AMERICAN LUMBER IN FOREIGN MARKETS. 75 



Toja, I have no sufficient information (the woods named are most likely 

 found in all those provinces), nor have I any information about the 

 woods of the Cordilleras, nor of those in the regions known as the 

 Ariunte the virgin forests of the upper Amazons. 



Guayacan. This valuable wood endures alike in the open air as 

 under ground. On account of the frequency of earthquakes, most of 

 the houses are built upon great posts, which are sunk deeply into the 

 ground and are extended to the second story of the building. The 

 bottom parts of these posts are of guayacan, which extend 4 or 

 5 feet above ground and the upper part of the posts are of mangle, 

 which can be renewed when it decays. The two parts of the posts are 

 attached together by a most ingenious mortise joint. The guayacan is 

 used for all purposes where wood is used under ground or in water. 



Mangle. This wood is in universal use for the upper part of posts 

 and for all the joists, plates, and studding of houses. Its lasting 

 quality differs with its situation. In the shade above ground it 

 endures, say fourteen years, and in the ground, sixteen years, but in 

 the open air, exposed to the sun, it lasts only three or four years. 



Balsa. The renowned balsas (or rafts) (the most unique water craft 

 in the world) are constructed of this wood, hence its name. This craft 

 (made of balsa logs, stripped of the bark and fastened together with 

 vines) has always been in use by the Indians on this coast. . The tradi- 

 tion is that the progenitors of the Indians, who inhabited this country 

 before the Incas appeared, as well as at the time of the Spanish con- 

 quest, reached the shores of Ecuador in balsas most probably from 

 the Isthmus of Panama. At all events the balsa has, from time 

 immemorial, been the water craft of the Indians of Ecuador. They 

 float up and down the rivers and bayous (esteros) with the tide, trans- 

 porting their produce and returning home. Some build their cabins 

 on their balsas, which thus become their only homes. They do not fear 

 to go to sea in their balsas, for it is impossible to sink them. 



The balsa wood is very white, soft, strong, and floats like a cork. 



I regret that my lack of information prevents me from going into 

 particulars about others of the most rare and valuable woods mentioned 

 in the table. I write only of those which I see in use every day. 



KINDS OF LUMBER USED. 



The kinds of lumber preferred are the guayacan, mangle, and imported 

 pine each for its particular purpose. 



Bamboo. The bamboo is of universal use for ceilings in house build- 

 ing. The matter in the joints being carefully cut out, the cane, from 4 

 to 6 or more inches in diameter, is flattened out and made like a plank. 

 It not only serves all the purposes of tbe best quality of lath, but is 

 usually the only weatherboarding of the rear of houses. It is also 

 the flooring material for respectable country houses and for all native 

 cabins. 



