parallel ridges of the mountain chain, dropping
one behind the other, are the gigantic staircase by which the
ice-crowned Chimborazo steps down to the sea. A white sea of clouds
covers the peaceful Pacific, and the lower parts of the coast. But the
vapory ocean, curling into the ravines, beautifully represents little
coves and bays, leaving islands and promontories like a true ocean on a
broken shore. We seem raised above the earth, which lies like an opened
map below us; we can look down on the upper surface of the clouds, and,
were it night, down too upon the lightnings.'"
After an hour had been passed in contemplation of the awful crater, and
the grand view from the summit of the mountain, the Doctor suggested
that it was time to descend. Finding a place where the cinders were
unbroken from top to bottom of the cone the youths slid quickly
downward, as they had done at Vesuvius, years before. They were
followed by the Doctor, and then the trio sat down to a dinner, which
had been left in care of the guide who remained with the mules. It was
seasoned with the best of sauces, hunger, which had been developed by
the exertions of the morning, and the pauses in the progress of the meal
were brief indeed.
Dinner over, they mounted, and returned by the road which they followed
in the ascent. Evening found them again in Quito, and in the wretched
_posada_ which is the only hotel of the capital of Ecuador.
During the evening conversation naturally turned to volcanoes and
earthquakes; one writer has said facetiously that earthquakes are the
principal productions of Ecuador, and he certainly is not far out of the
way. Most of the South American earthquakes appear to have their origin
in Ecuador, as the shocks are generally felt there first, and with the
greatest severity. The great disturbance of 1868 was an exceptional
occurrence, as it had its commencement in Peru, on the 13th of August,
causing great loss of life and destruction of property. The shock in
Ecuador was three days later; it was more fatal to life than in Peru,
but less destructive to property. The Peruvian earthquake occurred in
the afternoon, and was preceded by premonitory shocks, while the
Ecuadorian one was in the night, and gave no warning of its approach.
"According to the accounts," said the Doctor, "the first shock of the
earthquake in Quito was felt a little after midnight on the 16th of
August, another at four in the morning, and two others in the course of
the day. One, in the afternoon, was accompanied by a shower of rain and
hail, which fell with great violence; there had been a similar shower on
the afternoon of the 15th. It was noticeable that for two months before
the earthquakes there were serious disturbances of the atmosphere, and a
catarrhal fever had prevailed, which swept off thousands of people. The
whole country was in mourning for those who had died of the pestilence,
when the earthquake came, to cause additional sorrow.
"The amount of the destruction in Quito has been mentioned already. The
earthquake was more severe in the northern provinces of Ecuador, where
the ground sank, cliffs were thrown down, lakes appeared, great chasms
opened in the earth, and the whole face of the country was changed. The
province of Imbaburu, which was the most fertile and productive in the
republic, as well as the most populous and prosperous, suffered more
than any other. It contained several towns and small cities, and the
rural districts were in an excellent state of cultivation for this part
of the world. The earthquake totally destroyed several of these places,
as it came in the night, when most of the inhabitants were asleep in
their houses. Two towns in the canton of Catuchi were completely wiped
out of existence, and no sign was left to show where they stood. Not
five per cent. of the people escaped with their lives!
[Illustration: VIEW OF IBARRA, ECUADOR.]
"In another town seven tenths of the inhabitants were killed by the
falling of the buildings, and the sinking of the earth into a great
chasm, which opened beneath the place. The city of Ibarra, the capital
of the province, was beautifully situated in the centre of a fertile
plain; it was surrounded by orchards, gardens, and fields, so that the
place only became visible on a very near approach, or from the distant
hills. It had a population of about ten thousand, though generally
estimated at a higher figure. Nearly one half of its inhabitants lost
their lives in the earthquake, and it was said that hardly a dozen
houses remained standing after the shocks were ended.
"The subject is an unpleasant one," continued the Doctor, after a pause.
"Let us turn to something else.
"To-morrow we will prepare for our return to the coast. The guide has
been trying to persuade me to go over the Andes to the head-waters of
the Amazon, whence we can descend to the Atlantic. I have told him our
plans would not permit our doing so, but he desires to talk further on
the subject. Let us call him, and hear what he has to say; at any rate,
we can learn something about the country to the east of us."
Francisco, the guide, was waiting in the court-yard of the hotel, and
came promptly when told that he was wanted. He was an intelligent native
of a village near Quito, and had been several times over the mountains,
between the capital and the Napo River, one of the tributaries of the
Amazon. He spoke Spanish fluently, and told his story without a moment's
hesitation. We will render it into English, and give it as it was
remembered by our friends.
"The journey from here to the Napo will take about fifteen days," said
Francisco, "and down the Napo to where the steamers come on the Maranon,
or Upper Amazon, will take fifteen or twenty more. You will need to
carry the most of your provisions, as game cannot be relied on, and the
people are scattered, and have very little to sell. Professor Orton had
three persons in his party, the same number that you have, and he
calculated his provisions so closely, that when he reached the first
village on the Maranon he had just enough left for one grand farewell
dinner."
Fred asked what the Professor carried in the way of provisions.
Francisco drew from his pocket a faded and crumpled paper, and read as
follows:
"One hundred pounds each of flour and crackers; ninety pounds of sugar;
fifty pounds each of rice and dried beef; thirty each of corn-meal,
pea-flour, and chocolate; fifty of _mashka_ (roasted barley-meal); ten
each of salt, lard, and ham; one hundred and seventy eggs; and one or
two pounds each of tea, _maté_, soda, and cream of tartar. They bought
eggs, chickens, rice, syrup, and other things from the Indians, whenever
they had the opportunity, and when they reached the river they
occasionally obtained fish, game, and turtles' eggs.
[Illustration: NAPO INDIAN PORTER.]
"All these things were sealed up in tin cans," continued the guide;
"partly as a precaution against injury from the dampness of the climate,
and partly to save them from theft by the Indian porters. The atmosphere
of the Napo is like a steam bath, and keeps everything wet, and the
Indians have a fondness for helping themselves when they have a chance.
You can't get along without the Indians, as they are your only porters.
From here to the foot of the mountains you can go on horseback, but the
rest of the way to the Napo you must travel on foot, and the Indians
carry your baggage."
[Illustration: DESCENDING THE NAPO.]
This announcement caused a shake of the head on the part of the trio of
listeners, and it became very evident that they were not inclined to
make the journey from Quito to the Amazon in that way.
[Illustration: MOUNTAIN PASS IN THE ANDES.]
"You will cross the Andes at an elevation of fifteen thousand feet,"
said Francisco, not noticing the sign of disapproval; "and, therefore,
must carry thick clothing to shield you from the cold, and rubber
ponchos to keep off the rain in the day and spread on the ground at
night as a foundation for your beds. You want two suits of clothes; one
to wear in the daytime, and the other to put on dry at night. When you
go into camp you must remove the suit you have worn since morning, as it
will generally be wet through by the rain, or by fording streams and
passing through marshy ground."
"How many pairs of boots will be wanted for each of us?" inquired Fred.
"It seems to me there will be a fearful destruction of foot-gear."
"Yes," replied the guide, "but your American boots will not answer for
the journey. Buy plenty of _alpargates_, or native sandals made from the
fibre of the aloe plant, and be sure and have enough of them, as a pair
will not last more than two days. They are better than boots, as they do
not keep the feet uncomfortably warm, and no leather boots can keep out
the moisture through which you will constantly travel.
"Then you want a stock of _lienzo_, or cotton cloth, which is the
currency of the Indians, just as it is of the wild people of Africa.
Then add knives, fish-hooks, thread, beads, looking-glasses, and some
other trifles, and you will have an outfit for the trip. Of course you
will suit yourselves about guns, pistols, cooking utensils, scientific
apparatus, and the like, and remember to have no package weighing more
than seventy-five pounds, which is the load of an Indian porter.
Professor Orton had thirteen horses to carry himself and party as far as
the horses could go, and from there to the Napo he had twenty Indian
porters, which is probably what you would need. The whole expense for
horses and porters will be about one hundred and fifty dollars; at Napo
you will hire canoes to descend the river, and the hardships of your
journey will be over.
[Illustration: RAPIDS IN A MOUNTAIN STREAM OF SOUTH AMERICA.]
"There are many rapids in the Napo River, and the voyage will be an
exciting one; the rapids look very dangerous, but the Indians are
excellent boatmen, and, if you let them alone, they will carry you
safely along with the current. At Pebas, on the Maranon, it may be
necessary to wait a few days for a steamboat, as the navigation is not
regular, but you can be reasonably sure of no further trouble on your
way down the Maranon and Amazon to the Atlantic."
The Doctor thanked Francisco for his information, and told him they
would think the subject over, and have a further talk with him the next
morning.
When he appeared again before them Dr. Bronson reiterated his previous
assertion, that they could not change their plans, but the guide was
rewarded for his information by a present of money that put him
immediately in good-humor. He assisted them in their preparations for
the return to the coast, and accompanied them as far as Guaranda, where
new animals were engaged to Bodegas.
We will now seat our friends on the enchanted carpet of the Arabian
Nights' Entertainment, and with the swiftness of thought place them on
board a steamer leaving Guayaquil for Callao.