32 The Akdes xnd the Amazon. 



parison. The British steamers from Panama and Payta 

 arrive weekly ; Yankee steam-boats make regular trips up 

 and down the Guayas and its tributaries ; half a dozen sail 

 ing vessels, principally French, are usually lying in the 

 stream, which is here six fathoms deep ; and hundreds of 

 canoes are ghding to and fro. But the balsas are the 

 most original, and, therefore, the most attractive sight. 

 These are rafts made of light balsa wood, so buoyant as 

 to be used in coasting voyages. They were invented by 

 the old Peruvians, and are the homes of a literally floating 

 population. By these and the smaller craft are brought 

 to the mole of the Malecon, besides articles for exportation, 

 a boundless variety of fruits — pine-apples (whose quality 

 has made Guayaquil famous), oranges, lemons, limes, plan- 

 tains, bananas, cocoa-nuts, alligator pears, papayas, mangos, 

 guavas, melons, etc. ; many an undescribed species of fish 

 known only to the epicure, and barrels or jars of water 

 from a distant point up the river, out of the reach of the 

 tide and the city sewers. Ice is frequently brought from 

 Chimborazo, and sold for $1 per pound. A flag hoisted 

 at a favorite cafe announces that snow has arrived from 

 the mountains, and that ice-cream can be had. The mar- 

 ket, held every morning by the river side, is an animated 

 scene. The strife of the half-naked fishmongers, the cry 

 of the swarthy fruit-dealers — " Pinas !" " Naranjas !" etc., 

 and the song of the itinerant dulce-peddler — " Tamales !" 

 mingled with the bray of the water-bearing donkeys as they 

 trot through the town, never fail to arrest the attention of 

 every traveler. 



But there is another sight more attractive still — one 

 worth a long voyage, for IS^ature nowhere else repeats the 

 picture. From the balconies of Guayaquil can be seen on 

 a clear day the long, towering range of the Andes. We 

 may forget all the incidents in om- subsequent journey, but 



