A JOURNEY IN ECUADOR 
241 
Along most of the rivers descending from the Andes to the 
Pacific in Ecuador gold was found in small quantities by the 
Spaniards. In this eager search for the yellow metal the In- 
dians were forced to give way, and now in tiieir homes along the 
banks of the Cayapas the}'’ meet all strangers in an inhospitable 
and surly manner. The negroes have borrowed many customs 
and useful arts in weaving, house-building, etc., from the Cayapas 
Indians, and, having retained many old habits of their former 
African abode, combined with some of the worst traits of the in- 
ferior whites, may be summed up as being phlegmatic, ignorant, 
superstitious, without strong family ties or sense of gratitude. 
Their superstitions take the form of incantations to prevent acci- 
dents, and especial trouble is taken to prevent the devil from 
taking possession of infants. Some respect is felt for the priest 
who occasionally visits here, but with these negroes religion is 
only another word for superstition. 
But to return to my journey On July 17 we left Borbon and 
proceeded by steam launch 28 miles up Rio Cayapas. Grasses, 
ferns, and bushes (mostly of the class Umbellifer£e) lined the 
banks and mingled with the cocoanut trees, the breadfruit, the 
splendid royal palm, and the mango with its spreading and 
symmetrical foliage. These magnificent trees with their large 
leaves strained imagination to the utmost and utterly deceived 
the eye in grasping proportions. While lost in silent admira- 
tion of such a wealth of vegetation, we turned a sharp bend 
of the river and over the tliatched huts of the natives could 
be seen the overhanging feathery tufts of the bamboo, w'hich 
softened as well as lightened up the intensely dark hue of vege- 
tation in the background. This was the headquarters of Na}) 0 , 
the gobernador of the Cayapas. A judicious presentation of 
heads and buttons insured us a pleasant reception from the chief, 
and he detailed a guide for us on the upper river. 
The house of the gobernador was on stilts (as is the case with 
most of these houses) and was built like a long rectangle, 100 by 
GO feet. Two large fireplaces (wooden Ijoxes elevated about 
three or four feet above the lloor and filled witli sand) and some 
large fiat stones sufiiced for cooking pur|>o.ses, wliile four small 
e.xtensions, two on each side of the house, like hay windows, 
served as sleeping apartments for the difi'erent meml)ers of the 
family. The men are well formed, of good stature, beardless, 
with glossy black hair, and splendid chest development, while 
the women, l)eing forced to do all the work, are generally small, 
