222 CKOSSING THE ANDES. 



their snowy altars about us — we felt it to be the hour and 

 place for reverent worship. Just then we observed sev- 

 eral groups, slowly making their way up the steep path 

 which Avound from the town, to render their evening de- 

 votions before the crucifix planted upon the brow of the 

 hill, and around Avhich a small number were already gath- 

 ered in the attitude of prayer. There was something 

 pleasing in that vesper service. "We thought it a fitting 

 scene of the closing day, enacted there before Nature's 

 own altars, with the glories of that mountain-temple still- 

 ing: the soul in adoring wonder and reverence. 



We spent the Sabbath in Ambato. This is the great 

 market-day of the week. Our observations confirmed the 

 remark of a friend at Guayaquil, that the Sabbath never 

 found its way across the isthmus. There is a deplorable 

 lack of veneration for the day throughout Spanish Amer- 

 ica. Early in the morning, the Indians of the country 

 surrounding Ambato come pouring into the city with 

 fruits and produce of every variety ; the women carrying 

 the burdens upon their backs with their infants perched 

 on top, while their lords trot along empty-handed. By 

 ten o'clock the plaza^ or public square, is packed with a 

 motley throng, and presents a busy scene during the re- 

 mainder of the day. Next to the plaza, the little stream 

 that runs through the town presents the most unique and 

 animated scene. Its banks for a long distance are flecked 

 Avith drying garments, while at the bowlders in the stream 

 stand the Indian washerwomen, using the rough stones as 

 scrubbing-boards. Having no linen in "the wash," we 

 looked on unmoved as the stout, swarthy senoras rubbed 

 the clothes upon the rocks, whipped them about the bowl- 

 ders, or pounded them with the smaller stones. 



A few days' rest at Ambato, and we again resumed 

 our journey. We were necessitated to make easy stages, 

 as the sudden change from the tierra calie^Ue to the high 



