COUNTRY AND PEOPLE OF ECUADOR.
By Hon. N. F. Graves
ECUADOR is a republic of South America, lying under the equator. The United States of Colombia lies at the north, and Peru at the south. It was taken from the great American Free States, and organized by Simon Bolivar, the great liberator. The boundaries on the north as well as the south are not settled. The country claims two hundred and forty-eight thousand square miles, but nearly half of it is claimed by the adjoining States. The country is a unique one and is divided into seventeen provinces. The government is moulded after our own country in many respects. The executive is vested in a president and vice president, who are elected for four years. The Legislature is divided into two houses. None but Roman Catholics can vote or hold any office. It is a very mountainous country. Three great mountain ranges extend north and south. These mountains form the most remarkable group of volcanoes in the world. There are fifteen points that are each more than twelve thousand feet high, and some are higher still. Many of these are active volcanoes. This country embraces every variety of climate. The coast and low grounds are very hot. The temperate regions are in the mountains six thousand to nine thousand feet above the sea, and the cold regions are about nine thousand feet. The cultivated land lies in the valleys of Quito and Ambolo. These valleys are from seven thousand to ten thousand feet high. In these fertile valleys may be cultivated all kinds of grain. There are small valleys at a lower level where all tropical vegetables and fruits are cultivated. The little valley of Chota is only about five thousand feet above the sea, and is one of the most fertile vales in the country. The slopes of the Andes on both sides are covered with wild forests, that have hardly been explored. These forests and the parts covered with snow compose the greater part of the country. The Incas formerly occupied many of these heights. The great causeways and temples, now in ruins, were constructed of free stone; when these structures were made is hid in the dim ages of the past. The vast amount of gold which they collected was chiefly from the beds of rivers. The lower slopes of the mountains are frequented with wild animals. The tapir is one of the largest, and the jaguar the fiercest and most formidable animal of the New World. The jaguar, like the tiger of India, is powerful enough to carry away a bullock or a horse. These forests are filled with birds and serpents, and the rivers are filled with alligators, which are more dangerous than the wild animals. These vast forests of valuable timber, and the abundance of tropical fruits at the foot of the Andes, add very little to the wealth of the State, but only operate as a shelter and support of a few tribes of wild Indians, who roam uncontrolled over these vast forests. The half-civilized Indians do all the work—cultivate the land, weave cotton cloth, make carpets which are finely colored and very serviceable. They manufacture some pottery, which is everywhere used. These Indians are said to keep faith with each other. They say the Spaniards took all they had, and they think it right to take all they can from the Spaniards. The work is all done in the most primitive manner. They have no plows nor any labor-saving machine. They plant their seeds by making a hole in the ground. They thresh their grain by driving their oxen or horses over it. Ecuador is an old country, and most of it is still a desert. It is rich but undeveloped. It is perhaps the richest in resources of all the South American republics, and yet the poorest and most backward of them all. It is often said that seventy-five per cent of children born of Indian mothers are illegitimate. There is a very good reason why they do not marry. The priests charge six dollars for each marriage, and it is very seldom that an Indian can raise that sum. They are very poor and live together without being married. The Spaniards are generally very proud and very poor, but they are the governing class. They are polite, and offer you a graceful hospitality, and apparently welcome you with hearty kindness. The females of this class are noted for their beauty and are said to have the finest complexions of any in South America, with large and expressive dark eyes, and black and abundant hair. They are graceful, with small hands and feet. They mature early and fade quickly. They are said to be indolently superstitious, but faithful. They all wear the manta, for in this country there is no bonnet or female hat. The hideous women, the descendants of the conquered Incas, wear no color but black, deeming that color most suitable for those who have lost all and have become mere beasts of burden. The brave spirits of their powerful ancestors seem to have been completely crushed out of them. It was on the island of Puna, below the city of Guayaquil, that Pizarro, the conqueror, landed and made his first conquest. He found the Incas at war with each other. It is said it was the first war between the Incas. The Spaniards took side with one and easily conquered the other. The other Inca was soon conquered and made a prisoner. The last of the Incas offered to the Spaniards to fill his rooms with gold if they would relieve him, which Pizarro agreed to do. The Inca sent his miners all over the country to bring in gold. Pizarro, thinking the country was full of gold, wearied with waiting, had the Inca strangled. The miners, hearing of the death of their chief, buried the gold, and it is supposed that most of it is buried now.12Pizarro seized the Indian reserve, but he found that no persuasion, no threat, no torture could make them discover the buried gold. Guayaquil is a city of about twenty-six thousand people, being the capital of Guayas province, on the west bank of the Guayas River, forty miles from its mouth. It is the chief port of Ecuador. Large ships can reach the city. There are no docks, and all ships anchor in the river a mile or more from the shore, and the freight is moved in barges. The city lies low, with long rows of white houses with yellow tile roofs, large windows, and many piazzas. The city looks gay at a distance, but is dirty and in bad order when you enter. Many of the blocks have stores and shops on the first floors and dwellings above. Most of the churches have towers and look odd and oriental. There is a tramway along the river and in some of the streets: The city is the commercial seaport for Quito. The stores are filled with costly goods, but most of them are owned and run by Chinese. The people are generally indolent and will not work, and the Chinese are active and take most of the profit. I saw a company of natives trying to raise money to build a church. They had figures of the Virgin Mary borne on the shoulders of men. To those who gave, a blessing was pronounced by the priest, but a curse to those who did not give, but the priest promised the delinquents that if they gave afterward the curse would be removed and a blessing given. We cannot expect much morality under such teachers. Every morning you see a long row of women on their way to the church, and everyone is followed by a small Indian boy or maid bearing a rug or strip of carpet upon which the worshipers kneel during the service. There are no seats in these churches, but the floor is marked off in small squares, which are rented, and there they kneel and worship. These people appear gentle and polite, but they are all Roman Catholics, and allow no other kind of worship in public. There are no Christian missionaries here. A Bible reader was here a few years since, but he had to leave the field. It is often said that many of the people would be glad to hear the Gospel, but the priests will not allow it, and have the law on their side, and they never hesitate to make arrests. A medical missionary would be more likely to succeed than any other. Schools are in operation, and education is free and obligatory, but the schools are all Roman Catholic. The spiritual darkness is great. Some effort should be made to give them the light of life.—Gospel in All Lands.