141 / 236
JNTER~A'J'IO_'AL
AMERI CAN CO.TFERENCE.
133
The Napo region is a <1en'ic prirnev:tl forest, lJroken onl,y
by
ri\('r;;.
'fhere is not a
gootl ro:td in
tllt~
wlrole provinco, and
it
is vcry t!Iinly inhabit<tted.
Tiw
Andes slope
rapidly hnth in this rPgion and on tlw Wl'stcrn coast.
The river sy·tcm coHsists of toe
~·apo,
P:lsta.
Ha
aud Santiago, tribntaries uf tho
Maranon, antl tllf•
~lira,
.EsmeraJrla:>, and tbc Urrayaqnil Howing west'lval'll into the
Pacific. Tho water:; of the Quito V:tlley propúr Jlow into tlle Paciiir, wbile at Andm,to
the Pastassa flows into tlle AnHizon.
The rainy :;;ca ·on on tlle ca:;teru slopc
¡,.
from
l\la;·eh
to 1\ovember, ·with the grcatcst
rain in April. Thc mean a.mmal raiH-fall at Qrnto is
7U
inche;,, 'vhile at Clw.rleston,
R.
C., it i. only 46 i1H.:hes, and at New York 4:l inchc ·. The mean :wnual t empcratnre
of Qnito is
f>':).
8-·, Iba oxtrenre:; in ayear bcing 4··
0
:mtl 70° .
During thh ¡;eason tlle raiH:> are frcqnent., gi1·ing rise to the g rP:tt ri\·ers, thn Napo,
thc Pa!ltas ·a, and lheir many tribnLuics tl.owing into tlH' Awazon. Tllc Marauot•
~t
Nanta is thrtc-fonrtlls of a mi le wiue
a.ndilo1Ys at a rato of
;¡~
llliles an hour. l'he
Putnmayo. which ri,;es in Colombi:t
a.nüt'llh'rs tbe Amazon lwlow tl•e Napo, Iras
hCYeral montlls, one of \Y!Jicll i.· a milc in \Yidtb.
The 11opnlation of Ecn:111or is given at ahont
1,000,000,
of which tlt e capital, Qni to,
ha~
about
70,000,
Cuenca,
30,000;
Gnayaquil, 40,000. Tilo greatt'r portion c•f the
whole popu l:lLion is ou thc centra] platean .
Tbe western ¡,¡Jope i mnuntainom;, thc coast Iraving so>era11larLors, tue grcat port
of en try being Guayaquil, wbcncc merchatHlise i ' canied by rail or mulPs to the
in–
tt•rior. Thrrc is onc main rnad to thc rlatcan wbich in tbe ra.iuy sca¡.;on
i s
very dif–
Jienlt
of passage, hnt along the platPan thcre is
a,
gooü roau. Soveral passages from
the cent ral pla ean tbrougb tho monntn.ius l1aYe lJeen follo.wnt1 to the lreaüwate11> of
tbe Amazon, one
t10I'IU
the Pastassa Rh-er is tlifficult Lecause of the rapids, anot her
b.y
way of Loja. to thc Marauon is
abo
difficnlt. There is a road to Macas wl1ich is
little used.
'l'he hest ronte is probaLly frow Quito to Papallacta, about 40 miles ea ·t–
southeast fronr Qnito, across an extreme eleYation of about
1-!,000
feet, b,v a road ju ·t
pasable for hor es, tlrence to Napo village, Archi<1ona anú down t 1H• Na1Jo Hiver.
Papallacta Jies on the western edge of the great forest. Tbe old 111aps sho1v tLo great
'paui;,h high roa<l tr:l\ ersiug Ecuador from Colombia on tbe uorth to Peru ou tbe
soutll, toucbing all th e·imponant towns in tbe central platean.
RAILVVAYS.
In tbe report of tbe South American Commission it is said that "Fina1Iy the Pres–
iuent thought the building of a railroad from Guayaq uil to Quito woultl bo a re–
mnnerative enterpri ·e.
'l'be comruerce oi the cotultry passes tluough Guayaquil, aml
it is the mo t adYantagcons point frorn wbich tlle interior can be r (;ache<l. Tbe road
would be aLou t.
11)0
or 170 miles inlength frtJm the h ead of navigatiou on tho Guayas
River, and he e timatcd its cost at not ovcr· $4,000,000 in gold ."
Communication between Quito and the Amazon
i
not difficnlt, and if opened up
would no donbt make Quito
a.
tbriving city.
Th e Yuguache
Railitay,
from Yaguache to Cbimbo, 40 miles, with an extension
from Chimbo to
iba mbe, 50 miles, almost completed.
'Ibi is the on1y rai1road in op–
eration in Ecuad01·, a'nd
i
owned by the Go>ernment. Tbe con tru ction wa begun
iu 1 72 and the Jine opened toChimbo in 1
77;
tbe original inteution "a to lmild to
Qnito on tbe nortb and Gtutyaqnil on the soutb. A coucessiou ha
recentl.r been
maJe for the con truotiou of the line eastwan1 frorn Yaguache to Duran, 14 mile. , a
point nearly oppo ite Guayaquil on tbe otber side of tbe rh·er.
A telegraph Jine from Guayaquil to Quito over this route was cornpleted in Angu t,
1
...
Otber conces l.ons ha>e been granted for rai1way
in E cuador as follows: Froru
tbe port of San Lorenzo to Ibarra, abont 30 league:>, or
YO
mile , tbe ooncession btJing
for ninety-nine years, wben the liue reverts to the Government, and 6 per oent. being