236 QUITO. 



influence of religious intolerance and bigotry. Having 

 occupied about two hours in passing around the plaza, the 

 saints, who doubtless enjoyed the airing, were borne into 

 the church in good time to escape a rising shoAver. Such 

 religious ceremonies as these are illustrative of Catholicism 

 as we find it in Quito, and, indeed, through a large portion 

 of South America. So supremely ignorant are the people, 

 so thoroughly indoctrinated in the sujjerstitious teachings 

 of native and foreign priests, that any reformatory move- 

 ments, leading to a religion less material and of higher 

 spiritual conceptions, must necessarily be slow. 



Of social life in Quito, of the customs and character 

 of its inhabitants, their vices and virtues, we will not 

 speak, as we have already dwelt upon these in our de- 

 scription of Caracas, and life in one of these Spanish cap- 

 itals is but a photographic picture of that in the other. 

 We must allude, however, to one c%use, beyond its in- 

 efficient population, which must ever tend to retard the 

 prosperity of the city. We can hardly predict for it the 

 glorious future which some foresee. Nature, although she 

 has done much for the city, has failed to give it the one 

 thing needful — a stable soil. There must necessarily be a 

 stagnation of all enterprise, an ever-present discourage- 

 ment to the entering upon any great public or architec- 

 tural work, where, in every few decades at least, the move- 

 ments of the earth pile the most labored of man's works 

 into ruins ; and, -without these, to give expression to a 

 people's progress, no advancement has ever been rendered 

 permanent. Quito's isolation and earthquakes are balanced 

 against its delightful climate and magnificent views. 



Distant from Quito about three hours' ride is the cele- 

 brated Hacienda of Chillo, which must be noticed in con- 

 nection with our hasty sketch of the capital. To reach it 

 we cross the Puengasi Hills, which border the city upon 

 the east, and then pass through the beautiful valley of 



