CHAP. I. 



BODEGAS DE BABAHOYO. 



the Chimbo being the more important of the two, and taking the 

 drainage of the whole of the eastern slopes of the Pacific Eange 

 of Ecuador, and of the western slopes of the great block of mount- 

 ains to the south of Ohimborazo. Above the junction of the 

 Yaguachi the Guayas becomes narrower, though it still remains 

 quite 2000 feet across for some miles above Zamborondon. It 

 then branches out into the flat land in numerous canal -like rami- 

 fications, and by the time Bodegas is reached dwindles down to 

 insignificant dimensions. 



Although we had approached more closely to the Andes we 

 still saw nothing of them. On the lower reaches of the river 

 this was not to be wondered at, for the land was being cleared 

 by firing, prior to the advent of the rains, and clouds of smoke 

 rose thousands of feet in the air, obscuring everything, except 

 the banks close at hand. At Bodegas we got beyond this ; the 

 sun shone brilliantly, but not a sign of a mountain could be 

 seen, though I shortly found that we were less than thirty-five 

 miles from summits 14-15,000 feet above the sea. Ohimborazo, 

 I was told, could be seen from Bodegas, and bore from that 

 place J^^.E. by E., or thereabouts. 



The town of Bodegas de Babahoyo (called for brevity Bodegas) 

 contains about 2000 

 inhabitants. It is the 

 entrepot of Quito, where 

 goods are temporarily 

 stored, and where a 

 number of agents dwell 

 whose business it is to 

 receive goods from the 

 steamers and to ar- 

 range for their transit 

 into the interior. In 

 the rainy season, the 

 river rises here from 



A HOUSE AT BODEGAS. 



