336 ANNUAL EEPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1924 



La Rinconada, and the return about the same way, passings through 

 Malchingui and Pomasqui. La Rinconada is a large ranch, whose 

 owner, Senor Tomayo, courteously entertained us. After our return 

 to Quito a visit was made to Pichincha, a volcanic cone 15,000 feet 

 high a few miles from the city. The next overland trip was made 

 in company with Mr. McWilliam through southern Ecuador, August 

 25 to September 13. Going from Guayaquil to Santa Rosa by 

 boat we took horses for the remainder of the wa}-. The first stage, 

 two days, brought us to Portovelo, a gold mine in charge of Ameri- 

 cans. The manager, Mr. Tweedy, whom I met in Quito, and Mr. 

 Kellogg, the superintendent, entertained us here, and the American 

 conditions, including food, were surely a pleasant break in the 

 primitive life we had been living. The second stage, three days, 

 brought us to Loja by way of El Tambo and La Toma. The third 

 stage, four days' travel and one day's rest, brought us to Cuenca, the 

 third city in Ecuador. The route lay through San Lucas, Ona, and 

 Nabon. The fourth and last stage, two days, took us to Huigra on 

 the railroad. 



In September Mr. McWilliam and I journeyed into the Oriente 

 a short distance, starting from Ambato. At the end of the first day 

 we reached Bailos and the second day Cashurco. We returned to 

 Ambato at the end of the fourth day. On October 4 an ascent of 

 Chimborazo was made to snow line at about 16,000 feet, starting 

 from Urbina on the Guayaquil and Quito railroad (11,841 feet). 

 This ended the field work in Ecuador. 



TOPOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE OF ECUADOR 



Ecuador has three well-marked regions — the coastal plain, be- 

 tween the Pacific Ocean and the Andes, the mountains with their 

 interior vallej^s, and the vast forested region to the east of the 

 mountains, the Oriente. 



The coastal plain is about 100 miles wide, and gradually rises to 

 the base of the mountains where the elevation is about 1,000 feet 

 (at Bucay on the railroad). The rainfall is heaA^y in the Colom- 

 bian coast region and in northern Ecuador but decreases rapidly 

 southward and one soon arrives at desert conditions in northern 

 Peru. The temperature of the tropical west coast of South America 

 south of the equator is much modified by the cool Humboldt cur- 

 rent coming up along the coast from the Antarctic regions. The 

 coastal cities are not as warm as the latitude would indicate. The 

 average temperature for Guayaquil is 27° (80° F.) for the year, 

 281/2° (83° F.) in January and 251/2° (78° F.) in July. The maxi- 

 mum of 35° (95° F.) and the minimum of 19° (66° F.) are very 

 rarely attained. The daily variation of temperatures is usually less 



