The Andes and the Amazon; or, Across the continent of South America.

164: THE ANDES AND THE AMAZON.
CHAPTER XI.
"The Province of the Orient," or the Wild Napo Country. —The Napos, Zaparos, and Jivaros Indians.-Preparations to cross the Continent.
ON the eastern slope of the Ecuadorian Andes, between
the. Mara-ion and its tributary the Putumayo, lies the Napo
country. This almost unknown region has the area of New
York and New England together. The government of
Quito, by a sonorous decree in 1854, baptized it " La Provincia del Oriente." Peru likewise claims it, but neither
republic has done any thing to colonize it. A dense primeval forest, broken only by the rivers, covers the whole
territory, and is the home of wild races untouched by civilization.*' There is not a road in the'whole province. A
footpath, open only in the dry season, and barely passable
then, connects Quito and the Rio Napo. Congress lately
promised to put Canelos in communication with the capital; but the largest villages in this vast and fertile regionArchidona, Canelos, and Macs —still remain isolated from
the outer world.t Ecuador once appointed a functionary
under the high-sounding title of " Governor of the Orient,"
with a salary of $700; but now the Indians are not troubled with any higher official than an alcalde.
* The boundary-line between Ecuador and Peru is about as indefinite as
the eastern limit of Bolivia, Brazilians claiming " as far west as the cattle of
the empire roam."
t Quito might be made more accessible on the Atlantic than on the Pacific
side. But Ecuadorians dote on Guayaquil, and refuse to connect themselves
directly with the great nations of the East. We believe there is a glorious
future for Quito, when it will once more become a city of palaces. But it will
not come until a road through the wilderness and a steamer on the Napo open
a short communication with the wealth of Amazonia and the enterprise of
Europe.