6S The Andes and the Amazon. 



CHAPTER TV. 



Population of Quito. — Dress. — Manners. — Character. — Commerce. — Agri- 

 culture. — Manufactures. — Aits, — Education. — Amusements. — Quito La- 

 dies. 



QuiTONiANS claim for their capital eighty thousand in- 

 habitants ; but when we consider that one fourth of the city 

 is covered with ecclesiastical buildings, and that the dwell- 

 ing-houses are but two stories high, we see that there is not 

 room for more than half that number. From thirty thou- 

 sand to forty thousand is the estimate of the venerable Dr. 

 Jameson, who has resided here for a generation.* Census 

 taking is as difficult as in Constantinople ; the people hide 

 themselves to escape taxation. The women far outnumber 

 the men. The white population — a stiff aristocracy of 

 eight thousand souls — is of Spanish descent, but not more 

 than half a dozen can boast of pure blood. The coarse 

 black hair, prominent cheek-bones, and low foreheads, re- 

 veal an Indian alliance. This is the governing class ; from 

 its ranks come those uneasy politicians who make laws for 

 other people to obey, and hatch revolutions when a rival 

 party is in power. They are blessed with fair mental ca- 

 pacity, quick perception, and uncommon civility ; but they 

 lack education and industry, energy and perseverance. 

 Their wealth, which is not great, consists mainly in haci- 

 endas, yielding grain, cotton, and cattle. The Aguirre fam- 

 ily is one of the noblest and wealthiest in the city ; their 



* Spanish rhetoric is given to exaggeration. "All their geese are SAvans." 

 A Peruvian assured us that Cuzco contained 200,000 souls. It is, in fact, 

 about as large as Quito ; Gibbon says 20,000. 



