180 TRAVELS AMONGST THE GREAT ANDES, chap. ix. 



dear there^ partly through the large amount of breakage in transit, 

 from bad packing. 



Native productions were often by no means low in price. 

 Meat (when it could be got) was cheap, and generally ranged 

 from twopence-halfpenny to threepence per pound. In the north, 

 fresh eggs could be bought for four a penny ; while in Guayaquil, 

 and in the more southern parts, one to two pesos apiece were 

 demanded for miserable chickens. Spirits of wine cost me three 

 shillings per pint at Guayaquil, and tenpence at Quito ! At 

 Otovalo, Cayambe, and other places, brown sugar and unroasted 

 coffee were each tenpence per pound, though raised in the district. 

 Common raisins cost three shillings, and camphor four shillings 

 per pound in Quito. ^ 



The high prices of foreign commodities were attributed to ex- 

 cessive duties and the expense of transit. Still, there appeared to 

 be a good margin left, and I doubt if any one was satisfied with 

 less than a hundred per cent, profit. Everywhere there appeared 

 to be openings for commercial enterprize, either for retailers or 

 for wholesale transactions, yet the country seemed to have little 

 attraction to Englishmen, for at the time of my stay there were 

 only three in Quito. "^ Personally, I should not advise any one 

 to embark a single shilling in Ecuador. There are an unknown 

 quantity of earthquakes and revolutions to be taken into account. 

 A man may be rich in one day and wrecked the next. These 

 possibilities invest trade in this region with the excitement of 

 gambling, and the trader should also bear in mind that the 

 repudiation of agreements and the non-fulfilment of contracts 

 will often upset his calculations and blight his hopes. 



These references to prices lead me to conclude this chapter 



1 Medicines and fancy goods were sold at larger differences from European prices. 

 I could have sold my stock of sulphate of quinine for more than its weight in gold. 



2 Namely, Mr. Hamilton, British Minister - Kesident ; Mr. Jones, a shopkeeper; 

 and Mr. Verity, an English mechanic out of employment. Of other foreigners there 

 were about twenty -five French, a dozen Germans, and ten Italians, Danes and 

 Swedes. 



