ON THE WAY TO BODEGAS. 



CHAPTER I. 



We landed at Guayaquil on December 9, 1879, after an un- 

 eventful voyage across the Atlantic, and an unexpected deten- 

 tion upon the Isthmus of Panama.^ Our ship had scarcely 

 anchored before a Custom House officer sought me out, to 

 deliver an ornate speech; which commenced, according to the 

 manner of the country, with declarations that he himself, his 

 property, and other things besides were mine, and terminated 

 with the welcome intelligence that he had been ordered to pass 

 my baggage without examination, and free of duty. 



Guayaquil is the chief port of the Republic of the Equator 

 (Ecuador), and is second in population only to the capital, 

 Quito.' In 1879, it was a very busy place. The war between 



^ See The Contemporary Heview, March, 1889. 



' It appeared to me to have about 28,000 inhabitants. No census has, I 

 believe, yet been taken in Ecuador. All statements in regard to the population 

 are to be received with caution. 



B 



