The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-02-17
Guayaquil, Ecuador.

Guayaquil, Ecuador.
The GuayaS river Is to South
America what the Columbia and the
Yukon are to our continent. 1t is the
biggest stream which flows into the
Pacific: and in the rainy season 1t
turns the lowlands from here to the
Andes into a great swami or lake.
Where the ships come in from ne
ocean the river is sixty miles wide,
and as you sail up to Guayaquii you
seem TO be passing through a great
inland sea. The water is as thick as
pea soup and Of much the same color.
The Andean floods bring down patch
es of green, and great trees may be
seen hoating out to the sea. In com
ing in YOU pass the Island Of Puma,
where Pizaroo first landed; and
about sixty miles farther up you find
yourself in front Of this port.
The river Is now a mile wide and
twenty-six feet in depth, and 1T gives
a good and safe harbor for steamers.
Just now it has but little shipping on
account of the plague, but there are
hundreds of dug-outS, ca-OeS, RATS
and cargo boat in which tie Indians
bring their wares from the interior TO
sell. The ocean vessels anchor lar
out in the stream, and are unlOaded
by lighters. The only wharves Of the
city are those for small craft. Never
theless they extend for a mile or w
up and down the west bank Of the
river. and are backed with great
warehouses and stores which are
open at the front SO that you can see
everything in them as you go along
the street.
From the ships deck Guayaquil is
imposing. 1t is a town OF about 100,-
900 people, and as the most OF its
houses are of only one or two stories
1t covers a great deal Of ground. 1t
has wide streets and buildings that at
first sight seem to be of stone or OF
brick covered with stucco. They are
really Of wood, plastered over and
painted, and most of them have walls
of bamboo cane upon which mud has
been spread and smoothed down
with a trowel. The city has some
public improvements. 1t has ar
electric street a line n electric
lights. 1t has public squares which
are beautifully kept, and its hospitals
are as good as can be found in South
America. 1t has a half dozen news
papers, several high-priced hotel!
and it does an export and impor
business amounting to eighteen o.
IN fact, the New York Of Ecuador
and if it could be made a. health!
as Panama 1t might be a great reSOr
for tourists and trade.
But before 1 go further, let me tel
you something of this South Ameri
can republic, which is to be brough
TO our doors by the Panama car
Heretofore the steamships from GU
Atlantic coast have had to go NOR
than 10000 miles around by tn
Strait Of Magellan to reach it. Whe
the canal is open New York will b
nearer by ship to this port than it
now to Great Britain. Boston wi
be only a little owe a week from an
part Of Ecuador. and our gulf port
will be still nearer. AS 1t Is nov
Guayaquil is less than 500 miles frol
Balboa, and the railroad that is builG
ing from the Bay of CaraQuez I
dor to within three days of Panam;
The contract for that road has bee
let to a French company. The traiI
were IN operation last year over for,
miles Of track, and the road shou,
be completed by the time of the opel
ing of the great ditch at
The word Ecuador means equato
and Ecuador is a land of the eQuato
That hottest line on the globe pass
through it and the whole Of it lies
the tropics. The country is a II
angle. surrounded by Colombia. Bra:
and Peru. It lies on the west Goa
of South America. in the shape Of
fan whose handle is in northern Bra.
and whose ~scalloped rim is washed
the Pacific Ocean.
Next to Colombia, Ecuador is t
nearest republic to us, and still it
one of the least known. Parts of
have never been surveyed and tod
the estimates Of it's size range fire
the bigness of California to that
Texas. The most authentic figul
now place it at 116, 000 square mil
an area equal to that of Ohio, Virgin
and Indiana combined.
The most of the country is TAX
up by the Andes. The coast line
low and a tropical vegetation exter
from the ocean back to the foOthi