Ch.V. south AMERICA. 261 



C H A P. V. 



Of the Inhabitants of Quito. 



THIS city is very populous, and has, among 

 its inhabitants, fome families of high rank and 

 diilindion ; though their number is but fmall confi- 

 dering its extent, the poorer clafs bearing here too 

 great a proportion. The former are the defcendants 

 cither of the original conquerors, or of prcfidents, 

 auditors, or other perfons of charadler, who at dif- 

 ferent times came over from Spain invefted with 

 fome lucrative pod, and have ftill preferved their 

 luftre, both of wealth and defcent, by intermarri- 

 ages, without intermixing with meaner families, 

 though famous for their riches. 



The commonalty may be divided into four clafles, 

 Spaniards or Whites, Meftizos, Indians or Natives, 

 and Negroes, with their progeny. Thefe laft are 

 not proportionally fo numerous as in the other parts 

 of the Indies ; occafioned by it being fomething in- 

 convenient to bring Negroes to Quito, and the dif- 

 ferent kinds of agriculture being generally perform- 

 ed by Indians. 



The name of Spaniard here has a different mean- 

 ing from that of Chapitone or European, as properly 

 fignifying a perfon defcended from a Spaniard with- 

 out a mixture of blood. Many Meftizos, from the 

 advantage of a frefh complexion, appear to be 

 Spaniards more than thofe who are fo in reality ; 

 and from only this fortuitous advantage are account- 

 ed as fuch. The Whites, according to this conftruc- 

 tion of the word, may be 'confidered as one fixth part 

 of the inhabitants. 



The Meftizos are the defcendants of Spaniards and 

 Indians, and are to be confidered here in the fame 

 different degrees between the Negroes and Whites, 



S 3- as 



