Journey from Guayaquil to Quito....Babaoyo....Road to Chimbo....Cuesta de San Antonio....Arrival at Huaranda....Triumphal Arch and Harangue....Description of Huaranda and Province of Chimbo....Chimboraso....Accident at la Ensillada....Road to San Juan....Obrage of Indians....Arrival at Riobamba....Description of....Remains of Old Riobamba......Visit to an old Cacique......Province of Riobamba......Road to Ambato....Description of....Produce....Arrival at Tacunga....Description of....Earthquakes at....Ruins of Callo....Provincial Produce....Arrival at Chisinchi, Ensillada, and Quito....Remarks.

The health of the count being re-established, we left Guayaquil under a discharge of nineteen guns, some pieces of cannon having been placed in front of the custom-house for this purpose. We remained two days at the Bodegas de Babaoyo, a small village, where there is a custom-house for the collection of the duties which are paid on goods, on entering or leaving the province of Guayaquil.

The roads across the savana, notwithstanding the absence of rain for three months, were in some places very bad, although a number of Indians had been sent by the Corregidor of Huaranda to repair them; they were mended by putting the trunks of trees in the deep, muddy places, and laying the branches and leaves of trees on the top. A considerable number of cattle were grazing on the open plains, some of which were very fat. At noon we halted at a farm-house, where a splendid dinner was provided for us by the cura of San Miguel de Chimbo, who had come here to meet us. After dinner we proceeded on our journey to a small farm-house, where every convenient accommodation had been prepared for us, and we remained here during the night. On the following day we arrived at the village of San Miguel, situated in a deep ravine, commanding a beautiful prospect of the mountains, which gradually rose above each other, till their heads were lost in the clouds. On our arrival at this village we were met by about forty indian boys, cholos, fantastically dressed; and the little fellows danced along the sides of the street as we passed to the house prepared for our reception.

On the following day, July 22d, a dreary prospect presented itself; this was the ascent of the cuesta de San Antonio; we began to ascend at nine o'clock in the morning, and at every step new difficulties and greater dangers presented themselves; in some places the road ran along a narrow ridge, with a precipice on each side; in others we had to travel along ladcras, or narrow skirts of the mountain beaten down by travellers into a path, with a deep valley on one side, and a perpendicular rock on the other—a fall on one side threatening inevitable death, and on the other broken arms or legs against the rough sides of the rock. In other parts there was a narrow gully formed by the heavy rains and the transit of mules, the perpendicular sides rising ten or fifteen feet above our heads. To these may be added, that the whole of the road for six leagues is composed of abrupt acclivities or rapid descents, while the track in which the mules tread was composed of deep furrows, called camellones, filled with mud; some of them were more than two feet deep, so that the belly of the mule and the feet of the rider were dragged over the ridges that divide the furrows: these indeed serve as steps, and in some degree may be accounted a security; but if a mule should happen to fall, or even to stumble, the danger of being thrown headlong down a precipice is rather frightful. In some places there are two roads; the one by which the mules descend has no camellones, or furrows, down which the mules seem to prefer sliding to stepping down the others. When at the top, these sagacious animals halt for a short time, shake themselves, and snort, as if conscious of the hazard of the undertaking; they then draw their hind feet forward, place their fore legs in a slanting position, and approach very gradually to the beginning of the descent, when with uncommon velocity they slide on their haunches to the bottom. Their dexterity in the crooked places is truly astonishing; for by a motion of the body they incline themselves first to one side then to the other, keeping the most perfect equilibrium, which is the only means of saving them and their riders from being hurled headlong forward, or dashed to pieces by a fall. During all this time the rider has only to sit still, to lay the reins on the mule's neck, and trust to its sagacity and the recommendation given by its master; for many mules are kept in this neighbourhood, and are highly esteemed for their dexterity in sliding down this part of the road; fortunately for us, being in company with the Captain-general of the kingdom, all the best mules were collected for our use.

At two o'clock in the afternoon we were cheered with se ha acabado la cuesta, we are at the end of the mountain road. This place is called parcara, a gate or entrance; it also signifies a fortified place; such this probably was before the conquest, and such it was made in 1811 by the QuiteÑos, to prevent the entrance of the Peruvian troops. We all alighted, and shook some of the dirt from our clothes, after which we were politely received by Don Gaspar Morales, the Corregidor of Huaranda, the two alcaldes, several officers, and other gentlemen of the province; but what proved far more welcome, was a relay of horses.

INDIAN WATER CARRIER, & FEMALE INDIAN BRUSH-WOOD CARRIER,
OF QUITO.

Engraved for Stevenson's Narrative of South America.

After our saddles had been placed on our new steeds we mounted, and proceeded in regular procession, two indians, with silver trumpets, going before. At the distance of a league from the town we were met by the brawny vicar, mounted on the finest mule I ever beheld; indeed, such an animal was quite necessary, when it is considered what an unwieldy mass it had to carry: the circumstance made several of us smile, and we could scarcely refrain from laughter when the corregidor presented him to his excellency, saying, "the vicar of Huaranda, Don Juan Antonio Maria de la Magdalena Jaramillo, Pacheco, y Tavera." Heaven help us, said I, to an officer who stood near me, how I pity the parson's mule.

We had not proceeded far when a troop of militia cavalry met us; these tatterdemalions would certainly have borne away the prize had they been put in competition with the infantry of Sir John Falstaff; and could I have chosen for myself, hang me if I would have entered Huaranda in their company.

The next that made their appearance were the indian dancers, singing their cachuas in Quichua, welcoming the arrival of the governor with the most discordant yellings, and such extravagant expressions as beggar all description. At the entrance of the town there was a triumphal arch! This was composed of canes, decorated with curtains of all colours and descriptions of stuffs; ribbons for streamers, and flags made of pocket handkerchiefs; silver plates, dishes, spoons, and forks were hung round it. When his excellency had arrived close to it, a curtain was withdrawn in the upper story, and an indian in the uniform of an officer, his coarse black hair stiffened with tallow and flour, still incapable of being turned into a curl, but standing upright in every direction, advanced to the front, made a most profound bow, and then stepped back; after this he looked up, and exclaimed, "angil bello, daja el papel," "beautiful angel, give me the paper," but in such a broken dialect, that nothing, save an acquaintance with the Spanish language, can afford any idea. Several white muslin handkerchiefs, which were tied in festoons above his head in imitation of clouds, opened, and down fell, or rather was lowered with a rope, an indian angel, his head as thickly cased in tallow and flour as that of his invocater; he delivered a folded paper, and was again dragged up into the muslin clouds, while the delighted multitude expressed their approbation with shouts of joy. The orator re-advanced, and read his harangue with all the rhetoric and graceful attitudes of a Bombasto. His address was succeeded by the throwing up of innumerable rockets, amid the sound of trumpets and other music stationed on one side of the arch; this was followed by our arrival at the house of the Corregidor, where a most sumptuous dinner was on the table.

Huaranda is the residence of the Corregidor, or governor of the province of Chimbo, and may be considered the capital of that province. The town is large but poor, the inhabitants being chiefly occupied as carriers. Their wealth consists in their droves of mules, which during the summer, when the road is open, are employed in conveying merchandize between Quito and Guayaquil. The climate at this place is remarkably cold, owing to its elevation above the sea and the vicinity of Chimboraso, which is seen from the town, and has the appearance of a huge white cloud piercing the blue vault of heaven.

The province of Chimbo has an extensive breed of mules in the valleys; barley, potatoes, and maize are cultivated by the indians in various parts, and some sugar cane in the bottoms of the ravines. At a place called Tomabela is a spring of salt water, which is so completely saturated that it forms large crusts on the stones against which the water dashes, and along the sides of the small stream; the indians also put the water into troughs, and stir it with a wooden spatula; the salt then crystallizes on the sides of the trough, and is taken out; this salt is packed in small baskets and sent to different parts of the kingdom, as well as to Peru; it is a specific for the cotos, bronchocele, by merely eating food seasoned with it. This valuable production is delicately white, easily pulverised, and very slightly deliquescent.

Having taken some refreshment at Huaranda, we proceeded on the following morning to the Pajonal, at the foot of the majestic Chimboraso, the giant of the Andes. The day was beautifully clear, and the view of this lofty mountain highly interesting; we had seen it at the mouth of the Guayaquil river, as well as at that city, a distance of forty leagues, where we were almost suffocated with heat; but now we felt almost perished with cold: the kingdom of lofty palms and shady plantains was in four days exchanged for a region where vegetation is reduced to its lowest ebb—the dwarf pined mosses.

A tambo, resting house, stands on the plain at the foot of Chimboraso; this had been prepared for our reception; and to contribute in a degree to make it more warm, or rather to keep out some of the cold, the inside had been neatly covered with long dry grass, called pajon, which grows on this plain. Owing to an accident, the grass caught fire in one of the rooms, at two o'clock in the morning; we immediately ran from our beds, or rather ran with our beds, for we dragged them with us, not a little pleased, in this dilemma, that we had all of us retired to rest without undressing; notwithstanding this we were dreadfully pinched by the frosty air blowing from Chimboraso on one side, or Carguairaso on the other. After the first blaze of the pajon had subsided, the indians entered the house, and dragged out a few things which had been placed inside, but fortunately the principal part of our luggage had been left on the outside. We waited till morning, sitting on our mattresses, and wrapped up in our ponchos and blankets, as near the fire as we dared to venture.

In the morning we proceeded on our journey, winding round the foot of Chimboraso, till the valley of San Juan opened on our right; we descended along a very rugged steep path, and at twelve o'clock arrived at the obrage of San Juan, belonging to Don Martin Chiriboga, where we remained till the following morning. I here beheld the South American indian reduced to the most abject state of servitude and bondage, compared to which the slave belonging to the plantations on the coast of Peru, is free indeed.

These unfortunate beings, robbed of their country, are merely allowed to exist in it; because the plunderers would only possess a barren waste without their labour: the fertility of the soil would be useless without beings to harvest the crops and manufacture the produce; the gold and the silver must sleep in the mountains if no human beings were employed to extract it. Alas! these beings are the degraded original proprietors, on whom the curse of conquest has fallen with all its concomitant hardships and penury. A miserable pittance of fourteen dollars a year is the wages of a man who works in this cloth manufactory; and ten that of him who tends a flock of sheep; and for this miserable pay they are subject to the whip and to other corporal punishments: their home is a hut, composed of rude stones placed one upon another, and thatched with the long grass from the foot of Chimboraso: here, hunger, misery, and wretchedness seem to have fixed their abode, at the sight of which pity would wring tears from the heart of oppression; but pity has no part in the composition of the oppressors of the Children of the Sun!

Some of the cloth made at this obrage was the finest I had ever seen manufactured in America, but this was by a transgression of the colonial laws, which had established the precise quality of colonial manufactures. Happy at leaving behind that misery which I could only compassionate, we left San Juan in the morning, and arrived at two o'clock in the afternoon at Riobamba, where some very neatly painted triumphal arches had been erected.

Riobamba is the capital of the province of the same name; the old town was founded in 1533, by the Adelantado Sebastian Benalcasar; it contained twenty thousand inhabitants, two parish churches, four convents, two nunneries, and a hospital; but it was completely destroyed by an earthquake in 1797, when with very few exceptions the whole population perished, besides a much larger number in different parts of the province, and perhaps no remains of these terrible convulsions of nature are more awful than those at Riobamba. Some of the ruins of the old town may be seen on the acclivities of the mountains on each side the valley, where the new town now stands, separated from each other at least a league and a half; and I was shewn some ruins on each side of the valley which the inhabitants assured me had formed part of one edifice, particularly the two steeples which had belonged to the Franciscan church; these were on one side, and a portion of the body of the church on the other.

The face of the country was entirely changed, so much so, that after the shock the surviving inhabitants, and those of the neighbouring provinces, could not tell where their houses formerly stood, or where their friends had formerly lived; mountains rose where cultivated valleys had existed; the rivers disappeared or changed their course, and plains usurped the situation of the mountains and ravines. The face of the country was so completely altered, that no one knows the site of the largest farm in the province, belonging to Zamora.

The new town is built on a sandy plain, much below the level of the surrounding elevated plains, which are called paramos; its climate is very agreeable, and calculated to produce all kinds of European fruits, but at present only a few trees are to be seen in the orchards or gardens. I spent the evening that we remained at Riobamba with an old Indian Cacique, the only person whom I ever saw who could knot and interpret the meaning of the knots of the quipus. He boasted of being a descendant of the huasta puncay, the ancient lord of the surrounding country. He had an account of the peopling of that part of the territory of Maynas, to the eastward of the Cordilleras; first by a colony of puncay indians, who had become too numerous for the country which they inhabited; and secondly by part of the tribe, after they had been routed by Benalcasar, on the plain of Trocajas, where they opposed the entrance of the Spaniards. He also had a tradition that, a short time before the arrival of the Spaniards, a colony of monkeys crossed the mountains from the westward, and infested the country, till they were all destroyed by the indians; and that on the arrival of the first Spaniards, the natives considered them as a migration of destructive animals, and determined to prevent their entrance; but on being defeated, many left the country and joined the colony in Maynas. My kind host assured me, that the province of Riobamba contained extremely rich mines of gold and silver, and that from undoubted tradition this province sent more silver and gold for the purpose of ransoming Atahualpa than any other in the kingdom.

The province produces annually about four thousand quintals of sheep's wool, which is manufactured into different kinds of cloth; its other productions are wheat, maize, barley, potatoes, arracachas, and European culinary vegetables. The capital is so situated, that it is not likely ever to become a place of commercial notoriety.

Our next stage brought us to the town of Ambato, the road we travelled being very irregular and disagreeable, owing as well to the coldness of the climate as to the difficult ascents and descents; but the view of our resting place cheered us. As soon as we descended into the valley of Ambato, we found a triumphal arch, covered with ripe strawberries; these had been plucked with their stalks, and then fastened to cords of maguey fibres; large bunches were hanging down from the top, and in different parts festoons and other ornaments were tastefully displayed, and the fragrance was peculiarly delightful. Here the Corregidor and other gentlemen received us, and accompanied us to the town; part of the road being confined with hedges of tunas, rosemary bushes, magueys, and rose trees, with other vegetables belonging to the old and the new world: the natives of such distant parts of the globe were here blended, and were thriving in the most luxuriant manner. Before we arrived at the town we passed under two other arches covered with strawberries, and for more than a league the indian boys and girls danced along with us; stopping till we had passed the arches, which they immediately pulled down and stripped of their fruit, and then followed us running and singing, with long wreaths of strawberries hanging about them.

The town of Ambato is very pleasantly situated on one side of a river; the churches and houses are generally neat and all new, for the old town was completely demolished by the earthquake in 1797. Ambato is the capital of the province of the same name, which for the greater part enjoys a very mild climate and a most fertile soil. The crops of wheat, maize, barley, quinua, and other pulse are extremely abundant, and of an excellent quality. Many exquisite fruits are grown here, such as apples, pears, peaches, apricots, and strawberries; these are produced in great abundance; indeed many of the plains are covered with the plants, and any person who wishes to purchase some, pays to the proprietor of the ground, medio real, one-sixteenth of a dollar, and either goes himself, or sends a person to gather them for him during a whole day. Sugar cane thrives extremely well here, although it is four years before it is ripe: remarkably fine sugar is made from it, superior to any other that can be procured in this neighbourhood; but the quantity is small.

Cochineal, called here pilcay, is found in abundance in the leaves of the cactus, and is collected by the natives for the purpose of dyeing. The name given by the Spaniards to this valuable insect is cochinilla, signifying a little pig; because it bears a resemblance to one, in the same manner as in some parts of England it is supposed that the woodlouse resembles a hog, and is hence called an "old sow." The cactus on which the cochinilla feeds is not so prickly as the tuna, which in the West Indies is called the prickly pear; the leaves are very green, as well as the rind of the fruit, but the inside is of a most beautiful red colour, similar to that of the cochinilla; it is very palatable, and when eaten communicates its own colour to the urine. Little attention is paid here to the cultivation of the cactus, or nopal, as it is called in Mexico, or to the insect itself, consequently the quality of the dye is not of the first rate; but were both properly attended to, there is no doubt but the pilcay of Ambato would equal the cochinilla of Oaxaca. Instead of killing the insect after taking it from the cactus, by placing it in an earthen jar, and exposing it to a heat sufficiently strong to destroy its vitality, and then preserving it in bags, as the Mexican indians do, it is ground or bruised to the consistency of paste, and often adulterated with a composition made of the juice of the fruit, and flour; indeed the Mexican indians do the same, and they can imitate the animal so perfectly, that it is difficult to discover the counterfeit. The best method to detect it is, as an extensive dealer informed me in Mexico, to put a quantity of cochinilla into warm water, and let it remain twenty-four hours, then to stir it about, and strain the liquor through a hair sieve sufficiently fine to prevent the passage of the insect; allow the liquid to repose, and if any sediment be deposited, the cochinilla contains a portion of counterfeit matter, the quantity of which may be discovered by drying the sediment, and comparing the weight to that of the cochinilla placed in infusion.

Among the delicacies found at Ambato is excellent bread, equal to any in the world, and several kinds of cakes, particularly one called allullas, of which many are made and sent to Quito, Guayaquil, and other places. All the necessary articles of food are reasonably cheap and very good, owing to which, and to its agreeable climate, many persons choose to make this their place of residence.

In the year 1698 the town was destroyed by an eruption of Cotopaxi, accompanied by one of Carguairaso, which ejected torrents of a hot muddy matter in such quantities as to inundate several of the neighbouring valleys. On the south side of the present town there still remains a monument of this dreadful visitation; a large chasm is seen in the rock five feet wide, and more than a league in length.

On leaving Ambato, a short stage of five leagues brought us to Llactacunga, or as it is commonly called Tacunga. On our entrance we were shocked at the sight of heaps of ruins, caused by the earthquake in 1797; the churches and convents were quite demolished, and their remains exist in the condition in which that frightful convulsion left them. Tacunga is the capital of the province of the same name, and the residence of the Corregidor; the plain on which it stands is evidently of volcanic origin, or has been covered with volcanic productions thrown from the neighbouring mountains. The town contains about three thousand inhabitants; it has a parish church, and the remains of the convents of San Francisco, Santo Domingo, San Augustin, and la Merced; of a college of Jesuits, and a nunnery of barefooted Carmelite nuns; these after the earthquake were removed to Quito. The churches and houses are built of pumice stone, so light that it will float in water; it may be procured in almost any part of the neighbourhood. Tacunga was completely ruined by earthquakes, probably by shocks caused by the subterraneous operations of the volcano of Cotopaxi, which is very near to the town; these happened in 1698, when only one church out of nine, and four houses out of seven hundred, were left standing; in the years 1743 and 1757 it was entirely demolished.

In the earthquake of 1743, a Jesuit, Father Vallejo, was in the church when the roof fell in; he remained under the ruins till the third day, when he was taken out unhurt; but his mental faculties were so completely deranged, that he had forgotten his own name, nor did he recollect any of his most particular friends, and although a priest, when his breviary was presented to him he could not read it, but appeared quite childish; he afterwards resided in the college of Quito, but his memory had so entirely abandoned him, that he never could recollect any thing that had occurred to him before the earthquake, not even his studies, and he was afterwards taught to read and to celebrate a votive mass. This extraordinary instance of the effects produced by fright is so well authenticated in Quito, that the fact appears to be indubitable.

On the same plain on which Tacunga stands are the remains of an indian building, called the Inca's palace of Callo; but nothing except the foundation can be traced. It appears to have consisted of a large court and three extensive halls, forming three sides of an enclosure. It was built of hard black stones, unlike to any now found in the neighbourhood; owing to which, and to the similitude which the wrought stone (having one convex surface) bears to that used in Peru, little doubt exists of its having been built after the conquest of this country by Huaina Capac.

Excepting in some few valleys the climate of this province is cold; its productions are wheat, barley, maize, and potatoes. Here is but little fruit beside wild cherries, called capulis, which grow in great abundance, and when ripe constitute the principal food of the indians, to which we may add a few apples and some peaches. Nitre is found in several parts of the province, and a considerable quantity is manufactured. Some of the estates in this district are very large, and abound in horned cattle, from which good butter and cheese are procured.

We left Tacunga on the morning after our arrival, and remained at a farm called Chisinchi, and the next day we arrived at a farm house, called la Ensillada, belonging to the Marquis of Villa Orellana, where all the authorities and persons of distinction of Quito were assembled to compliment their President and Captain-general on his arrival. I shall not give an account of the ceremonies observed on the following day, because they in a great measure resembled those practised in Lima, on the arrival of a Viceroy.

It will be observed, that the towns we passed through on our route from Guayaquil to Quito are generally the capitals of the provinces or districts; there are other roads, but the different Corregidors or Governors wished to honour their President by receiving him at their respective houses; indeed, care has been taken to establish the capitals on the road, for the accommodation both of travellers and of the Governors themselves.

The principal population of these provinces is composed of tributary indians and mestisos, some few Spaniards, and white creoles. The natives appear very industrious and hospitable; but I had not a good opportunity of judging; however, this is the character which I have heard of them from others.