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



Ecuador is intersected by the Andes, and, therefore, its centre 

 division being on a high level, has a comparatively temperate 

 climate, and is the seat of the piincipal tov^^ns ; v^hile the low east 

 and west divisions are covered almost entirely by luxuriant forest, 

 a small part indeed of which has been rescued from the dominion 

 of the monkey and the wild boar. Guayaquil is the principal port 

 of Ecuador. The route from it to Quito lies for the first 60 or 60 

 miles up a river whose mouth is 60 miles from Guayaquil. On 

 leaving the river at Bodegas the arrangements for land traffic are so 

 miserable that goods are occasionally detained twelve months in 

 that town for want of means of transport. The route from Bodegas 

 to Quito passes the Andes near Ohimborazo, rising by a series of 

 lower ridges through a beautiful variety of scenery, but the risks 

 and difficulties of commercial traffic along it are enormous. Quito 

 has some fine buildings, as a cathedral, churches, convents, and 

 colonnades, all of the 16th century, and there are noble views of 

 the snow-topped Andes from the high ground above the city. 



As the road from Guayaquil is so circuitous and beset by natural 

 difficulties, Mr. Pritchett started to explore another straight down 

 to the sea-coast, and went by the side of the Mira Eiver, through 

 uncleared forest, and ultimately by canoes along the Cachabi Eiver, 

 to the port of La Tola, in the immediate neighbourhood of the 

 Pailon. This port has been surveyed and reported on very favour- 

 ably, and a road to it was actually commenced many years ago, but 

 afterwards was neglected and allowed to become overgrown. 



Mr. Pritchett returned to Quito by another route, and thence 

 made a trip to the Bark country between the province of Cuenca 

 and the River Amazon. Lastly, he went from Quito to Canelos by 

 the north side of the Pastaza River, a tributary of the Amazon, 

 which is navigable for 300-ton steamers to within 150 miles of 

 Quito, so that capital may be said to be more accessible on the 

 Atlantic side than by way of the Pacific. Mr. Pritchett here met 

 Mr. Spruce, an English botanist, and records his notes upon the 

 climate, &c., of Canelos. He described the wet and dry seasons as 

 fused together : thus there is rarely a day all the year round on the 

 upper Rio Negro without both sunshine and rain. The climate is 

 remarkably healthy ; he asserted that one may travel all day soaked 

 with rain, and sleep at night on the damp ground with little pro- 

 tection without suffering from the exposure. There are traces of 

 gold everywhere on the lower slopes of the Andes towards the east, 

 and the mountain Llanganate is especially mentioned as worthy of 

 exploration. There are many traditions of its wealth. 



At present there is a monthly line of Brazilian steamers on the 



