The next portion of the presidency of Quito to be noticed is the city of Guyaquil, and the district that surrounds it. The city is the most important commercial place in the Pacific Ocean in the whole of South America, and more ships are probably loaded there for Europe than in all the ports of Peru and Chili. It is in latitude 2° 12' south, and 79° 6' west longitude. The river, of the same name as the city, is navigable for small vessels as high as Baba hoya, but ships of more than 250 tons burden can not even ascend to the city, but must have their car goes sent down by balsas, a species of raft of sin gular construction, which are peculiar to this part of the South Sea. These balsas are constructed of very light logs of wood, the number of which is uneven, and the centre one longer than the others ; these are lashed parallel to each other by strong ropes of bejuco, but not so close as atoolutely to prevent all access of the water between the logs ; by means of sliding-keels, which descend or ascend as the direction of the balsa may require, they are en abled to turn to windward, to bear up, lie to, or to steer large as well as any vessels whatever. Such is the buoyancy of the trees from which the logs are framed, that they rise and fall with the waves, and scarcely ever damage the cargo by admitting wa ter between the opening of the logs. These balsas are evidently of Indian contrivance, and better adapted to the peculiarities of the navigation of this coast and river, than any vessels that the Europeans have invented. The country on each side of the river Guyaquil is subject to considerable inunda tions, which, though they render the soil fertile, tend to make the country extremely unhealthy, and to crowd it with the insects, reptiles, and amphibi ous animals most noxious to man. Fevers and le prosies prevail extensively, the rivers swarm with alligators, the air is filled with musquetos, and the land pestered with snakes of all descriptions. In spite of all these impediments to enjoyment, the at traction of wealth has drawn to this district a con siderable population, who overlook its inflictions in the pursuit of the riches they seek. The principal article of export is cocoa, which amounts to about 45,000 quintals annually, though of late years the cultivation and consequent exportation of it has very ,considerably increased. The imports, consisting principally of articles of luxury from Europe, have usually amounted to double the exports, and the ba lance has been paid in the precious metals obtained by exchange from the mining districts. It has been declared to be a royal dock, but few ships of war have been yet constructed, though the size and qua lities of the numerous trees which grow would be most admirably adapted for that purpose. There are many trees of a kind resembling the teak of In dia, and, like it, neither subject to be injured by worms or the rot. The city of Guyaquil itself con tains about 24,000 inhabitants, but the district around it is very populous, containing towns such as Baba, Daule, and others, of from 4000 to 5000 inhabitants, and thickly established villages, which are filled with a Negro and Indian population. The buildings are mostly of wood whitened with calca reous earth, and hence it has been subject to great conflagrations; but the new houses being forbidden to be covered with thatch or shingles, they have not of late suffered from that calamity. The streets are broad, well paved, and the houses have piazzas, which afford to the passengers shade from the ver tical sun. The public buildings are very splendid, consisting of two churches, three convents, a hospi tal, and a college, which was founded by the Jesuits. The town-hall is the best of the public erections, being established within a recent period. The city of Cuenca contains 20,000 inhabitants, and the fruit ful plain on which it stands maintains an equal po pulation ; being higher than Guyaquil, it is not sub ject to many of those circumstances which produce discomfort; it is tolerably healthy, and has few ve nomous reptiles or insects. Its productions partake rather of the nature of the tropical than the tein,pe rate zone, and it has some manufactories of cotton and woollens. It contains three churches, four con vents, two nunneries, and had formerly a college of the Jesuits. The population is mostly of Indian origin, with a mixture of European blood, but there are few if any natives of Europe established in it. Loxa or Loja is a city of 10,000 inhabitants, among whom are some noble families. It is somewhat more ele vated than Cuenca, and is still more healthy ; it is principally to be noticed from its being the district in which the greatest quantity and the best kind of the bark is found. The Indians cut down the trees, strip off the bark, and, after drying it in the sun pack and prepare it for exportation. The cochineal insect is found in the district of Lora, but as the in habitants take little pains to propagate or preserve them, the quantity collected is barely sufficient for the consumption of the dyers of Cuenca, and none is exported.
The province of Jaen de Bracameros is to the southward of Quito, and eastward of Peru. Its ca
pital, Jaen, contains about 4000 inhabitants, mostly a mixture of Europeans and Indians ; in the rest of the province, there are few of any other than the unmixed Indians, some of whom are in subjection to Spain, but more are in their savage state. It is principally to be regarded as the district through which, when South America shall be fully peopled, a connection between the eastern and western side of the Continent may be maintained. In the pre• sent state, when the greater part of the natives live a migratory life, the of a fixed supply of provisions forbids extensive intercourse, but as all the rivers of Jaen run into the Lauricocha, or by other channels to the Maranon, it is the most easy passage from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic. The communication is now carried on by the post down these streams. The carrier of the letters them on his head, plunges into the carries him along, whilst he occasionally rests him self on a tree, of the bourbon species, which he car ries with him, and which is lighter than cork. In this way he passes the rapids, and finding such pro. visions as the huts of the natives afford, or as the chase may yield, he carries the correspondence with safety and dispatch. The climate of Jaen is gene rally unhealthy, and from the nature of the popu lation and their wandering life, there can be no pro ductions to create commerce, though tobacco, if it were cultivated to the extent it might be, would en rich the province vastly.
The two provinces of Maynas and Quixos may be described at the same time ; they are both at the eastern foot of the Andes, and, without defined li mits, stretch across the Continent till they unite with the Portuguese dominions in Brasil. The wander. ing tribes, that are scattered over these. immense plains, have never been subjected to European do• minion, and have no disposition to be reconciled to it, notwithstanding the efforts of numerous mission. cries have been directed to that object. The tribu. Lary streams of the Maranon, or river of Amazons, intersect these provinces in every -direction. Streams with which the mightiest rivers of Europe will bear no comparison, unite together at various positions, till they at length form that vast magazine of water, which empties itself into the Atlantic Ocean under the Equinoctial Line. It is now clearly ascertained that in one branch of the Rio. Negro there is a junc. tion between the Orinoco and the Amazons. This river rises a little to the north of the Coquets, and, after a very long course, divides into two rivers, one of which runs to the Orinoco, the other to the Ma ranon, thus providing an internal navigation to be used at some future period when the provinces of Caraccas and of Guyana shall be more fully pea. pled.
The river Maranon is the most remarkable ob ject in these provinces. On every side during its protracted course it receives numerous tributary streams, which, in the quantity of water they con tribute, far surpass any of the rivers of Europe. The most remarkable of these are the Laurico. cha, the Beni, the Madera, and the Negro, which join it in this province; and the Apurimac, which, near the city of Arequipa, almost at its source, raises itself to the importance of a great river. Its waters run the space of 4500 miles, and it is supposed that ships of 400 or 500 tons burden might navigate it for that distance. It passes through the Andes, in 13° 10' south latitode. The pongo, or strait through which this river passes, is one of the most singular natural curiosities of the district. It is contracted from 1600 to 600 feet in breadth, and rushes with tremendous force, between stupendous perpendicular rocks, which form a crevice eight miles in length. When M. Condamine passed this fissure, he was carried with an impetuosity that ter rified him, till he suddenly emerged into an open and extensive lake, from whence, owing to the force of the current, the possibility of his return was pre.. vented. The breadth and depth of this vast river are every where correspondent to its length. At Coari, where it is one mile and a half in breadth, Condamine could find no bottom with a line of 100 fa thoms. At the straits of Pauxis, 200 leagues from its mouth, the tide is perceptible by the rising of the river ; but such is the quantity of water that rushes to the sea, and such the impetuosity of its course, that no salt water enters the river; an.d, on the con trary, the fresh water enters the ocean in such a vo lume as to displace the salt water, and it has been taken up in a drinkable state at 250 miles from the shore. By an estimate, founded on the actual mea surement which Condamine made for more than 1800 miles of its course, it will appear, that, in the 4500 miles which it runs, its whole descent is about 290 feet, and that the descent from the part in which the tides are first visible is 90 feet to the sea. It is subject to most extensive floods, which inundate the country to a considerable distance from its banks during the periodical rainy seasons ; but the fertility communicated by it more than compensates the tem porary inconvenience.