288 



ECUADOR. 



contrary, chose to join the insurgents. The 

 commander of the Constance thereupon placed 

 a boat at his disposal, which landed him at Sam- 

 barondon, one of the camps of the latter. 



The besieging forces, 5,000 men strong, ap- 

 proached the fortifications of the city on May 

 22d. Some shots were exchanged, and the 

 next day shells were thrown into the place. 

 Veintemilla took part in the defense, and ex- 

 posed himself fearlessly on the ramparts. His 

 force numbered 3,000 bayonets, and he had 60 

 pieces of artillery in position. 



On May 26tn-27th the besieging forces tem- 

 porarily withdrew from the immediate ap- 

 proaches, while the Colombian generals in the 

 insurgents' camp, Generals Sarmiento and Mon- 

 tujar, proceeded to Ipalio to observe the move- 

 ments of Veintemilla. 



On June 3d the assailants again approached 

 the city, and a lively cannonade was opened on 

 it, followed by an attack on Forts Manicomio, 

 Salado, and Puerto de Lisa, the northwestern 

 portion of the fortifications. After the firing 

 ceased, on June 4th, a summons to surrender 

 at discretion was forwarded to Veintemilla, 

 but rejected by him. 



During the lull in siege operations which 

 now occurred, Veintemilla was busy in perfect- 

 ing his intrenchments. 



On June 13th there was a general panic in 

 Guayaquil, in consequence of the disorderly 

 conduct of the garrison. 



On June 19th an earthquake shook down 

 the church and curacy of the village of Toacaso, 

 in the interior of Ecuador. The other houses 

 resisted the first shock, but a second shock 

 took place about midnight, which destroyed 

 every house. The ground opened in many 

 places, and during the night sixteen shocks 

 were counted. 



About this time a gang of bandits paid a 

 visit to the towns of Manta and Montecristi, 

 where they murdered several persons and 

 plundered a large amount. Some of the citi- 

 zens resisted, and several of them were killed. 



On July 9th, before daylight, the assailing 

 army at Mapasingue advanced on Guayaquil in 

 six divisions, and, after a two-hours' struggle, 

 Gen. Reinaldo Flores and his brother Antonio 

 at the head of their troops had taken the most 

 important points by storm. The resistance 

 was generally feeble, but the main fort held 

 out vigorously. The townspeople received the 

 troops with enthusiasm. 



Veintemilla, accompanied by a number of 

 officers and 200 soldiers, now fled, being con- 

 veyed to Payta, Peru, on board the steamer 

 Santa Lucia, whence he sailed for Callao on 

 July 21st, and thence reached Lima. 



Alfaro at once organized a municipality, and 

 on July 25th the people of Guayaquil sponta- 

 neously proclaimed Pedro Carbo chief of the 

 government there. Meanwhile the three insur- 

 gent governments agreed to convoke a national 

 convention ; these three governments were : 

 that of Alfaro, whose power extended along 



the coast (Manabi and Esmeraldas), the gov- 

 ernment of Guayaquil under Pedro Carbo, and 

 the one at Quito. Hence a decree was issued 

 to the effect that delegates should assemble at 

 Ambato, on October 9th, to elect a provisional 

 President and Vice-President. 



On August 6th Miguel Valverde was ap- 

 pointed a member of Alfaro's Cabinet as suc- 

 cessor of Senor Semblantes, deceased. 



On August 10th Gen. Alfaro left for Manta 

 with 1,000 troops and several guns, on the 

 plea that provisions were wanting at Guaya- 

 quil for so many troops; simultaneously Sa- 

 rasti left with a force likewise, each taking 

 with him $100,000 raised on the spot. The 

 motives of both were alleged to be political. 



During the last week in August, earthquakes 

 were felt at Manabi, Ecuador. Detonations 

 were heard there, inducing the belief that 

 fighting was going on in the neighborhood ; 

 troops were turned out ready to meet the sup- 

 posed enemy. On September 2d the sun at 

 Guayaquil was discolored. 



Gen. Alfaro before his departure made a 

 contract with Mr. M. J. Kelly, an American, 

 for the construction of about 300 miles of tele- 

 graph to connect Bahia, Manta, and Esmeral- 

 das, and other important towns in the lower 

 provinces, with Guayaquil and the cable line. 



The convention met on the day designated, 

 63 members being present, who, on October 

 15th, elected as provisional President of Ecua- 

 dor, Jos6 Maria Placido Caamafio, of Guayaquil, 

 and provisional Vice-President, Rafael Perez 

 Pareja, of Quito. 



In' the mean time, on account of old age, 

 Don Pedro Carbo resigned his governorship of 

 Guayaquil. 



The convention before it dissolved declared 

 in force the Constitution of 1861, and passed 

 a bill for the encouragement of viticulture in 

 Ecuador. This law exempts from all taxes 

 whatsoever, both national and local, those who 

 plant their acres with vines, and it further- 

 more liberates from military service, in the 

 national army and the militia, all laborers 

 working in vineyards, in the proportion of one 

 thus privileged field-laborer for every two and 

 a half acres of vineyard. 



During the first week in December the 

 ground opened in many places at Chiinbo, a 

 little village in Ecuador, forty-five miles from 

 Chimborazo; smoke and flames rushed out, 

 and lava and ashes were ejected. It was be- 

 lieved that a new volcano was in course of 

 formation. The whole range in which the 

 eruption has occurred is intensely volcanic. 



On December 14th Gen. Eloy Alfaro arrived 

 at Pan am 4 from Guayaquil. 



Climate and Resources. The rainy season gen- 

 erally lasts from December to June, the re- 

 maining months being dry; but on the Ama- 

 zon slope it rains all the year round. As to 

 the influence of the climate on man, there are 

 vast healthful districts in the river valleys of 

 the Amazon region, while those of the Pacific 



