194 A VOYAGE TO Book IV. 



merchants of Guayaquil import it from New Spain, 

 and send it to the Quito manufacturers. 



Summer is the proper season for carrying on these 

 branches of commerce ; because then the manufac- 

 tures of the mountains can be brought down to Guaya- 

 quil, and the goods sent f om other parts carried up 

 to the mountainous parts. But the river of Guaya- 

 quil is never witiiout vessels loading with goods of 

 that jurisdiction, the sea here being always open. 

 The profits resulting from this large and constant 

 commerce could alone have preserved it from a total 

 desertion, after being so frequently pillaged by pirates, 

 and wasted by fire. And it is owing to the advan- 

 tages resulting from this commerce, that we now be- 

 hold it large, flourishing, and magnificent, as if it 

 had enjoyed an uninterrupted prosperity from its very 

 foundation. 



BOOK 



