TOPOGEAPHY OF ECUADOR. 255 



is accessible at low water only to craft of moderate draught ; larger vessels, draw- 

 ing up to 21 feet, ride at anchor in the estuary lower down. The navigable 

 channel passes south of the islet of Santa Maria (Amortajada), and then sweeps 

 round to the east of the large island of Puna through the Jambeli passage, which 

 leads north to the Rio Guayas. Here the Estero Saludo (" Saline Estuary "j, 

 which winds to the west of the city, is available only for boats and barges. 



Being thus encompassed by brackish creeks, Guayaquil was till recently 

 destitute of fresh water, which had to be sent down from the upper reaches on 

 rafts laden with pitchers. Now, however, potable water is brought from a valley 

 of the Andes by a canal running parallel with the railway. River steamers 

 convey goods for the interior either to the bodegas of Babahoyo, or to the 

 suburb of Duran, facing the city on the left bank of the estuary. Here is the 

 seaward terminus of the Ecuador railway, whose first station, Yaguachi, on the 

 river of like name, was formerly the depot for merchandise destined for the 

 plateau. But the harbour having silted up with the alluvia of the river, the place 

 had to be abandoned by the traders. 



Guayaquil depends almost entirely on its import and export traffic. The 

 chief local industries are tanning and shipbuilding, the neighbouring forests 

 yielding an abundance of excellent timbers {guachapeli, guaiac and guaraiigo), 

 which are easily worked, and are practically incorruptible, resisting the attack of 

 worms better than any other species. 



On the west side of the Guayaquil peninsula stands the little seaport of Sanfa 

 Elena, which like the village of Pana, on the island of the same name, is one of 

 the health resorts of Guayaquil. It exports salt, dried fish, wax, cattle, straw 

 hats, and small decked and open craft caulked with cope, an oily substance oozing 

 in abundance from the neighbouring beach. Mixed with other ingredients this 

 cope is also used in the ti'eatment of cutaneous diseases in man and beast, and it 

 even yields a gas light for Guayaquil, Eastwards rises the mud volcano of San 

 Vicente, the only one occurring on the west coast of South America. 



Between Santa Elena and Esmeraldas follow a few little seaports, such as 

 Mania, which exports the produce of the inland towns of Montecristi and Jipijapa. 

 But the chief place in the whole region comprised between the sea and the 

 Western Cordillera is P</^y^ Viejo (" Old Port"), which, despite its name, lies some 

 18 miles in the interior. The E-io Charapoto, on which it stands, marks the limit 

 between the forest zone and the arid plains stretching southwards. A broad inlet 

 north of Charapoto terminates in the estuary or Bay of Caraqucs (Caracas), so 

 named from the Caraques (Caraqui) Indians, former rulers of the land. Caraques 

 stands on the south side of the estuary, but its harbour is unfortunately obstructed 

 by a bar impassable by large vessels. 



The Rio Grande (Canar), which enters the Gulf of Guayaquil opposite the 

 island of Puna, and whose port has taken the name of .Naranjal from the neigh- 

 bouring " orange "-groves, recalls the powerful Cafiar (Cafiares) nation, which 

 offered such a stout resistance to the Incas. The present town of Canar lies higher 

 up the river near the pre-Columbian ruins of Hatun-Canar and Tomehamha — the 



