Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-05-03

eight weeks, and during that time not one OF
the family Is expected TO be seen at al at
church or elsewhere. At the end Of this pre-
scrioed period, however. mourning is supposed
70 nave been carried quite far enough. The
FAMILY emerge at once from their retirement
ana generally make up lost time by extra
amount Of gayety. their return TO society be-
ing celebrated by grand ball given by them
selves and a round OF outside entertainments.
TROOPS OF sERvANrs
II you were living in Ecuador and wished
to hire q servant you could hardly get one by
himself or herself. but would be compelled TO
take up with q drove Of them With a cook.
Tor example, you must receive her husband and
the rest of her family into your house. TO bed
and board. and they viii bring along their nu-
merous collection of domestic pets. pigs. dogs.
rabbits, chickens and other live stock" aud
portable property. The husband NAV have
some trade which he follows during the day.
but when night comes and At meal times he
returns to the bosom OF his family and yours.
The children Of the pair may be utilized for
hight services. such as running errands. weed
ing the garden and watching the BABY; but
they are apt to be Eight fingered" and are
always lousy and dirty beyond degree. There
10 no help for it. however. and for every ser
want you hire. you must expect at least a dozen
extra mouths to feed.
TIE TWO SEASONS.
In Ecuador there are but two seasons-the
invierno or wet and the yerano or dry. The
invierno or winter Though astronomically it is
summer time) begins in December and ends in
May. The heavy rains come on about Christ
mas. March is the wettest month CT the wear
July the coolest ana in May fevers most abound
During the dry season the climate Of Guayaquil
is nearly perfect, Its continuity being broken
only by a few days rain after the autumnal
equinox.
II is during the rainy season only that Guaya-
quill has earned its reputation for unhealthi-
ness. Then the air is as hot and oppressive as
that OF Turkish bath; rank vegetation lies
restoring in the sun; the country roads and
even some OF the city streets are perfectly i'm
passable, and fever and dysenteries do the
work of death, while the living keep up per-
petual war on pestiferous mosquitoes, cock
reaches, large as the palm OF your hand (al-
most), centipedes, scorpions and deadly SER
penis.
FROM THE BALCONIES.
The very finest thing about Guayaquil and Of
which one never tires is the incompatible view
to be obtained from the balconies. especially in
clear days, when magnificent stretch of the
Andes may be seen. The stranger in these
parts VIII forget many of the incidents of his
journeying in after years, but the impression
produced by his first glimpse OF those glorious
mountains is unfading.
Until lately Chimborazo has been supposed
to be the highest volcano on the hemisphere
Il
Is ~, 422 feet high-no SLOUGH of a mountain. to
be sure, but modern SURVEYS show that il has
superiors. In the Andean chain are Eve others
that overtop il, and these are surpassed in the
old world by several in the Himalayas Among
the countless millions who have lived and died
since the world was made but one man has
ever climbed to the summit of Chimborazo-
Mr.. Edward Whymper an Englishman. who
twice succeeded in accomplishing the feat Tin
1879 and again IN $780, having previously
made himself famous and prepared for the task
by ascending the MatterhorL and other peaks
OF the Alps.
SURROUNDED BY VOLCANOES
The capital of Ecuador which lies directly
over the equator and whose origin is lost in the
mist of centuries, is one of the highest cities
in the world and is surrounded by no less than
twenty volcanoes. Three of these are active,
five dormant and twelve extinct Eighteen of
them are covered with eternal snow and the
submits of eleven have never been reached BY
any living creature, unless il may be the condor
that bird whose skyward flight surpasses any
other. Cotopaxi is the lofties, OF these active
volcanoes, but in destructive energy has long
been rivaled by severa! Others For many
years 1t has given no indication of activity eX-
eept in the cloud of smoke by day and the
pillar o. fire by night which constantly rise
from its crater, and frequent rumblings that
NAV be heard for six hundred miles. Those
who have seen Vesuvius can form some idea of
Cotopaxi's grandeur by imagining a volcano
$4,000 feet higher shooting fire from a crest
covered by 5000 feet of snow,
On the south side of Cotopaxi is a gigantic
rock 1000 feet high which is known as 1.-The
lnca's head" Tradition has it that this rock
once topped the summit of the volcano and
that it fell on the day Atahualpa (the beloved
was murdered by the Spaniards.
FANNIE b. WARD.