164 The Andes and the Amazon. 



CHAPTER XI. 



'.' The Province of the Orient," or the Wild Napo Country. — The Napos, Za- 

 paros, and Jivaros Indians. — Preparations to cross the Continent. 



On the eastern slope of the Ecuadorian Andes, between 

 the Maranon and its tributary the Putumayo, lies the JSTapo 

 country. This almost unknown region has the area of New 

 York and New England together. The government of 

 Quito, by a sonorous decree in 1854, baptized it " La Pro- 

 vincia del Oriente." Peru likewise claims it, but neither 

 republic has done any thing to colonize it. A dense pri- 

 meval forest, broken only by the rivers, covers the whole 

 territory, and is the home of wild races untouched by civ- 

 ilization.* There is not a road in the whole province. A 

 footpath, open only in the dry season, and barely passable 

 then, connects Quito and the Rio Napo. Congress lately 

 promised to put Canelos in communication with the capi- 

 tal ; but the largest villages in this vast and fertile region — 

 Archidona, Canelos, and Macas — still remain isolated from 

 the outer world. f Ecuador once appointed a fimctionary 

 under the high-sounding title of " Governor of the Orient," 

 with a salary of $700 ; but now the Indians are not troub- 

 led with any higher official than an alcalde. 



* The boundary-line between Ecuador and Peru is about as indefinite as 

 the eastern limit of Bolivia, Brazilians claiming "as far west as the cattle of 

 the empire roam." 



t Quito might be made more accessible on the Atlantic than on the Pacific 

 side. But Ecuadorians dote on Guayaquil, and refuse to connect themselves 

 directly with the great nations of the East. We believe there is a glorious 

 future for Quito, when it will once more become a city of palaces. But it will 

 not come until a road through the wilderness and a steamer on the Napo open 

 a short communication with the wealth of Amazonia and the enterprise of 

 Europe. 



