72 The Ajstdes and the Amazon. 



lie stays in Quito he will not lose sight of the contrast be- 

 tween big promise and beggarly performance. This out- 

 ward civility, however, is not hypooritical ; it is mere me- 

 chanical prattle ; the speaker does not expect to be taken 

 at his word. The love of superlatives and the want of 

 good faith may be considered as prominent characteristics. 

 " The readiness with which they break a promise or an 

 agreement (wrote Colonel Hall forty years ago) can onh- 

 be equaled by the sophistical ingenuity with which they- 

 defend themselves for having done so." The Quitonians, 

 who are sensible of their shortcomings, have this standing- 

 apology : " Our vices we owe to Spain ; our virtues to our- 

 selves."* 



Such is the mutual distrust, partnerships are almost un- 

 known ; we do not remember a single commercial firm, 

 save a few made up of brothers, or father and son. With 

 this moral debility is joined the procrastinating spirit of 

 the oriental. Manana (to-morrow), like the BouJcra of 

 the Arabs, is the universal winding up of promises. And 

 very often, if one promises a thing to-morrow, he means 

 the day after that. It is impossible to start a man into 

 prompt compliance ; he will not commence a piece of work 

 when you wish nor when he promises. No amount of ca- 

 jolery, bribery, or threats will induce a Quitonian to do 

 any thing or be any where in season. If there were a rail- 

 road in Ecuador, every body would be too late for the first 

 train. There are only one or two watch-tinkers in the 

 great city, and, as may be inferred, very few watches are 

 in running order. As a consequence, the people have very 

 little idea of time. But this is not the sole reason for their 



* "When speaking of these countries, the manner in which they have been 

 brought up by their unnatural parent, Spain, should always be borne in mind. 

 On the whole, perhaps, more credit is due for what has been done, than 

 blame for that which may be deficient." — Darwin s Journal of Researches, 

 p. 158. 



