The Democrat. (Scotland Neck, Halifax Co., N.C.) 1884-1896, 1885-06-11
ROMANCE OFECUADOR

THE WONDERS OF A STRANGE LAND.
The landlord at the hotel here saws q
letter from Quito, the capital of Ecuador,
to the New York Sun, requires you to
pay your board in advance, because he
has no money tc buy food and no credit
with the market men; the muleteers ask
for their fees before starting, because
their experience teaches them wisdom :;
and there is scarcely building in the
whole republic in process CT construc-
ton, or even undergoing repairs. Death
seems to have settled upon everything
artificial, but nature is in her grandest
glory.
The population of Ecuador is about a
million, and the nation owes twenty gold
dollars per capita for every one of the
Inhabitants. The president is compelled
to live at Guayaouil so as to see that the
customs duties, the only source of reve-
nue., reach the government. and to quell
the revolutions that are constantly aris-
ing Three hundred thousand of the
population are of Spanish descent. 1O0,-
600 are foreigners, and 10000 native
Indians or persons of mixed b'ood. The
commerce is in the hands of the
foreigners entirely, and they have a
mortgage upon the entire country. The
Indians are the only people who work.
Over the doors OF the residences or
the business houses. and both are usually
under the same roof, are 81 gns reading.
This is the property of an Englishman, :"
"This is the property of citizen of
Germany" and so on, a necessary warn
ing to revolutionists. who are thus
notified to keep their hands off.
The Spaniards are the aristocracy, poor
but proud, very proud. The mixed race
furnishes the mechanics and artisans,
while the Indians till the soil and do the
drndgery. A cook gets two dollars a
month in deprecated currency, but the
employer is expected to board her entire
family. A iaborer gets four or six dol
lars month and boards himself, except
when lie is fortunate enough to have a
wife out at service. The Indians never
marry, because they cannot afford to.
The law compels him to pay the priest
lee Of six dollars, more money than most
OF them can ever accumulate. When a
span'ard marries, the fee is paid by con-
trlbutions from his relatives.
1t is popularity of the Indian that he
will sell nothing at wholesale, nor will
ne trade with you anywhere but in the
market place, on the spot where he and
lls forefathers have sold garden truck
lor three centuries. Although travellers
on the highways meet whole armies of In.
a'a%s, bearing upon their backs heavy
burdens of vegetables and other sup
nhes, they can purchase nothing of
'hem, as the native will not sell his
goods until he gets to the place where
kuG Is tho h hpl,if Of Il
viii carry them ten miles and dispose
Of them for less than he was offered for
mem at home
gentleman who lives some distance
ION town said that for the
ast four years he had been
sins 10 get the Indians, who
assed s every morning with packs of
a.lalfa (the tropical clover, to sell him
sone at his gate, but they invariably
elnsed to do so; consequently he was
glnpelled to go into town to buy
'nat was carried by his own door.
r., Nof Will the natives sell at wholesale.
neS will give you a gourd full of pota-
". NY Tor penny as often as you like,
m 9at Will not sell their stock in lump.
1aa1 n1y Will give you dozen eggs for a
sro en cehts), but will not sell you
aI sdI uozen for a dollar This dogged
en eience to custom cannot be ac-
bat bp.eo .e Tor, except on the supposition
tt"nr 'heir suspicious are excited by an
..1ItnlPt to depart from it.
ba bn ecuador there are no smaller coins
nado h 1ne h quartillo, change is therefore
NY py the use of bread On his way
bakns market the purchaser stops at the
breaLy and gets a dozen or twenty
emf tAaast aa rolls, which cost about one
e;va civ, a.n each' and the market women re-
mali 'nein ne and give them as change for
forth purchases. pt If you buy cents
in mar -, ANYTHING and offer a. quartil-
Or thu e1Ssment Sai you get breakfast roll
The 1.s! osiance due you.
ans1les, .10,, which are presided over by
OF governor. The native