| Show ruE BANGKOK OF ECUADOR iuses The City of Babahoyo and the Floating He uses of the Guyas River tilde ThroughI Tropics Among th Alligator D4 Monkeys Haw a Mil Can A are Elculdrilkso llntr rTh Nail elect lie Th1 11Thel V19e orkreensportallon to lIolto and Ecuadors Only Itallroad N1 Ioleh t1 be ad 1 Ietd by American capital Cwrilthted 1898 by Frank O Carpenter Car-penter natahujo Ecuador March 23 1858 For the Past two days 1 have Ioeell MailIng Mail-Ing along the Columbia river of lcua dor The nuyas Is I to this country as Si Columbia IB I to the United Slates the biggest river of the Pacific It is l const and jut now In the lalny ea I Kn which lasts here from December until SI Ji It has converted the country for miles nnd mile and miles Into a entered It from It lake Whe we the Pacific Just opposite the Island of jutm where riinrro landed the river Is I allay miles wide and as we sailed up to seemed to be passing fiua > a < tull we thiough an Inland sea The waters Here of the color and thickness of pea tour anti upon the fast flowing flood were patches uf green great trees and other dbrls which were floating down from the Andes to the sea At Ouajn qull the river Is more than a mile wide and Nltslx feet deep furnishing a good and safe harbor the largest of the Pacific steamers The river there Is filled with Bhlpplngand the are hundred of lUgouU canoes great rafts and ewgo boats used by the natives na-tives to bring their wares fion the Interior In-terior for sale THE 1IANC1KOIC OF ECUADOR I left Guajaciull two dos ago and In the little I I Americanbuilt steamer i rulsmlr took an allnights sail up the Guas Into the Interior 1 am now far scasy from the coast almost at the foothills of the Andes Cbllnhorazo frowns down ill oat me and Y can almost bra the rumbling of the volcano Co topaxl I am In the city of Liabahoyo or 1I0doe I a cltj which like Bangkok Is I almost all tin oat upon the water The whole land Is qondtd and many of the houses urn HO bullt that the people live In I the second stories and go from one place to another III canoes The town proper which contains about 8000 people Ins streets which are now little moro than rivers still In comlllg tram the boat I hired lall I Indian to carry me to the krJr lands of the shore on his back As I went my whisky flask skirt Jalwajs carry with me here for raedlcjnlal purposes fell out of my pocket Into about live fet of water uri IMrtiil another peon to lIve for It lit did so bringing up first the bottle and then the drinking cup which had le dipped off whin It fell I made him hippy by giving him ten ants for his trouble The business part of Uabahovo ll I a few feet higher than the rest of t place and Just now the stores are tree from water though In I crossing tire I street you must 1 Ing the buildings I and balance 3ourself on the logs I and built I boo bridges put neruts tom sldealk tel sidewalk Tile houses lOre all at two stnles the ground floors blllg taken lip is lIb the cavelike stores and tin Second stories forming the Ivan quart I ers There are ot course no pagements or modem Impromnl Ihahoo has not a server nor a gutter Ira It its Only bathroom Is I a floating ehd upon the wharves of the river with the sort < > us danger of losing n leg by the nip df an alligator There Is not a fireplace n > r a chimney In the whole town There Is I not a glass window for the houses art ventilated on second floors tr mn ot lattice work running nhout Ili e lIIn 9 The whole front wallet of the stores ore thrown brick In the day time anl the ground Hours or fus open fta those or JRIun The houses flow on the water a tw wk train wr dry The ground floor was then ud for the I chickens donkejs a I cattle Now these are either on platforms higher III or are living with the family on the second floor which Is I built upon piles no high It up 1 that lite floods do not reach I 11 AN IICrtADOIlIAN HOUSE Tin rc are hundreds of houses her Jjlch ran ° nly be reached In ca hez The children go to school In canoes and the marketing Is I lone In boats I The r1ot or these halO R belong to the Poorer classes though I hall dcrlh lurinir oil mI vllt to a millionaire Palittr vkho cannot now walk ten t IM from his failure A thou I drown leg mp I JI The Poorer houses 7 t tm Ile more than one room i about six feet square built Upon pile i about ten feet alsve the ground and reached by a I l dd ter outside The houses are thatched with brood white leaves lId I bl fm n framework of bamboo cane The tcona ° 1 cane andthe crack 8 In II are M man that the vom1n dUo not need to 8reeP the household Jliilp > dIrt of the household lalllnq through upon the ground or Into the aper AS to modern ronventencen In the way of writer of cr these are prartleRlly Unknown strong the nn Qto Is of fCt Ive if fit the capital I o it city of 60000 or ort the I trells or-t used by the common people for Muff r dco rri purposes a d every family It relieltabillty I hoh t raveling car ries its min con venlences iNIth It eat ben houses at tile n peoplethere no mhatevor illitteY e < men SiJnbol and rIismevvlvesl1 and Inalton all lr1 together sleeping In th ai1n clothes they wear In the daytime 1 lyfnr cl Indleeritailmately I upon the I llr tho e ron Attlellis the I I hammocks of the t whi rlr form of tbefr houses The cooking to done In r I lay dlvlhn Islas ons tire box filled with dirt I The I fuel IIS In largely t I cl a the pots eing raised Upon II or bricks tJ al 1011 room for the coal beneath The chief torsi of the trollenl part at the country known large boosting no in the ill pucca Much pateto i find rico or plantain I the yani or Ink cooked with lard the most of uhich comes from the United States Thourb this whole region where I now am IN I tilled With fine cattle tile People 11 1 not sm to know anything ot hut 1 r The chief customers for It ore foreigners anti the rllcle most sold In I Oak 1I01l0n butt er In one rand two failed linn It veil far it 0 pound III his tracer or about ro cents 10 Amrl I all gol 1 am told l that at this price there IN t not R groat lorofit to the Italian h killer makers t V III tariff and the Polling charges art high TIIIIOUIlII Till ronnsT IN AN ICIUDOIIIAN CAOn Landing ot n bahojo I was for a time at A0 how to k myself IIn drstood by the nallles There W4 X I is A m I one about who sp9he 1 ngfdhIcan1anIY Pure Calllllall palllh did not eem tu be Understood At lat however 1 mt a Jrman storekeeper a Mr Iurger who told me that there was on American living in the City This was a Mr Klein a carpenter olltractor ntocorI and ulldrtaker I soon tOUlld him among his entities Ile left hi work find devoted himself to me for the day Together Ile went 10 visit one of the 1199et Plantations of Ecuador This helongo to A r A uuollll I a Darmoo 0 man ub 01 Ind thousands of cut I IN lid hoo nd I who I tall lIs omthln Pice 1 300000 pounds of thueolate benM every year The Plantation Is I now all net were unit we had to take a cllllU to visit It Oaradeltouver ahout hit t te 10llg 01101 1I0t over thirty 111111h V wide lot was a dugout and was Poled and sculled by two Pusty hln fklnncd gondoliers one of I ham tood at each end of It 2Ir 10clar sat In the bottom slid I as given a 1Iaco In the nlll lit loot we moOd all Into the ollcIII forest natis rowed tor miles imong the tree tops now grazing IN great black alligator and again chattered chat-tered at by monkejB who made faces c710 awa rite at us as they scampered birds which trees were lull of eU age fluttered and cried us we went by Now we get a shot at once a gallarela a beautiful thing as big as a pigeon blood long legs I of a with a bill like golden sellow and a plumage of lojal purlI I crocodile but the hot at the I trt 0 In It and trembt no I grand up canoe Unnalmed the ugly monster gets away Theie lire wild ducks and other bird and en before I hlcb I have never Mr Klein tells me I iat he often bags a deer on the highland or has a shot at a wild hog or a le ipard The ride Is I beyond description Under us there Is I tw feet of Nvater where u few all dry land The work ago It was thick arboillke elastic ire nake a over u anti we wind In and out through them now making our way long a narrow canal or greell < and then shooting out Illto a great green walled chamber of witr the tns folded down with or about which are bids each of which In New York would bring a sum eiiual to the wages of the average workingman luecects are plenty bugs and ants of every de ascription tall pOll Us as w a float 011 ward find Mr Kiel ells me i how a great snake once dropped down Into his lat tram the brllllches above The tress are all slrllnge and oplcal Them are libber times loaded with III lIator pears and her and there 0 great palm his hoisted Its 91arn head above the others Outildi of the Insects In-sects and birds the Silence Ill I almost oppressive The soft air Is I heivy with Iaee end rest and the ripple flf the water as our long cano work its wny forward seems to Invite Us to tlecp Now a canoe with a family of Indians ooe us and again a great cargo bolt I loaded with cocoa Is shoved along on its way to the market A MIIUONAIIII PLANTATION Nearly all the land above which we have been traveling belongs to the mil lIunollre planter whOm vve are to visit When we get uut of the foreat we como directly Into the gracing I lands of his plantation I tin graces Is I actv underwater under-water and hi hlrd hive been taken to the high lAnds on 110 edge of the1 Andes We aro In 0 wide waste of voters above ililch her and there tin Intel of the win forms are to be seen We sail right liver there fences now anti then psln attract houses 1 of bamboo thatched with palm leas i The houses are like those of Babnhojo built high upon pllen tinder each lust over the wator theiv Is I a platform on which the chicken and pigs of the owner live within Piz tactics of drownIng drown-Ing As we near Hit groat white homo II the Planter we see ho-mo and more of these houses We pats a butcher shop resting on the water whom lire killed the animals which furnish tho meat for the Planter and go by a grxat barn which Is t also on piles surrounded by water We Nail iyer th front gate find land amid a lot of lonj steel ca basis all i the Second nool if the house which Is I a gat three start hullllo roofed with re 4 tilelf Ilem ice car fb tel ed rat r net by the owner andiam made to fee at ham lie orders a breakfast to h prepared for us and puts wine anti cog man before us III two Plttt daughters are now called III to entertain enter-tain us and together we all drink tn the bMtef relations of our continent and our countries The Voting ladlea drink brandy and when I pull out fly flask we all drink again In that famous lluld which comes from Kentmty Later all the old man sentin all Indian servant out 10 climb one ot his I cocka nut tee to give us a drink of cocoi nut milk and then jjlnrcls his men to guide us In can e4 to thn cocyia orchard or-chard and tn other Varts of his estate LABOR AND WArES IN nCHADOIt I talk with him as to the profits of farming He says he Keeps no accounts ac-counts but that he leaves all to hl > foreman and overseers and that all that la over nbove the expenses lit I profit This year he will harvest SOO 000 pounds of cocoa which at 10 cents pmfit a pound will net him 10000 from this source alone Ile oils me he loxes a great deal every yea r because he cnnnot get laborers la-borers to work for him and I still I nut told the men on his plantation owe him COOCOO In silver This Is I to a certain extent his labor capital for the mono must be worked out and a portion of It i Is taken every day from tho wages of his I debt slaves It Is I said that clavery no longer exists In Ecuador It may not exist as It did In the days of IMtarrv when the Indians war a branded whipped and killed at the will of their owners hut It Is I r ally In force through the debt laws anti the habits of the peons or laboilng classes which cAuse them to keep In debt to their rna a ters Th ivages tire NO low that once get out In lletl 1 l f IB near almost tho Impossible count peons to get about IS a month but In the Interior In-terior they do not receive over half this nnd onetenth of their earnings goes to the church The planters give their laborers twelve Ounces ot meat fourteen ounces of rite or boors 0 lit tie lard or salt a day Kacli also gets n hat three course cotton ehlrts and flat Ialr ot cotton Pantaloons a year and a house Pitch set I have described above Th lr hour at work are from snnrl until nunalit nail If 0 man skips a day this Is I charged to him The women and ehlllrn must cork ail well AR the men and It a man runs aay he Is I straightway put In prison for deb and stays there until some other I planter la I willing to pay him out ant take him Into his sorvice 1 van should It inn n jt out of Aelit the conditions are such that he Is soon In again If there is a death I In his k family he Iras to art ow money to bury his dead It 11 anart would be married the priests will cbarge him 11 for performing I the cer mon and If he wants u hog or a donkey don-key If Is 1 mnlyheb7 going gUI Into debt that khe can get them As to marriage he usually prefers to live I without the ceremony cere-mony to paying the marriage fees and today It Is said on this I 1 account 75 percent per-cent of the births In Ecuador ore II legitimate Wages In Guayaquil and along the coast are much higher than In the Interior In the cities common orkllln get 75 cents n day curpen t tram II M to 12 1 maMOII I 1lnter ond blacksmiths nliout then Mn and mn servants employed by the month trom I 110 to 11 12 with board Women celve from iq to 110 with boird Tailor and Shoemakers relv trum mg1vba1kcuck A to 112 per week and printe hkern and brIrv the earne 1lvln 1M In some respeCts very cheap hilt n ardi Imported articles exceedingly dar I paid It a u1mob or ennnd = Pd II nmp bed which i carry with m which would be worth pr I haps II at home cost mo In Guayaquil IS of our money Chairs whlcli lould lie bought for 60 cents ot home cost here 13 Thy come In I pice and rite lint together hI the fit trillium deale All Imported articles cost avast deal more III the interior all account of the excessIve ex-cessIve freight ales there being no mans far transportalloll over tho I mOlllltalll except all mules or on the hack at an ell FROM noDtxiAS TO QUITO This town of llodcgas or liabahoj li I the halfway station on them road to Quito Here all goods f the-m the Interior I platau the grent Andenn bc11271i n rllllgl are brought and sent dovvn thor rIver 10 ron bont or teamor Jut I IIOW the flood ore er le hare that h goodo h-are brought to the ton of 6a0lletOl a lays ride hI cano from Uodn suit are brought by water to this point As I Ite dozens of canoe are being unloaded and their freight cortled onto the steamer Picturesque halfnikcd peons go along the streets with great I loads of hides bags of rubber or boxes ot lard on their backs held there by rope fastened above their foreheads They are natives ho 1mV carried their goods < 011 their backs or upon data keys don the mountains for sal They work more like beasts than men laboring for thp mr pittance hlch I I have mentioned alcove At Is I by such means that all I freight 14 I carried from tile seacoast to the capital It takes twentyfour Indiana to curry a plano and the ivst of the freight Is I greater bj 1 the time they reach Oulto than the cost at the plano Itself Thusordinary Packages ot good put up III bundles of boxos of 10 ricturrals I men form a load for a mule and such n load front hereto here-to Quito c sts from SI to IT or tom ICO to 170 per ton The frelirh 00 R small hollr recently sent was 1000 and the rat for heavy articles are such as I to pt ihlblt them The distance of this city from the coast is I 130 miles and from here to Quito is I 165 mile Think of Paying ICO for carrying a ton of freight 1C5 miles and you see one of the dlfllciiltles of developing a trade with Interior Ecuador And ml lit It I Is said that II good wagon rot could be mild the whole way The pass 3V er the mountains In the ally tire near y three miles In height and the rood are mule paths which nt this writing are almost Impassable I had IIItndoI to have iliad the Journey to Qlllto and bought a camllllg outfit ot n cost ot 155 to do It Here however I am told that at least ten days of initial riding through the mud and rain and tho llrailllan minister who has Just come through from Quito tells me that he had to wodo pt of the way through water up to his waist The llcuodorlans may say Our roads are for birds not men There Is I In fact only one good piece of rond in all Ecuador This Is I about seventy miles long and It runs from Amlmta on the plateau to Quito There is an Illgllh stage coach hlch carries yon or It and take you from one oint to another III about a day and a hnlt Ecuador lar also obout fiUtollr miles of railroad Thill Is I a narrow gauge runnlllg train n station on the IIIer Clnyns oppe lie Ouoyaiuli to hlmlo The rood Ilan cars unit Income then which WrlO mild In PIIIIByl nnla fall it It weak built hI an American allied Nelloyut Is now owned by the hOverument and on American syndl cal ha a I nail told a cOlleMslon to complete It to Quito though the recant 1 0t kite capital S11000000 has at yet been raised The rood now run to the foot < if the Antics and It Is said by engineers thRt Is I Omtlllol1 I without doubt a mechanical polhillty As to hethr It would pay or not Is I UnVertaln as IN I also tho question as to how tar the government would contrlblll to Its support FRANK G CARPENTER |
