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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



A NATIVE WOMAN AT HER LOOM OUTSIDE HER HUT IN THE CASANGA VALLEY 



In this hot desert region the little thatched huts are perched upon the summits of the 

 low, rounded hills which dot the floor of the valley. On these eminences they are above the 

 mosquitoes and flies. The platform over the loom is built as a support to keep corn above the 

 ground, out of the way of rats and mice. 



number of the black sheep seen in the 

 flocks. 



Every step in the manufacture of cloth 

 from wool is taken by the Indians in the 

 time-honored hand processes. The Qui- 

 chua woman is an inveterate spinner, and 

 everywhere she goes, if her hands are not 

 otherwise occupied, she is engaged in spin- 

 ning. Her distaff is a rough stick and 

 her spindle a fine splinter of cane, with 

 a potato or similar object stuck on the end 

 to give weight and momentum to the 

 twirling axis. 



THE WORLD'S EINEST PANAMA HATS ARE 

 MADE IN ECUADOR 



The yarn is put on to a hand loom and 

 woven into a close, tight fabric of very 

 creditable appearance. 



The ponchos loomed by the Quichuas 

 are beautifully made, warm garments and 

 their coloring is often harmonious and 

 tasteful. There is considerable difference 

 in the texture of the material made in the 

 different sections of Ecuador, the finest, 



smoothest ponchos being those from the 

 high Andes about Quito, where the best 

 wool is raised. 



In the warm lowlands cotton is grown 

 and worked up into textiles in a similar 

 fashion, the cotton yarn being spun in 

 finer diameters, as a rule, than the woolen 

 yarn. 



Still another fiber is obtained from the 

 cabnya, or century-plant. It is long and 

 strong and is used to make rope, being 

 almost identical with the "sisal" grown 

 for rope in Central America. 



The Ecuadoreans are very skillful at 

 hat-weaving, and make not only the cheap 

 hats for the laboring classes, but the 

 world's finest Panama hats, the centers of 

 the latter industry being Montecristi and 

 Jipijapa. 



ECUADOR IS RICH IN ANIMAL LIEE 



Ecuador is rich in animal life. Many 

 of the forms are so similar to the life we 

 see about us in the States as to occasion 

 little comment or wonderment, but many 



