WHOLE VOL. THE WEST INDIES VAZQUEZ DE ESPINOSA 363 



1095. The city is abundantly supplied with excellent provisions 

 [and] so cheap that 8 one-pound loaves sell here for i real; 20 eggs, 

 I real ; i fowl, i real ; a mutton, 4 reals ; a ham, 3 ; and so on for 

 everything else [in food]. [It is well supplied and the market place 

 is full of everything. There are many varieties of Spanish fruit, 

 like pears.] It has many kinds of delicious fruit, like apples, peaches, 

 figs, small peaches, and others [of the sort], [all] in such abundance 

 and so cheap that for i real they give you a large basket of apples 

 or peaches, weighing considerably over half an arroba ; native fruit, 

 [which are likewise in profusion and cheap, like] bananas, paltas or 

 aguacates, pineapples, [native] cucumbers quite different from ours 

 and better, and granadillas from Los Quixos ; many excellent and 

 cheap vegetables; and the whole year round they have roses, pinks, 

 carnations, and other Spanish flowers [as in general in most parts 

 of the Indies.] 



1096. In this whole district they raise much corn and wheat ; it 

 sells very cheap ; small beans, chickpeas, peanuts, and other cereals. 

 They have large cattle, sheep, and hog ranches. Here they begin to 

 have the Peruvian sheep (llamas) not found anywhere else in the 

 world ; they are like small camels the size of deer ; their wool is 

 like that of Spanish merino sheep, their neck long, and they have no 

 horns ; they are of many colors, like ours. In the fields, as everywhere 

 in the Indies, there are many deer, and large mare and mule ranches, 

 [and many] goats, from which they make much leather in this city 

 [which is a very important business; it is] exported to the city of 

 Los Reyes (Lima) and other points. The price in Quito and its 

 district of a pair of cordovan shoes with three excellent sole thick- 

 nesses, is 3 or 4 reals. 



Chapter VII 



Continuing the Description of the Diocese of Quito. 



1097. In the district of this city there are many silver and gold 

 mines in operation. They have mines of quicksilver and other metals ; 

 many sugar plantations, and in the whole district [many] shops where 

 they work up large amounts of woolen cloth and grogram. Some 

 belong to the communities of the Indian villages and they pay their 

 tribute to their encomenderos with the product. In this district there 

 are some volcanoes which are continually emitting smoke and flame ; 

 that of Pichincha is near the city ; that of Tunguragua, [very] high 

 and steep, sends forth flame, and although under the Equator, is 

 always covered with snow; this is the case with many other sierras 



