THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Sept,  i,  1892. 
quality  was  a certain  amount  of  animal  courage, 
was  not  the  man  to  carry  out  great  schemes.  The 
inception,  indeed,  was  that  of  a priest,  who  furnished 
the  funds  for  the  expedition  ; and  the  real  instigator 
of  the  treacherous  murder  of  the  too-contiding  Inca 
Monarch  was  the  wily  priest  who  accompanied  the 
gang  of  butchers.  The  hardships,  too,  and  terrific 
tempests  encountered  in  the  Pacific  must  have  been 
rather  over-rated  by  Prescott,  as  the  Pacific  does  not 
so  frequently  belie  its  name  as  the  eminent  historian 
would  lead  us  to  suppose.  My  own  experience,  at 
least,  during  several  voyages,  at  the  same  season  of 
the  year  as  Pizarro’s  was  in  the  very  reverse  of 
tempestuous  seas,  while  the  temperature  was  simply 
perfection,  and  the  air  a positive  luxury  to  breathe, 
after  the  moist  atmosphere  of  the  Carribean  Sea  ; 
and  old  salts  I consulted  on  the  subject,  declared 
that  this  had  been  their  general  experience  during 
the  past  thirty  years.  Pizarro  took  six  weeks  to 
accomplish  the  distance  we  coverel  comfortably 
in  one  afternoon,  namely,  to  Point  Pinas,  where 
he  turned  into  the  river  Jiiru — which  some  suppose 
to  be  the  origin  of  the  name  Pent.  After  sailing  up 
this  stream  for  a few  miles,  he  came  to  anchor, 
and  proceeded  to  explore  the  surrounding  swamps. 
Here  we  must  leave  him  for  a time.  Pity  it  was 
he  ever  came  out  of  them  ! 
Peru,  in  Pizarro’s  time  the  magnificent,  p-osperous 
and  wisely  governed  land  of  the  ancient  Inca,  ex- 
tended along  the  coast  for  3,000  miles,  including 
what  is  now  Columbia,  Ecuador,  Chili  and  Bolivia. 
Since  then  it  has  been  considerably  curtailed,  divided 
and  subdivided  into  little  Republics,  each  more 
corrupt  than  its  neighbour. 
Nowadays,  our  first  port  of  call  from  Panama  is 
Guayaquil,  the  commercial  capital  of  Ecuador,  sixty 
miles  inland,  beautifully  situated  on  the  Guay,  the 
finest  river  flowing  into  the  Pacific.  The  island  of 
Puna,  at  the  entrance,  may  be  noted  as  the  frequent 
rendezvous  of  Pizarro  and  his  crew.  Ecuador  is  a 
rich  and  lovely  country,  owned,  however,  by  one 
of  the  rottenest  little  Republics  in  South  America, 
and  this  is  saying  a great  deal. 
The  descendants  of  Europeans  living  near  the 
Equator  seem  to  degenerate  more  rapidly  and 
thoroughly  than  they  do  at  a safe  distance.  The 
descendant  of  the  Spaniard  here  is  a very  different 
type  from  the  Chilian,  for  instance,  who  with  all 
his  faults  is  a brave,  active  and  industrious  man. 
I would  recommend  the  traveller  who  wishes  to  retain 
a pleasant  recollection  of  Guayaquil  not  to  land : 
the  city  looks  so  much  better  from  a distance : 
but  the  country  around  is  a vegetable  paradise,  such 
as  Britain,  with  all  her  tropical  colonies,  can  scarcely 
lay  claim  to,  supplying  spontaneously  the  very  finest 
varieties  of  tropical  products  and  fruits,  such  as 
cocoa,  coffee,  pine-apple,  plantain  and  chirimoya, 
etc.,  the  latter,  beyond  all  comparison,  the  most  de- 
licious fruit  I ever  tasted,  so  unlike  anything 
else  that  it  cannot  well  be  described.  Mr.  Clements 
Markham,  the  illustrious  traveller,  speaks  of  it  as 
“spiritualised  strawberries,”  but  I do  not  know  that 
this  description  conveys  very  much.  The  tree,  usually 
about  fifteen  to  twenty  feet  high,  is  a native  of 
Peru,  and  belongs  to  the  natural  order  called  Anonad, 
extensively  represented  in  India  and  Ceylon  by  a 
relative  known  as  the  Sour  Sop,  a rather  refreshing 
fruit  in  a hot  climate,  but  coarse  compared  with 
this  master-work  of  nature. 
Of  commercial  products  cacoa  is  the  chief,  and 
yet  there  cannot  be  said  to  be  any  cultivation. 
“At  what  distance  apart  do  you  plant  your  cacoa 
trees?”  I asked  an  old  planter  I chanced  to  meet. 
“Plant?"  he  repeated  reflectively,  “why,  the  donkeys 
plant  all  our  cacoa."  “The  donkeys!"  I exclaimed 
with  unfeigned  surprise.  “Yes,  yes,”  he  hastened 
to  explain,  “ the  human-being-like  animal  you  Eng- 
lish call  donkeys.”  It  dawned  upon  me  that  the 
man  meant  “monkeys.”  And  it  turned  out  that, 
being  fond  of  the  fruit,  they  occasionally  made  inroads 
upon  the  ripe  cacoa,  which  they  carried  to  a distance, 
enjoying  the  luscious  pulp,  but  dropping  the  seeds, 
and  thus  extending  the  plantation. 
In  scenery,  I do  not  know  that  we  have  anything, 
in  what  we  call  our  old  world,  to  quite  compare 
with  the  bold  surroundings  as  witnessed  from  the 
Guay.  What  can  we  show  equal  to  Chimborazo, 
when  the  curtain  of  mist  is  obliging  withdrawn,  ex- 
hibiting a perfect  pyramid,  about  21,000  feet  in 
height,  with  its  green  base  in  everlasting  summer, 
its  pure  white  summit  in  eternal  winter,  and  the 
still  bolder  and  more  rugged  Peruvian  Andes  to  the 
South,  “like  mountains  piled  on  mountains  to  the 
skies  ? ” The  first  impressions  such  scenes  have 
upon  ordinary  mortals,  are  so  overwhelming,  that 
the  most,  or  the  least  we  can  do,  is  to  calmly 
sit  down  and  exclaim  with  the  Turk — “ God  is  great.” 
Bananas  for  Breakfast.— We  are  sure  your 
readers  will  greatly  enjoy  a breakfast  of  bananas 
especially  on  a warm  morning  this  summer.  I 
prepare  my  bananas  the  night  before  I wish 
them  for  breakfast.  I remove  the  skins,  say  of  six 
bananas  (number,  of  course,  depending  upon  size 
of  the  family),  slice  and  place  them  in  the  dish 
they  are  to  be  served  in.  Sprinkle  over  them  three 
tablespoonfuls  of  sugar,  and  squeeze  the  juice  of  one 
lemon,  adding  about  a tablespoonful  of  cold  water. 
Then  place  in  the  refrigerator  if  you  have  one. 
For  a change  I often  add  a cup  of  milk  or  some 
rich  custard,  or  let  all  get  cold,  and  it  makes  a 
delightful  breakfast  dish. — Florida  Agriculturist. 
Sweet  Potato  Johnnycaxe. — Take  one  pint  of 
best  ernmea1,  salt  to  taste  (half  a teaspoonful  is 
the  ordinary  seasoning),  rub  into  the  meal  a large 
tablespoonful  of  lard,  next  add  to  it  one  pint  of 
smoothly  mashed  sweet  potatoes.  If  the  potatoes 
are  not  very  sweet,  add  a tablespoonful  of  sugar; 
mix  thoroughly  to  a rather  soft  dough,  but  not  too 
soft  to  handle ; have  the  middle  stave  of  a barrel 
head  washed  clean,  rinse  it,  leaving  it  wet,  and  on 
this  evenly  spread  the  dough,  not  quite  out  to  the 
edges  of  the  board ; dip  a knife  blade  into  cold 
water,  and  with  its  smooth  over  the  surface  of  the 
johnnycake,  and  stick  with  a fork  as  you  would 
biscuit ; set  it  before  the  fire  with  a brick  or  flat 
iron  to  support  it ; let  it  brown  nicely,  tben  loosen 
it  from  the  board  by  means  of  a coarse  thread  passed 
between  the  johnnycake  and  the  board,  close  to  the 
latter;  do  not  cook  it  in  the  oven,  but  before  the  fire. 
— American  Grocer, 
The  China  Tea  Trade.— We  have  received 
the  following  advices  from  Foochow  under  date 
of  9th  July,  concerning  the  tea  market  ; — The 
export  to  Europe  is  7f-  million  lb.  against  7 
millions  at  the  same  date  last  year  the  ship- 
ments during  the  fortnight  having  been  3£  mil- 
lions lb.  in  the  oaliing  steamers  Glamorgan- 
shire,” “Glenorchy,”  “ Diomed,”  •'  Ningchow”  and 
“ Benalder.”  The  settlements  during  the  fortnight 
are  reported  at  48,000  chests  CoDgou  and  7.700 
chests  SouchoDg.  The  figures  show  a great  (ailing 
of  as  compared  with  the  previous  fortnight’s  and 
would  have  been  smaller  still  but  for  the  temptation 
offered  by  a drop  in  the  rate  of  freight  to  los. 
per  ton.  Included  in  these  settlements  is  a good 
deal  cf  tea  for  the  Australian  and  American  markets. 
The  second  crop  has  commenced  to  airive  but, 
being  poor  in  quality,  has  attracted  but  little  atten- 
tion so  far.  On  comparing  prices  with  those  ruling 
a fortnight  ago  a general  advance  of  about  Tl.  1 
p&r  picul  is  noticeable  on  all  grades  on  Congou. 
iSouchongs  on  the  contrary  have  gradually  become 
cheaper.  The  supply  of  firBt  crop  CoDgou  is 
complete  at  195,000  chests,  which  is  26,000  chests 
less  than  last  year.  It  is  estimated  that  the  second 
crop  will  show  fully  as  larg  ■.  a deficiency,  if  not 
lar.e.  The  arrivals  of  Congou  to  date  are  204,000 
chests  against  224,000  chests  last  year,  and  306,000 
chests  in  1890.  The  settlements  of  Congou  to  date 
are  149,000  chests,  against  12/', 000  chests  last  year. 
Ihe  stock  is  55.000  chests,  against  97,000  ohests 
ot  the  same  date  last  year.  Exchange  during  the 
fortnight  has  fluctuated  between  2.11J  for  4 months 
sight  oredits  and  2/10J,  at  which  it  doses.  Freight 
to  London  fell  as  low  as  15s.  per  ton,  but  is  now 
at  30s.  again,— (V.-C.  Daily  News, 
