WHOLE VOL. THE WEST INDIES VAZQUEZ DE ESPINOSA 3/1 



to Riobamba, 7 leagues, [and] from Riobamba to Quito, 25, which 

 makes 47 leagues altogether ; and with the 30 leagues down the river, 

 it comes to "]"] leagues from Guayaquil to Quito. This merchandise 

 is shipped in medium-sized boats with decks, called botic[uines (travel- 

 ing medicine chests). The river is very large and its waters agreeable 

 and very healthful, for besides being very soft, they run over much 

 gold ore and pass where the finest sarsaparilla in the world grows ; 

 and so down in that country [and city] one can stay up and cure 

 himself very easily of the tumors (syphilis) by merely drinking the 

 water. The river flows through level country, very gently ; along 

 its banks there are many handsome trees with thick foliage, and on 

 them, a thousand sorts of handsome and attractive birds with a 

 thousand variations in color ; many of them are songsters, such as 

 conotes, nightingales (ruisenores) and sinsontes (mockingbirds), 

 which raise a very sweet and melodious harmony, so that both to 

 the ear and the eye it appears a bit of earthly Paradise. The enjoy- 

 ment of the view is enhanced by the entry of other leisurely rivers 

 into its stream. Along the banks are many plantations or chacras 

 owned by Guayaquil residents, with cacao trees loaded down with 

 the pods of cacao beans, and other excellent fruit, like oranges in 

 abundance, and limes. These cacao trees are not cultivated with the 

 same devoted pains as in New Spain and Honduras ; [but] the 

 planting of them has enriched many people and swollen their tithes 

 and revenues. There are likewise many cattle and hog ranches along 

 the banks of this mighty river. But agreeable as it may be to the 

 sight, seeming a delightful Paradise, to the feeling it is painful in 

 equal degree. Besides the great heat of an excessive intensity, for 

 it is only about i° from the Equator, and the fact that the low-lying 

 country, covered with groves and woods, keeps any wind from 

 circulating, there is an infinity of mosquitoes of numerous varieties, 

 which normally keep travelers in torture ; during the day there are 

 jejenes (gnats) and rodadores (midges) which are very painful and 

 stick fast to one's skin, and leave bites that inflame ; there are others 

 much tinier which can hardly be made out, but their bites fester ; 

 there are others a sort of blue in color which force travelers by boat 

 during the daytime to stay under canvas unable to enjoy the lovely 

 scenery of the banks and forests along the great river, whose crystal- 

 clear and smoothly running waters make a pleasant and harmonious 

 sound. Then when these pests are sleeping at night, others rise and 

 set sail; these are the zancudos (night mosquitoes) which make an 

 annoying and distressing noise and keep trying to find some part of 

 the canopy through which they can bite the person inside. To these 



