The Great Earthquake. 157 



usual portrait — an old man in his library, his head, thinly 

 covered with gray hau', resting on his bosom. 



Thirty miles north of Quito, near the volcanic Imbabura, 

 is the ruined city of Otovalo, a thousand feet lower than 

 the capital. It was well built, and contained 7000 inhab- 

 itants. Quichua was the prevailing language. Its chief 

 trade was in saddles, ponchos, straw hats, and fruit. Here 

 was the cotton factory, or qidnta^ of Sr. Pareja. Three 

 miles from Otovalo was the enterprising Indian village of 

 Cotocachij at the mountain of the same name. It was noted 

 for its hand-loom products. A heap of ruins now marks 

 the locality. It is a doomed spot, suffering more than any 

 other town in 1859. 



Four miles northwest of Otovalo was the city of Ibarra, 

 picturesquely seated on a plain 2000 feet lower than Quito, 

 and surrounded with orchards and gardens. It numbered 

 nearly 10,000 souls. It was not a commercial place, but 

 the residence of landed proprietors. The neighborhood 

 produced cotton, sugar, and fruit. A league distant was 

 Carranqui, the birthplace of Atahuallpa. And, finally, the 

 great valley fitly terminates in the plain of Atuntaqui,^ 

 where the decisive battle was fouo-ht wliicli ushered in the 

 reign of the Incas. 



This northern produce of Imbabura was the focus of the 

 late terrible earthquake. At half past one on Sunday 

 morning, August 16, 1868, with scarcely a premonitory sign 

 (save a slight trembling at 3 p.m. the previous day), there 

 was an upheaving of the ground, and then one tremendous 

 shock and rocking of the earth, lasting one mmute. In that 

 brief moment the rich and flourishing province became a 

 wilderness, and " Misericordia !" went up, like the sound of 

 many waters, from ten villages and cities. Otovalo, Ibarra, 



* Atuntaqui received its name from the big dram which was kept here in 

 the days of Huayna-Capac, to give the war-signal. 



