ECUADOR. 



231 



powerful, so that the trip from Valparaiso to 

 Puna was made in less than eight days. Si- 

 multaneously a fast gunboat of light draught was 

 bought in Europe, also to be furnished with 

 the best guns. This vessel will be the third of 

 its kind that the navy of Ecuador possesses. 



State of the Conntryt President Caamafio, in 

 his message to Congress, expressed himself 

 as follows with reference to the progress the 

 republic is making: "Public instruction, con- 

 sidering the difficulties we have had to grapple 

 with, is making most creditable headway ; aid 

 is being extended to charitable institutions in 

 a most thorough and liberal manner by assist- 

 ing with all our might hospitals and asylums; 

 a large amount of money is being spent on the 

 construction of a new lazaretto, and we are 

 building a magnificent lunatic asylum, which 

 will be among the best appointed in South 

 America. Neither the scarcity of money, nor 

 the crippled financial resources of the country, 

 nor the disturbed political status it has suf- 

 fered from, has prevented us from continuing 

 without interruption the public works under- 

 taken, and from entering upon new ones. 

 Without going into full details I may say that 

 work on the Southern Railroad is proceeding 

 steadily ; that the telegraph has been extended 

 to the provinces of Imbabura, Carchi, Bolivar, 

 and Los Rios, and that the lines have begun to 

 be laid in those of Loja, Manabi, and Oro ; that 

 the national wagon-road is being repaired in 

 those of Pinchincha, Leon, Tungurahua, and 

 Cliimborazo ; that an iron bridge is in course 

 of construction over Lita river; that the 

 bridges on the northern and southern wagon- 

 roads are nearly finished; that we are laying 

 out a botanical garden; that all public build- 

 ings are being kept in a good state of repair, 

 and a Government edifice is being built at 

 Chatam; that we have furnished our coast 

 with three additional lighthouses, so that this 

 service of ours may be the best on the Pacific ; 

 that we concluded work on our handsome na- 

 tional theatre ; that we are laying again the 

 cable at the bottom of Guayaquil river, and 

 that in this matter of telegraphic cables we 

 are attending simultaneously to several enter- 

 prises." 



Railroads. In February M. J. Kelly, the con- 

 tractor for the railway to the interior, had en- 

 tered into a new contract for extending the 

 line from Yaguachi, the present terminus, to 

 Guayaquil, 22 kilometres. The new line wns 

 to be completed, if possible, in 1887, and the 

 Government of Ecuador is to pay Mr. Kelly an 

 interest of 6 per cent, on $500,000 for twenty 

 years. By this arrangement the Government 

 pays interest only, and the contractor furnish- 

 es the capital. The new line is believed to be 

 a profitable investment. Surveys were begun 

 in September. The proposal to construct the 

 Bahia de Caraquez and Quito Railroad, on 

 which work was to begin in the autumn of 

 18S7, met with much opposition in Quito, as 

 some of the terms were considered too onerous ; 



but it met with equally warm support. This 

 road will open up the tropical belt of the 

 coast, and will also pierce the higher and cool- 

 er lands, where the products of the temperate 

 zone are found in abundance. The contract 

 made by the Government, and approved by 

 Congress, with Don Ignacio Palan, stipulates 

 that the coast terminus is to be at a point in the 

 Bay of Caraquez where steamers are to connect 

 with it to navigate the bay ; that it is to be 

 finished in ten years ; and that the Govern- 

 ment guarantees 6 per cent, interest on the 

 capital invested in every kilometre from the 

 moment it shall have been constructed. As 

 security for the prompt payment of such in- 

 terest, the revenue to be collected at the 

 Manabi custom-houses is pledged, such reve- 

 nue being estimated to produce $100,000 per 

 annum. Valuable land-grants are made on 

 both sides of the line. 



Telegraphs. Early in 1887 the following capi- 

 tals of provinces were connected by telegraph: 

 Quito, Latacunga. Ambates, Riobamba, Caflar, 

 Cuenca, Guayaquil, and Daule. There were in 

 course of construction the following lines : 

 Quito, Ibana, Tulcan, Riobamba and Guaranda. 

 The republic is in connection with the world's 

 system by means of a land-line, which connects 

 Guayaquil with Ballanita, thence by cable with 

 New York via the isthmus of Tehuantepec. 

 The number of subscribers to the telephone 

 at Guayaquil was 160 at the close of 1886. 



Steam Navigation. Merchants of Bahia have 

 formed a steamship company for navigating 

 the Chone and Capotillo rivers, and in the au- 

 tumn the first steamer was being built at San 

 Francisco, Cal., for the service between Motal, 

 Segua, and Bahia, to be followed by another 

 to ply between the two principal ports of Man- 

 abi, Manta, and Bahia, touching at Tabuco, 

 Jama, and Pedomales. 



Commerce. The exports in 1885 amounted to 

 $6,680,815, including the precious metals, and 

 23,227,048 pounds of cocoa, worth $5,080,918: 

 specie and bullion, $688.354; hides, $269,405; 

 coffee, 1,850,088 pounds, worth $249,736; 

 quinine-bark, 298,697 pounds, worth $112,011 ; 

 India-rubber, 427,254 pounds, worth $102,541 ; 

 the remainder being straw hats, vegetable 

 ivory, tamarinds, and tobacco. The American 

 trade for the year has been as follows : 



Import into the United States from Ecuador $1,181,169 



Export of domestic goods from the United States 

 to Ecuador 1,049,392 



The number of vessels that entered Ecuado- 

 rian ports in 1885 was 407, of which 185 en- 

 tered at Guayaquil alone (117 thereof being 

 steamers). The aggregate tonnage waa 131,522. 



Cocoa. There arrived at Guayaquil from the 

 interior for shipment abroad, in 1886, 384,752 

 quintals of cocoa, against 244,724 in 1885, and 

 176,955 in 1884. From Jan. 1 to Nov. 3, 1887, 

 313,000 quintals had been received at Guaya- 

 quil. The total consumption of cocoa is 80,- 

 000,000 pounds. France heads the list, taking 

 26,000,000 pounds; Spain comes next with 



