52 The Andes and the Amazon. 



Chimborazo, at an elevation of over twelve thousand feet 

 above the sea. As Johnson said to Boswell, " This is a 

 dolorous place." 



Gladly we left this cheerless tambo, though a cold, heavy 

 mist was falling as we rode northward, over the seemingly 

 endless paramo of Sanancajas. Here, as throughout the 

 lughlands of Ecuador, ditches are used for fences ; so that, 

 should the traveler wander from the path, he finds himself 

 stopped by an impassable gulf. In two hours and a half 

 we readied Mocha, a lifeless pueblo under the shadow of 

 Carguairazo. Slowly descending from our high altitude, 

 we gradually entered a more congenial climate — the zone 

 of wheat and barley, till, finally, signs of an eternal spring 

 were all around us — ripening corn on one side, and blos- 

 soming peas on the other. 



Late in the afternoon the road led us tlirough a sandy, 

 sterile tract, till suddenly we came in sight of Ambato, 

 beautifully situated in a deep ravine, eight thousand five 

 hundred and fifty feet above the Pacific. The city ranks 

 next to Quito in beauty. It is certainly an oasis, the green 

 foliage of its numerous shade-trees and orchards contrast- 

 ing with the barren hills around. It is two degrees warm- 

 er than Quito, and is famous for its fruit and fine climate. 

 It is the Lynn of Ecuador, the chief articles of manufac- 

 ture being boots and shoes — cheap, but of poor quality. 

 It was destroyed by an earthquake in 1698. The houses 

 are built of sun-dried brick, and whitewashed. The streets, 

 with gutters in the centre, are at right angles, and paved, 

 and adorned with numerous cypress-looking trees, called 

 muce^ a species of willow. The Plaza, which contains a 

 useful if not ornamental fountain, presents a lively scene 

 on Sunday, the great market-day. The inn is a fair speci- 

 men of a public house in Spanish America. Around the 

 court-yard, where the beasts are fed, are three or four 



