The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-03-28

Guayaquil, Ecuador, April 2, 1902.
 Although Indians the world over are proverbial for their fondness for bril- liant colors, you never meet one in this country wearing anything but sombre black. From head to foot there is not a trace of any other color about them. It is pathetic and perpetual sign of mourning for Ataphualpa, the last of their kings, who was treacherously strangled by Pizarro. Of course the Indians of to-day know of this only by tradition, but it has become sort of a religion with them, inculcated by pa rents in the minds of their children, and even infants in arms are wrapped in black. These strange people, di- rect descendants of the Incas, consti- tute the laboring population of Ecua- dor, and are about the saddest looking people on the face of the earth. Laughter, singing or story telling is never heard among them; they have no folk-songs. no tales, no sports. no jokes. but are at all times silent, unsmiling and sullenly submissive to any injus- tice that may be put upon them. Pi- zarro "builded better than he knew or rather worse-when he murdered the brave and beloved Ataphualpa, crush ing at one fell blow the proud spirit of his people through all future genera tions; and what that unparalleled crime failed to accomplish has been completely carried out by nearly four centuries of oppression. To-day the once powerful 1ncas are mere beasts of burden for anybody who resires to command their services. accepting without protest whatever inadequate payment may be rendered, and if no payment at all is forthcoming, there is no appeal. These silent under-sized, poorly nourished people do not seem to have much strength in their arms, but will carry enormous loads on their backs. A broad strap is passed around the forehead to help sustain the burden, and another across the shoulders. One hundred pounds is considered q moderate load, and with this on their backs they will start off on slow but even jog-trat and keep it up for hours without tiring.
 The Indians, and in fact nearly all the lower classes os Ecuador, seldom in dulge in the luxury of legal marriage, probably because they cannot afford it, the fees charged by the priests for performing that ceremony being very exorbitant compared to their infinitesi- mai wages. Even among the aristoc- racy it is not uncommon for young people to go about among their friends soliciting contributions toward paying the marriage fee. You can seldom stroll through the streets and markets of Guayaquil and Quito without meet ing somebody with little basket, gen. orally a young Lothario, who impor- tunes you, For love of the Virgin, most illustrious Senor, give me medic (six cents) toward the payment of my marriage fee.'
 In this queer country the dead are generally buried fin the middle of the night-why, Heaven only knows, eX- cept that it is la custonbre; and cus- toms here rule from century to century with iron hand, being less alterable than the celebrated laws of the Medes and Persians, for the latter did change in course Of a few hundred years. Women-even wives, mothers and nearest relatives-are not permitted to attend their, dear departed to the tomb; but that is the universal custom throughout nearly all Spanish-Ameri- ca. Unutterably dismal it looks to see a procession of chanting priests or monks, followed by men carrying can dies and torches, winding slowly through the darkness of night to the Campo Santo, Field of Saints" as the cemetery is called. Among those who can afford it, the fashion prevails of holding kind of funeral reception during the entire week following the burial. Formal invitations are issued, as if for a ball or wedding. The guests gather at the appointed hour, eat, dring, gossip and have good time generally, discuss the virtues of the dead, his frailties being forgotten, as is, happily, the case in all countries; spec ulate concerning the amount of proper ty the deceased has left; and if he were a married man, upon the proba bility of the widow marrying again.
 Meanwhile the dead mans family sit III d lOOui uy i1iSluoclFSS, AollSCa straight rows against the farther wall of the room in the order of their inear- ness of relationship to the dead, and all the guests come in one by one to condole with them. At the conclusion of this entertainment, every picture in the house is turned with it's face to the wall, the piano is locked, harp, guitar or mandolin swaddled in black cloth, all jewelry is laid aside, not even nat ural flowers are permitted in the rooms or on any member of the family as dec orations; the house is shut against all visitors for six or eight weeks and during that time none of the relatives are expected to be seen at all at church or elsewhere. However at the end of thts prescribed period mourning is supposed to be carried quite far enough. The family emerges at ance from it's retirement and usually make up lost time by an extra amount of gaiety, their return to society being celebrated by grand ball given by themselves and a round of outside en- tertainments.
 As in other parts of Spanish-America, the lower classes are carried 10 their long rest in borrowed collins, from which they are taken out and laid di- rectly in the dirt, in graves rented for stated periods ranging between three months and three years, what remains hNs,, rIn la1 I I>,,,,x