ECUADOR 



several tons of gold and silver which he had seized from the 

 Cagafuegos. After this episode he was appropriately called 

 the "cagaplate" or silver giver. This lucrative robbery incited 

 a good many members of the international brotherhood of 

 buccaneers to come to the Ecuadorian coast for more than a 

 century— killing, looting, and setting towns afire wherever 

 they went. La Plata, besides the Galapagos Islands, Salango, 

 etc., became a haven for these raiders. It supplied food and 

 water as it still does to vessels today. Hundreds of wild goats 

 roam the plains and from the sea they can easily be seen 

 climbing over the perpendicular cliffs which encircle the 

 islands. I suppose someday we shall find in the caves a cache 

 of some of the tons of bullion that cleared through La Plata. 

 The highest point on this fine island is 590 feet, but most of 

 it is over 150 feet high, making it quite distinguishable from 

 afar. Twenty persons live regularly on the island, but when 

 the marlin season is on there are probably eighty fishermen 

 from Manta who come over due to their difficulties in getting 

 bait there. As this is the nearest and best fishing grounds they 

 naturally favor it above others. There is one car— a Ford 

 truck— on the island, and a few fishermen living in shacks. 

 The anchorage is a well-protected bay. Any yacht going 

 down there will be perfectly safe and may obtain stores 

 without difficulty. Commercial fishermen catch the marhn 

 drifting or at times by slow trolling. 



I am indebted to Emilio Estrada for the above information. 

 In three days' fishing when he was there in 1952 he raised 

 twenty-six marhn, hooked fifteen and landed four. 



The reef fishing is about as good as that of Peru and I 

 believe they have the second best wahoo and the best rooster- 



III 



