238 SOUTH AMERICA— THE ANDES EEGIONS. 



receives two great tributaries in Ecuador, tLe Coca from tlie north and the Curaray 

 from the south. To judge from the trend of the main valley, disposed in the 

 direction from north-west to south-east, the Coca should be regarded as the chief 

 artery. But the Napo, thanks to its vicinity to Quito, retains its name below the 

 confluence all the way to the Amazons. The traders and missionaries also have 

 usually followed the course of this river, which during the present century has 

 been preferred by most travellers and explorers. Wiener ascended the Napo as 

 far as Misahualli, eight days' march from Quito. At this point the channel has 

 still an average depth of 6 or 7 feet. 



The Pastaza draws some of its supplies from the region of the Ecuadorean 

 volcanoes. Such is the Patate, which, after receiving some contributions from 

 Chimborazo and Cotopaxi, flows due north and south across the plain of Ambato, 

 beyond which it turns the southern spurs of Llanganati, and suddenly plunges 

 into a chasm 160 feet deep eroded in the thickness of a lava-stream. At the 

 outlet of this gorge the Patate is joined by the Chambo from the south, and just 

 below the confluence the Pastazi, or Ag03'an, as the united stream is also called, 

 trends round to the east along the northern foot of Tunguragua. Farther on 

 it plunges a height of 200 feet into a gorge 5,000 feet above sea-level, where the 

 exuberant vegetation of tropical nature already begins to flourish. 



Of all the rivers on the Atlantic slope of South America, the Paute, which 

 rises in the Cuenca basin, has its source nearest to the Pacific Ocean. From its 

 farthest headstream to the shores of the Gulf of Guayaquil the distance in a 

 straight line is not more than 34 miles. 



IV. 



Climate of Eltador. 



Like Colombia, Ecuador presents a succession of all climates superimposed on 

 the flanks of the highlands. Each of the three physical zones — ante- Andean, 

 inter- Andean, and trans-Andean — has its special climatic features, and in each 

 the atmospheric relations are modified by altitude, aspect, and relative proximity 

 to the ocean. "Were Ecuador deprived of its uplands it would be essentially a 

 torrid region, whereas for most of its inhabitants it is a temperate, almost even 

 a cold land, where the snows and glaciers on the mountain summits sparkle 

 beneath the sun at its zenith. 



On the projecting coastlands of the province of Manabi the climate is cooled 

 by the coast stream ; here the mean temperature of the sea is not more than 

 73° or 74° Fahr., w^hereas farther north, in the sheltered waters of Esmeraldas, 

 it rises to 83°. Along these shores the local winds blow chiefly from the west 

 in the northern, and from the south in the southern sections. 



Although protected from the normal winds by the double and triple barrier 

 of the Andes, the Ecuadorean seaboard is subject to the rhythmical succession 

 of tropical seasons. From June to December, Guayaquil enjoys a so-called 



