QUINTERO. 303 
sometimes a loose shirt and looser trousers, nankeen slippers, a 
black fur cap, and a sash, form the whole of his habiliments ; at 
other times, wide cossack trousers, a blue jacket, real gold buttons, 
a small pair of epaulettes, and a military cap, and the sash tight round 
his waist, adorn him ; — rarely does he condescend to wear a neck- 
cloth, even when the rest of his dress is in conformity with common 
usage ; but when in full costume, his thin pale personage, and eye 
with an outward cast in it, are set off by a full suit of black, with 
shiny silk breeches that look like constrrutronaL caLamanco (v. Re- 
jected Addresses), enormous bunches of ribbon at the knees, and buckles 
in his shoes. I never could help laughing when I saw him in this 
stiff dress, forming so complete a contrast with the description he 
gives of his costume while, during the early period of the revolution, 
he was governor at Esmeraldas ; an honour which, I can well believe, 
was forced on him. Then, his body was painted, his head adorned 
with feathers, and his clothing as light as that of any wild Indian. 
He was dressed now in middle costume, to do the honours of 
Quintero ; and most politely he did them to Mrs. Miers and me, and 
most kindly to Glennie. After dinner we engaged him to tell us 
various parts of his adventures ; and were vulgar enough to prefer his 
account of the earthquake he experienced at the Baranca, when the 
dismayed inhabitants fled to the hills, and expected every moment to 
see their ruined town swallowed up, as Callao had been in 1747. * 
After the earthquake, he told us of his visits to tremendous volcanoes, 
and said, that he had himself descended lower into the crater of 
* The destruction of Callao was the most perfect and terrible that can be conceived : 
no more than one of all the inhabitants escaping, and he by a providence the most singular 
and extraordinary imaginable. This man was on the fort that overlooked the harbour, 
going to strike the flag, when he perceived the sea to retire to a considerable distance ; 
and then, swelling mountains high, it returned with great violence. The inhabitants ran 
from their houses in great terror and confusion; he heard a cry of miserere rise from all 
parts of the city, and immediately all was silent. The sea had entirely overwhelmed this 
city, and buried it for ever in his bosom; but the same wave which had destroyed this 
city drove a little boat by the place where the man stood, into which he threw himself and 
was saved. 
Burke’s Account of the European Settlers in America. 
