478 A VOYAGE TO , Book VÍ. 



having no such hold on tlie harder hodies, it is soon 

 v/ashed off hy the agitation of" the water ; that if 

 now and then such crusts are seen on stones, thev 

 never make any sensible addition to their volume. 

 thougli some excrement is now conspicuous from 

 the difference oí' the colour; that of tlie petrified 

 leaves, both within and without, is of a p:de yello,w; 

 and the same prevails in the stems : though in these 

 always with a mixture of that of the MOod itself when 



Though all the jurisdictions of the kingdom of 

 Quito, from N. to S. are not molested by the vi- 

 cinity of wild Indians, yet it is the misfortune of the 

 governments of Quixos and J\iacas, Jean and May- 

 nas, to be surrounded and intermixed with those bar- 

 barians; so that by only passing the eastern Cordil- 

 lera of the Andes, towards that part you usually 

 meet with them. : and from some parts of those emi- 

 nences the smoke of their cottages may be seen. 

 This sight is most frequently beheld from the moun- 

 tain on the back of the town of Cayambe ; and all 

 along to the northward, from the village of Mira 

 within the jurisdiction of the town of San Miguel 

 di Ibarra. The sportsmen, uhen hunting on those 

 hills, often see the smoke both on this side and like- 

 wise on the same Cordillera, from the jurisdiction of 

 Ptiobamiba, to that of Cuenca. The village of Mira 

 has often been surprized with the sudden appearance 

 of some of these Indians ; but they have as suddenly 

 turned back, and with the same haste they came. It 

 is not uncommon for Indians of these jurisdictions, 

 from a fondness for sloth and licentiousness, to leave 

 their houses and go over to the savages; as among 

 them they may, without controul, follow their natu* 

 ral idolatry, and give themselves up to drunkenness 

 and' all manner of vice; and, what they think a su- 

 preme happiness, be served and attended by women, 

 2 whose 



