200 FEOM PANAMA TO BODEGAS. 



barrier, what wealth and beauty of vegetation Ave shall 

 find within the great Amazonian Valley. 



The nights upon this coast are uncomfortably cold ; 

 monaings we found our overcoats essential to comfort. 

 This low temperature may be referred to the rapid radia- 

 tion of' heat from the desert, and to the cold ocean-current, 

 which, sweeping from the southern sea, carries the chilling 

 influence of its polar waters almost to the equator. Our 

 collections at this point comprised si3ecimens of the present 

 marine fauna and fossils from the cliffs. The floral king- 

 dom was rej^resented by only two species of diminutive 

 shrubs, almost destitute of leaves, belonging to the natural 

 orders RhamnaccEe and Leguminosce. The latter we 

 afterward found upon the highlands of Quito, where it 

 assumed almost arboreal dimensions. 



Upon the evening of the 16th, the Favorita steamed 

 into the bay, and stepping aboard we gladly bade farewell 

 to Paita and the Peruvian coast. Just before entering the 

 Gulf of Guayaquil, and eighteen miles below Tumbez, we 

 pass several petroleum-wells, located upon a sterile coast, 

 which ai*e yielding a remunerative supply of oil. One day 

 from Paita brings us opposite the Ecuadorian coast. 

 Ecuador presents a verdant front to the Pacific. Ever- 

 green tropical forests fringe heavily its western shores ; 

 for the winds which sweep the Peruvian coast lose their 

 regularity as they approach the equator, and the vapors 

 are distilled in heavy showers. The dark emerald of the 

 vegetation presents a pleasing contrast to the gray cliffs 

 and arid plains of Peru. This tropical forest, replacing 

 the great desert three degrees south of the equator, ex 

 tends northward, throwing its dense shades along the 

 Guayas, and over the Avilds of the Esmeraldas,* and 



* The Esmeraldas is the largest river upon the Pacific slope of South 

 America. It is supposed by some to take its name ft-om the emeralds 

 that were obtained in large quantities from that locality at the time of the 



