96 EXPLORATIONS IN ECUADOR. [Dec. 13, 1858. 



that it is a country of surprising wealth as regards the products of its forests. 

 Cocoa, coffee, cotton, cinnamon, ishpingo, ginger, gums, resins, hark, sarsa- 

 parilla, vanilla, and indigo, are all indigenous. The timber of large size, and 

 suitable for all sorts of useful purposes, may be brought to market both from 

 the eastern and western slopes. With these advantages, all that seems required 

 to consummate the progress and ultimate civilization of Ecuador are good 

 ports for the shipment of her products. Guayaquil is her present and prin- 

 cipal port ; there is another farther north, which has been surveyed by Captain 

 Kellett, called the Pailon, or Cauldron of Saint Peter (San Pedro). On account 

 of the want of a good road, it has never been used; but from its perfect 

 suitability, and greater proximity to the capital, the Pailon will probably in 

 a few years be the focus of Ecuadorian commerce. 



Before I sit down it should be mentioned, that although during the Spanish 

 rule no mines were worked in this country, yet it may be relied on that 

 Canelos, the Napo, and Macas (on the eastern slope of the Cordillera), are not 

 only extensive, but most valuable gold fields. Very fine specimens of ruby 

 silver have been met with, and also in its native state. 



Mb. J. Geestenberg. — The gentleman who doubts the practicability of 

 making the navigation of the Amazon available, because it would necessitate 

 transporting the products of Ecuador a distance of three thousand miles, forgets 

 that the question depends upon the cost of conveyance. Three thousand miles 

 of navigation may be in itself inexpensive, whilst the short route by land to 

 the Pacific, recommended by the gentleman, runs over the stupendous 

 mountain ridges of the Andes, presenting insuperable physical difficulties, 

 besides an enormous exf»ense. Should a proper road be constructed for tra- 

 vellers, it may admit of the conveyance of the precious metals, and such other 

 valuable and light articles in respect of which cheapness of transport is less 

 important than expedition.* The gentleman has mentioned that Nauta at 

 present belongs to Peru. It is in its possession, it is true. That gentleman 

 says possession is nine points of the law, but it appears at the present moment 

 that Peru claims an immense tract of land northward and westward, even to 

 Papallacta, almost within sight of the city of Quito. If, then, nine points of 

 the law consist in possession, it follows that this tract, which is in possession 

 of Ecuador, belongs to Ecuador. The parts selected for the English bond- 

 holders by Mr. Pritchett were in possession of Ecuador at the time. Wherever 

 he travelled he found Ecuadorian authorities, showing that he was within the 

 territory of Ecuador. It is only justice to Mr. Pritchett to state that this is 

 the case, because he has been accused of obtaining for the British creditors 

 lands which were notoriously disputed, whereas he had no means of judging 

 that Peru was going to dispute them. The claim of Peru was based on an 

 edict of the King of Spain in 1802, which gave the jurisdiction over these 

 territories to the Bishop of Lima. The eminent historian Prescott tells us, 

 that the King of Spain used to let his pen fall on the map of South America, 

 and divide it into provinces in that fashion, without the slightest understanding 

 or knowledge of ,the country ; but so impossible was it found to extend even 

 the clerical jurisdiction of this bishopric over such distant regions, that the 

 scheme was never carried out. The King of Spain has long ceased to reign in 

 these districts, and many treaties have been concluded since, cancelling his 

 preposterous territorial arrangements. Whatever map I have consulted has 

 shown me that the frontier line of Ecuador and Peru was the Amazon, and in 

 most maps it is given even below that river. But the hamlet of Zamora, the 

 most southern point of the lands granted by Ecuador, is still considerably 

 north of the Amazon. The claim of land on the part of Peru appears to bo 



* Mr. Gerstenberg has evidently misunderstood the tenor of Mr. Markham's 

 remarks. — Ed. 



