ÏOPOGEAPHY OF ECUADOE. 253 



tlie route from Quito to Guayaquil. Latacunga is the seat of one of the chief 

 colleges of Ecuador, founded by one of its citizens, in honour of whom the province 

 has received the name of Leon. 



Ambnto, lying some 18 miles farther south in the upper Patate basin, has also 

 been frequently threatened by the neighbouring volcanoes. It is separated by 

 the spurs of Chimborazo from Riobamba, which lies in the same basin to the west 

 of Altar. The old city — founded by the Puruha Indians about 10 miles farther 

 west, where are now the villages of Cicalpa and CWyaôawôa— having been destroyed 

 by the earthquake of 1797, the present site was selected as being less exposed 

 to disasters. In the vicinity is shown the chasm in which the town of Cacha, 

 with its 5,000 inhabitants, was swallowed up in the year 1640. Of all the cities 

 of Ecuador, Piobamba commands the most extensive panoramic view of the snowy 

 heights grouj)ed in amphitheatrical form about the plateau. 



The carriage-rocid crossing the plateau stops at the foot of Chimborazo between 

 Ambato and Piobamba. At this point travellers bound for Guayaquil leave the 

 inter-Andean plains and turn the great mountain on its south side by the 

 Arenal route, unless they prefer the alternative road over the Tiocajas Pass down 

 to the towns of AJaim and Sibamhe, thence reaching the Chimbo terminus of the 

 railway in the Rio Chimbo valley, 



Tiojacas, the natural stronghold of the upper Pastaza valley and of the more 

 thickly-peopled regions of Ecuador, was at all times a strategic position of the 

 first importance. Here the Incas conquered the native tribes ; here, also, Belal- 

 cazar gained the decisive battle which opened the road to Quito, and other 

 sanguinary engagements have been fought at the same place during the civil 

 wars of the present century. 



As a section only of the trunk line of railway has been completed (1894), nearly 

 all the traffic between the plateaux and Guayaquil continues to follow the old 

 route, where travellers may usually procure mounts and pack-mules. Giiaranda, 

 on a terrace dominating the upper Chimbo valley from an altitude of 8,890 feet, 

 is the intermediate depot of this traffic. Farther down, the Pio Chimbo plunges 

 beneath the Socabon, a natural bridge of imposing size. The ordinary route from 

 Guaranda to Guayaquil does not follow the banks of the river, but rises westward 

 to the Tambo Gobierno Pass, crossing the Chimbo range at a height of 10,420 

 feet, whence it descends to the Guayas valley at the Babahoyo confluence, where 

 the river becomes navigable for steamers. During the floods, from January to 

 May, the village of Bodegas {BabaJwyo), standing at this point, is completely inun- 

 dated up to the second storey of the houses, and the alligators disport themselves 

 in the flooded streets. 



A conic eminence 980 feet high, at the foot of which are grouped the houses 

 of Zamborondon, indicates the point where the Guayas estuary begins. Here the 

 current frequently shifts its beds with the tides and inundations. 



Guayaquil, converging point of nearly all the trade of Ecuador and of its capital, 

 develops along the west bank of the Guayas a handsome façade about two miles 

 long, above which are seen the towers of some fine structures. Its busy quays, 



