Pacific Sea-Coast Views, No. II [pp. 393-398]

THE
OVERLAND MONTHLY
DEVOTED TO
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTRY
VOL. 7.-NOVEMBER, I87I.-No. 5.
PACIFIC SEA-COAST VIEWS.
NO. II.
HE Rio Tumbez is the southern
boundary of Ecuador-a republic
whose territory was formerly a portion
of Colombia, and the latter was the first
part of the continent seen by the renowned voyager, Christoval Colon, in
the year I498, and named in honor of
its discoverer. The whole western coast
between the Gulf of Guayaquil and Panama is but little known, when compared
with the rich and fertile countries to the
north and south; and nearly all its inhabitants are purely native, or of mixed
blood, and those living along the seaboard, in the small ports accessible to
shipping, are the only connecting links
with civilization. They are an indolent,
thriftless race, living in rude cabins and
frail houses-constructed of small timbers, reeds, palms, and thatch-which
are perched upon posts, ten feet or more
from the ground, to free their inmates
from the noxious exhalations of the humid earth, and to escape the swarms of
insects, vermin, and reptiles that otherwise might easily gain access to these
human abodes; where the occupants
while away much of the time in their
hammocks, which serve the double purpose of camna and asiento. As has been
intimated, energy and industry are not
prominent characteristics of these peculiar people, for what is required for their
simple subsistence is about them in spontaneous plenty. But with all the apathy
and aversion to labor among these reticent beings, whose ancestors inhabited
this section of the continent, the Spaniards, at the time of the discovery, found
great difficulty in maintaining any degree
of authority over them, and it was near
the middle of the sixteenth century before they were subjugated, and then more
in name than in reality.
The whole belt of the Pacific Colombian coast abounds in almost every tropical production; besides, stately timber,
and many of the more valuable woods,
are found in all their perfection, and luxuriant verdure spreads from the base of
the Andes cordillera to the surf-beaten
shore. This may be regarded as a gen
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 187I, by JOHN H. CARMANY, in the Office of the
Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
VOL. VII. -26.