COMMEKCE OF GUAYAQUIL. 29 



tilence if transported to New Tork, the city is usually 

 healthy, due in great part, no doubt, to countless flocks of 

 buzzards which greedily wait upon decay. These carrion- 

 hawks enjoy the protection of law, a heavy fine being im- 

 posed for wantonly killing one.* It is during the rainy 

 season that this port earns the reputation of being one of 

 the most pestiferous spots on the globe. The air is then 

 hot and oppressive, reminding the geologist of the steaming 

 atmosphere in the carboniferous period ; the surrounding 

 plains are flooded with water, and the roads, even some of 

 the streets of the city, become impassable ; intolerable mus- 

 quitoes, huge cockroaches, disgusting centipedes, venomous 

 scorpions, and still more deadly serpents, keep the human 

 species circumspect, and fevers and dysenteries do the work 

 of death. 



The Guayas is the largest river on the Pacific coast ; and 

 Guayaquil monopolizes the commerce of Ecuador, for it is 

 the only port. Esmeraldas and Peylon are not to be men- 

 tioned. Through its custom-house passes nearly every im- 

 port and export. The green banks of the Guayas, covered 

 with an exuberant growth, are in strong contrast with the 

 sterile coast of Peru, and the possession of Guayaquil has 

 been a coveted prize since the days of Pizarro. Few spots 

 between the tropics can vie with this lowland in richness 

 and vigor of vegetation. Immense quantities of cacao — 

 second only to that of Caracas — are produced, though but 

 a fraction is gathered, owing to the scarcity of laborers, so 

 many Ecuadorians have been exiled or killed in senseless 

 revolutions. Twenty million poimds are annually export- 

 ed, chiefly to Spain ; and two million pounds of excellent 

 coffee, which often finds its way into N^ew York under the 

 name of " pure Java." There are three or four kinds of 



* The turkey-buzzard, the "John Crow" of the West Indies, is not a social 

 bird, though a score are often seen together : each comes and goes by himself. 



