4 A VOYAGE TO Book VII. 



were here also little to be apprehended, which are fre- 

 quently rendered necessary in the other road by inun- 

 dations, rivers, and precipices. 



On the 3i)th of October we reached the Bodegas, 

 or warehouses, of Babayoho, where taking a canoo 

 we went down the river to Guayaquil ; and embark- 

 ing on board a small ship bound for Puna, we an- 

 chored in that port November the 3á. At this place 

 we hired a large balza, which brought us through 

 thegulph to Máchala. For though the usual route 

 is bv the Salto de Tunibez, we were obliged to alter 

 our course, the pilot not being well acquainted with 

 the entrance of a creek, through which you pass to the 

 Salta. _ /' ^ ' 



On the 5th in the morning our balza landed us on 

 the coast of Máchala, from whence we travelled by 

 land to the town, the distance being about two short 

 leagues. The next day Me sent away our baggage in 

 a large canoQ^ to the Salto de Tumbez ; going myself 

 in the same canoo, being disabled by a fall the pre- 

 ceding day. Don George Juan, with the servants, 

 Ibl lowed on horseback : the whole country being level, 

 is eyeiy where full of salt marshes, and overflows at 

 high water, so that the track is not suiRcient for two 

 to go abreast. 



The Salto, wliere I arri^ ed on the Tth at night, is a 

 place which serves as a kind of harbour for boats and 

 small vessels. It is situated at the head of some creeks, 

 particularly that of the Jambeli, between fourteen and 

 sixteen leagues from the coast, but entirely destitute 

 of inhabitants, no fresh water being found in any 

 part of the adjacent country ; so that it only serve» 

 for landing goods consigned to Tumbez, where they 

 are carried on mules, kept there for this purpose ; 

 and in this its whole trade consists. The Salto is un- 

 inlia'nited ; nor does it alford the least shelter, all the 

 goods brought thither being deposited in a small 

 síjuaro ; and, as rain is seldom or never known here, 

 (i there 



