Cu. V. SOUTH AMERICA. 261 



CHAP. V. 



Of the Inhabitants of ^ito, 



THIS city is very populous, and has, among its 

 inhabitants, some families of high rank and 

 distinction i though their number is but small consi- 

 dering its extent, the poorer class bearing here too 

 great a proportion. The former are the descendants 

 either of the original conquerors, or of presidents, 

 auditors, or other persons of character, who at dif- 

 ferent times came over from Spain invested wilh 

 some lucrative post, and have still preserved their 

 lustre, both of wealth and descent, by intermarri- 

 ages^ without intermixing with meaner families 

 though famous for their riches. 



Th e commonalty may be divided into four classes j 

 Spaniards or Whites, Mestizos, Indians or Natives, 

 and Negroes, with their progeny. These last are 

 not propo*" lonally so numerous as in the other parts 

 of the Indies ; occasioned by it being something in- 

 convenient to bring Negroes to Quito, and the dif- 

 ferent kinds of agriculture being generally performed 

 by Indians. 



The name of Spaniard here has a different mean- 

 ing from that of Chapitone or European, as properly 

 signifying a person descended from a Spaniard with- 

 out a mixture of blood. Many Mestizos, from the 

 advantage of a fresh complexion, appear to be 

 Spaniards more than those who are so in reality ; 

 and from only this fortuitous advantage are accounted 

 as such. The Whites, according to this construc- 

 tion of the word, may be considered as one sixth part 

 of the inhabitants. 



The Mestizos are the descendants of Spaniards and 

 Indians, and are to be considerca here in the same 

 different degrees between the Negroes and Whites, 



S 3 ^ as 



