QUITONIANS. 69 



mansion is on the Grand Plaza, facing the Capitol. The 

 pure Indians of Quito number perhaps 10,000; not all 

 those seen in the city are citizens, as many serranos, or 

 mountaineers, come in to sell produce. They are the serfs 

 that do the drudgery of the republic ; they are the tillers 

 of the soil, and beasts of bm-den. Many sell themselves 

 for money in advance, and then are ever kept in debt. 

 Excepting a few Zambos (the children of Indians and Ne- 

 groes), and a very few foreigners and Negroes, the remain- 

 der, constituting the bulk of the population, are Cholos — 

 the. offspring of whites and Indians. They are not strict- 

 ly half-breeds, for the Indian element stands out most 

 prominent. Though a mixed race, they are far superior 

 to their progenitors in enterprise and intelligence. They 

 are the soldiers, artisans, and tradesmen who keep up the 

 only signs of life in Quito. " I know not the reason," says 

 Darwin, " but men of such origin seldom have a good ex- 

 pression of countenance." This may be true on the pam- 

 pas, but Quito, where there is every imaginable mixture of 

 Indian and Spaniard, is wonderfully fi-ee from ugly feat- 

 ures. It may be owing to the more peaceful and civilized 

 history of this mountain city. 



As to dress, black is the color of etiquette, but is not so 

 national as in Madrid. The upper class follow la mode de 

 Paris, gentlemen adding the classic cloak of Old Spain. 

 This modern toga fits an Ecuadorian admirably ; it favors 

 habits of inactivity, preventing the arms from doing any 

 thing, and covers a multitude of sins, especially pride and 

 poverty. The jponcho, so peculiar to the West Coast and to 

 the Gauchos of Buenos Ayres, is a piece of cloth of divers 

 colors, with a slit in the centre, through wliich the head 

 is passed. It is the only variable article of the wardrobe. 

 It is an excellent riding habit, and is made of lieavy^ wool- 

 en for mountain travel, and of silk or cotton for warmer al- 



