Ecuador

“ Quito, the capital of Ecuador, is not without an atmosphere of interest and even romance. Remote and inaccessible as it has been until, in the last few decades, the railway united it with the outer world, Quito still conserves its character of a mountain capital, surrounded by lofty snow-clad volcanoes, whose names are bywords in geography. There are many large towns in the Andes, throughout Peru, Colombia, Bolivia and Venezuela, but both by reason of its history and its topography the capital of Ecuador is among the most interesting. ”

“ Imagine fifty mountains as high as Etna, three of them with smoking craters, standing along the road between New York and Washington, and you will have some idea of the ride down this gigantic colonnade from Quito to Riobamba. If, as Ruskin says, the elements of beauty are in proportion to the increase of mountainous character, Ecuador is artistically beautiful to a high degree. ”

“ Society is in a constant struggle between ostentation and want.
Nature has done more for Ecuador than for Ecuadorians. She laid out this beautiful valley for an Elysian field; "de Quito al Cielo" (from Quito to Heaven) is not an empty adage; and it is painful to look upon tottering walls and impassable roads, upon neglected fields and an idle population—poor as poverty in the lap of boundless natural wealth. ”

“ The embroidery and lace, wood carving and portrait painting of Quito, are commendable; but the grandeur of the Andes, like the beauty of the Alps, was never sketched by a native.
Ecuador boasts of one University and eleven colleges; yet the people are not educated. Literature, science, philosophy, law, medicine, are only names. Nearly all young gentlemen are doctors of something; but their education is strangely dwarfed, defective, and distorted; and their knowledge, such as they have, is without power, as it is without practice. ”

“ Ecuador is, in point of population, the weaker nation: perhaps her claims have not been considered in a sufficiently generous spirit. [229] The law of uti possidetis alone holds. But an outlet to the great navigable affluents of the Amazon is a question of paramount importance in this forested region, cut off as it is from the Pacific by the huge rampart of the Andes, and—without prejudice to the historical aspects of the boundary question—this matter should receive full consideration. ”

“ This is the most fertile and productive part of Ecuador, especially on the higher lands near the Cordillera. The Trans-Andine region is similar to the neighbouring territories of the upper Amazon basin occupied by Colombia, Brazil and Peru—a great forest-covered plain descending gently toward the east, broken on its western margin by short spurs from the Andes enclosing highly fertile valleys, and by low, isolated ranges between the larger river courses, and traversed by large rivers flowing into the Napo and Marañon. ”

“ The eastern part of this territory is also claimed by Peru, which would have the effect, if allowed, of restricting Ecuador to a comparatively small area covered by the Andes and western Cordillera and the narrow plain on the Pacific coast. From the Santiago river, a western affluent of the Marañon, the boundary line runs south-west and west across the Andes to the head waters of the Macara, down that stream to the Chira, or Achira, whose channel marks the frontier down to about 80° 17′ W., where a small stream (the Rio Alamo) enters from the north. ”

“ Ecuador was part of the disputed territory which led to the sanguinary struggle between Atahualpa and his brother Huascar, a struggle which gave Pizarro his opportunity of conquering Peru. The conquistadores enslaved the Indians of Ecuador, and found them more docile and complacent than those of any of the allied tribes in South America. The Roman Catholic priesthood established churches, schools, and seminaries, scattering these institutions about with such a lavish hand that Quito, the capital, has been aptly called “The City of Convents.” ”

“ A republic, so governed, provided it remain uncorrupt, cannot fail to enjoy the highest degree of prosperity compatible with its position and material resources. Not only did Ecuador itself enjoy the fruits of its truly free and rationally republican government, it was able also to extend the blessings of its Christian and liberal civilization to neighboring tribes. Moved by the example and the representations of the good people of Ecuador, nine thousand savages of the Province of Oriente were induced to adopt the habits of Christian civilization. ”

“ The territory of Ecuador is inalienable, unrenounceable and inviolable. No one shall assault the territorial unity nor encourage secession. The capital of Ecuador is Quito. The Ecuadorian state shall exercise rights over the corresponding segments of the synchronous geostationary orbit, the maritime spaces and the Antarctic. ”

“ They are subjected to incredible abuses under Spanish colonial rule, their numbers being reduced to a fraction of the former population, and even yet they are subjected to a kind of debt-bondage which is slavery in all but the name. Notwithstanding all this they still represent from two-thirds to three-fourths of the actual population of Ecuador. East of the Andes the forests are inhabited by tribes of what are termed “aucas” or “infieles” (infidels) —Indians who are independent of both church and political control. ”

“ The region covered by the Peruvian empire has not half as many people now as it had in the time of the Incas. Is it possible to imagine the present inhabitants of Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia cultivating their soil with intelligent industry, building aqueducts five hundred miles long, and constructing magnificently paved roads through the rocks and across the ravines of the Andes, from Quito to Chili? ”

“ Ecuador (1,271) , a republic of S. America, of Spanish origin, created in 1822; derives its name from its position on the equator; lies between Columbia and Peru; is traversed by the Andes, several of the peaks of which are actively volcanic; the population consists of Peruvian Indians, negroes, Spanish Creoles; exports cocoa, coffee, hides, and medicinal plants; the administration is vested in a president, a vice-president, two ministers, a senate of 18, and a house of deputies of 30, elected by universal suffrage. ”

“ Advancement has striven with reaction, and the victory has generally been to the latter, with the result that Ecuador is the worst governed and most backward of all the South American countries. Of course, a few men stand out as having something approaching statesmanlike qualities. ”

“ It was near Guayaquil that Pizarro landed with one hundred and eighty men to conquer the empire of the Incas. The capital of Ecuador, Quito, lies in a saucer-shaped cup at the foot of Mt. Pichincha, with many other lofty peaks in sight. It perhaps retains more of the original characteristics than any other city of South America. It vies with the City of Mexico the distinction of being the oldest city of the Americas. For centuries prior to the coming of the Spaniards it was the capital of one of the branches of the Incas, and Atahualpa used to eat his meals off plates made of solid gold. ”

“ The Piojes live in permanent communities and cultivate the soil. The total number of “aucas” or uncivilized Indians in the republic has been estimated at about 200,000, but this estimate covered a larger area than Ecuador actually occupies and is evidently too high. Their settlements are usually small and very much scattered, and their aggregate number is evidently much under the earlier estimates. An official estimate given to Mr Whymper in 1880, however, places the population of Oriente (the eastern territory) at 80,000, which is probably more nearly correct. ”

“ The Amazon lowlands are home to nine of Ecuador’s eleven indigenous languages. The linguistic diversity of the lowlands mirrors the sociocultural and biological diversity characteristic of the country as a whole and of the Amazon basin in particular [2] . There is no agreement on the specific number of speakers of indigenous languages in Ecuador. This is due to the lack of transparent and updated sociolinguistic data. The size of Ecuador’s indigenous population is clearly a political issue both for the government and indigenous peoples. ”

“ That disintegration, that tendency for neighboring countries to hold no communication between each other, at which the American cannot but marvel in South America, was here in full evidence. Ecuador seemed as completely cut off from the country just over her southern boundary as from Europe. The cura of Oña had assured me that the one way to reach Peru from Loja would be to walk to Puerto Bolívar on the coast, take a costero to Guayaquil, then a “big steamer” to Paita or Pacasmayo! Only he who knows South American geography well can appreciate the unconscious humor of such advice. ”

“ The cultivated land and the population of Ecuador lie chiefly in this elevated region, which extends along between the summits of the Cordillera, and may be considered as divided by transverse ridges or dikes into the valleys of Quito, Hambato, and Cuenca. ”

“ We have seen that in Colombia the mountain ranges are so close to the shore as to leave little space for cities or agriculture, while in Peru and Chile for the most part the mountains are visible from the sea. Further, a good portion of Ecuador’s coastal zone resembles in some respects the Amazon section, while in Peru the two are utterly different. Ecuador is the only country favored on the Pacific side with rivers navigable to any considerable extent, and the dense tropical vegetation of much of the coast is in striking contrast to the Peruvian deserts. ”

“ The eastern range was found to receive the heaviest snowfall. The elevation at which human residence is possible seems to be unusually high in Ecuador. Many of the towns and villages of central Ecuador lie at altitudes ranging from 8606 ft. (Ambato) to 9839 ft. (Machachi) . The capital city of Quito is 9343 ft. above the sea, and is celebrated for its agreeable temperature, and also for its healthiness in spite of prevailing unsanitary conditions. ”

“ Population.—The indigenous population of Ecuador was originally composed of two distinct races—the Quitus and Caras, the former being the older, and the latter presumably of Quichua origin. The Caras, according to tradition, entered the country from the coast, and had thoroughly established themselves there long before the conquest by the Inca rulers Tupac-Yupanqui and his son Huayna-Capac. ”

“ In what is now the republic of Ecuador, the only peopled portions are the central valley, between the two ridges of the Andes—height 7000 to 12,000 feet—and the hot plain at their western base; nor do the wooded slopes appear to have been inhabited, except by scattered savage hordes, even in the time of the Incas. The Indians of the highlands are the descendants of others who have inhabited that region exclusively for untold ages ”

“ Freely exercise in Quito to ward off liver complaints. Drink little water; coffee or chocolate is better, and tea is best. Avoid spirits with fruit, and fruit after dinner. The sickliest time in Guayaquil is at the breaking up of the rainy season.
As to dangers: First, from the people. Traveling is as safe in Ecuador as in New York, and safer than in Missouri. There are no Spanish banditti, though some places, as Chambo, near Riobamba, bear a bad name. It is not wise to tempt a penniless footpad by a show of gold; but no more so in Ecuador than any where. ”

“ In 1919 the imports from Ecuador to the United Kingdom amounted to £1,257,350, and the exports to Ecuador to £373,346. Cocoa forms three-fourths (or more) of the whole export; the remainder is made up of tagua or ivory-nuts, rubber, straw hats, coffee, and gold. A little gold is mined, and Panama hats are made. The State recognizes no religion, but grants freedom of worship to all. A system of education was organized in 1897 and improved in 1912. There are three universities: the Central University, at Quito; the Guayas University, in Guayaquil; and the Azuay University, in Cuenca. ”

“ On the 5th of November 1904, Colombia and Ecuador agreed to submit their dispute to the German emperor, and a convention of the 12th of September 1905 between Colombia and Peru established a modus vivendi for the settlement of their conflicting claims, in which Ecuador is likewise interested. The maps of Ecuador, which are very defective, usually describe its territory as 911 extending eastward to the Brazilian frontier, but as Peru is in actual occupation of the region east of Huiririma-chico, on the Napo river, 31⁄2 degrees west of that frontier, those maps cannot be considered correct. ”

“ Red, tile roofs stand strikingly forth from deep-green corn-fields, and thousands of fertile, cultivated acres are shut in by barren, sand-faced hills, though there are no imposing peaks south of Cañar, and I had seen none snow-clad since leaving Riobamba. With no census for twenty-five years, the metropolis of southern Ecuador, third city of the republic, and capital of the rich province of Azuay, estimates its population at 45,000. Some have it that this great cuenca, six leagues long, gouged out of the Andes, was the original Tomebamba, birthplace of Huayna Ccápac. ”

“ There are shops enough in Quito, to all appearances, to supply the demands, if not the needs, of all the million and a half inhabitants of Ecuador. These are, for the most part, small, one-room dungeons without windows, flush with the sidewalk, with no other front than the doors that stand wide open during business hours, and present at other times their blank faces ornamented with several enormous padlocks. The quiteño puts no trust in the small locks of modern days. ”