Omaha daily bee., 1914-02-15

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tributaries of the Amazon. and some of
| the streams of Ecuador flow into that
mighty river. Indeed, it is said that
| Quito is only four days by mule from
streams that flow into the Amazon sys-
tenn The government is now building
railroad system from the plateau TO one
! OF the Amazon tributaries and this road
will open up a rich mining region with
| lands suited for sugar cane, cacao and
| coffee.
| Ecuador has some of the greatest vol
| canoes on earth. The great series OF
| valleys of which have written is walled
up by twenty-one peaks, ranging in
| height from three to four miles, and
| there are seventeen other peaks which
! are more than two miles in height. When
| last visited Guayaquil the air was
filled with ashes that came from one of
Ecuadors ten active volcanoes. For this
reason the houses have to be small.
! They are built to withstand the earth
quakes, the wooden timbers being so
joined that they can sway with the
trembling of the earth and not break.
VIII he Great Tourist Route.
future will, l believe, be to quito. The
ships will come via Panama to the Bay
of Caraquez and the tourists will go
over the French railroad, a distance of
1856 miles up to the capital or they will
come to Guayaqui and take the' Amerl-
can-built road from there over the An
des. The Guayaquil-Quito road is now
in operation. The fare is $3.50 each
way, and the trains require two days for
the journey. You cross the Guayas river
early in the morning and by o'clock
are moving from the railroad station at
Duran, through seventy miles of tropical
lowlands. There are pastures contain
ing herds of fat cattle, cacao groves
loaded with their squash-like fruit, which
| hangs close to the trunks and branches,
and many little villages with houses on
piles so that the first floors have to be
reached by a ladder The houses are
thatched with broad white leaves tied to
framework OF bamboo cane. The
floors are of cane, and the cracks are so
| many that the women do not need to
sweep, for the dirt of the household
falls through to the ground or the water
You pass little banana plantations, go
| through forests loaded with orchids, and
finally stop at Bucay. which is fifty
seven miles away. The speed of the
train SO far has been not quite twelve
miles an hour, and you have risen to an
altitude of less than 1000 feet. In the
next three hours you rise 5000 feet, to
Iulgra, and from there go on up. up
until at last you reach Urbana, which
is 11,S41 feet above the sea. This is the
highest station on the road, You stop
over night during this journey, and II
takes you about the whole of two days
to come to quito, the Ecuadorlan capital,
Quito Expects Boom.
am told that Quito is preparing for a
boom when the canal is completed. II
hopes to become a tourist resort for
both winter and summer. 1t is one OF
the healthiest cities on earth, and II
]. C. White & Co. can make healthy
gate to 1t. it will no doubt have visitors
and excursions from all over the world
The city has now 10000 population. II
has several hotels. 1t has electric lights
and telephones. and there is talk of put
ting in a street car line to be run by
: electricity generated from the rivers
nearby.
The town lies on the slope of a vol
, cano, and there are a dozen other vol
canoes in sight among which are Coto'
: paxi and Chimborazo, each of which
rises about two miles above the plateau
/ am told that you can take an auto
mobile in Quito and ride to the crater
of the volcano behind it.
Quito has fine government buildings
and enormous churches and converts. i
has colleges, a cathedral and theatel
subsidized by the government will
troupes that come from up and down th'
coast One of the odd features of the
theater is the boxes for people in mourn
ing. These have shutters which fit dowI
over them in such a way that the in
mates can see out over the Stats or By
moving the shutter a little can look dowI
upon the audience without themselves
being seen. When in deep mourning 1t Il
customary for the afflicted to use th'
Stats only. but later on the whole shut
ters are gradually opened.
AS a tourist resort quito has many in
teresting features. 1t 3 one Of the his
toric cities of the new world. 1t wa
founded almost a hundred years befor
the Boston COWS began 10 outline the frs
streets Of that city. The Indians had
capital there when Pizarro came; an,
Atshuelpa, the Inca monarch. who wa
killed by Pizarro. had a home ther
whose roof was plated with gold. Tn
city then contained vast treasures. whc
were buried by the Indians in orde
that they might not fall into the hand
of the spaniards. The city OF today ha
a considerable Indian population. al
though most of its people are whites
The Indians come in from miles aroun
to trade. ana the crowds in the marke
are cf a dozen different tribes and o
many picturesque costumes. The mos
Of them are very religious. and they g
. from church to church saying thei
prayers. Only a few Of them can rea