The favourite amusements are bull fights, excursions on the water in balsas, and dancing; of the latter all ranks appear passionately fond, and in the evening the harp, the guitar, or the violin may be heard in almost every street, and, contrary to what might be expected in a country lying between the tropics, the reel, the waltz, and the country dance are preferred to any other.
The market of Guayaquil is but indifferently supplied with flesh meat, although the horned cattle is well fed on the savanas and gamalotales. Before the beef comes to market it is deprived of all its fat, and cut into shreds about an inch thick, called tasajo; the fat is melted and sold as lard for culinary purposes, but this however might be easily remedied if the inhabitants would come to a resolution not to buy the beef in such a mangled state. Very fine ribs of beef, called chalonas, are salted and dried in the province of Monte Christe, and brought to this market; they are very fat, and of an excellent flavour. The quantity of salt used in curing them being small, the meat is not too salt to be roasted. Mutton is a very scarce commodity, and seldom to be had. Veal and lamb are unknown. Pork is tolerably good, and in abundance. The tame poultry is good, but generally dear; and although the woods abound with game, and the rivers and creeks contain plenty of water fowl, none of these are scarcely ever brought to market. The supply of fish is tolerably abundant, but generally speaking it is not good; the exceptions are the lisa, a kind of mullet, the vieja, old wife, ciego, or blind fish, (about nine inches long, with only the spinal bone) and a species of anchovies or sardinas. Oysters are very plentiful, and the rock oysters though large are good, while those found among the mangroves are very muddy.
The bread made here is generally of an inferior quality, although the flour is good, both that procured from Chile, and that from the provinces of Quito and Cuenca. Rice, garbansas, a species of pea, brought from Lambayeque, beans, quinua, lentils, and other pulse are cheap; European vegetables are scarce, the yuca, camote, pumpkins, and other gourds, are very plentiful, but the natives prefer the plantain to any vegetable, using it baked, boiled or fried; green, half ripe, or ripe, at every meal; and many foreigners after residing here a short time become equally partial to it. The Guayaquileños are often ridiculed by strangers on account of their predilection for plantains; they are reported as having imitations of rolls made of wood on their tables, and their real plantains under the napkins. Some of the butter of this province is well tasted, but the greater part used, as well as the cheese, is brought from the sierra, mountains.
The fruit market at Guayaquil is most abundant; here are enormous melons, and water melons, which may be cut and tasted before they are purchased; several varieties of the pine apple, and cashew nuts, which resemble a small kidney growing at the end of an apple; thus, unlike other fruit, the seed grows on the exterior of the apex; the very astringent taste of this nut is destroyed by roasting it. The anona, or cabesa de negro, is similar to the chirimoya, but it is neither so large nor so delicate as that fruit: badeas are very large and highly flavoured: the jobos are a fruit in size and shape like a large damson, of a yellow colour, very juicy, with an agreeable acidity; when green they make excellent tarts: the mameis are an egg-shaped fruit, with a fibrous rind, covering a pulpy substance, of a delicately sweet taste; each contains one or two large rough kidney-shaped seeds: marañones, a fruit somewhat like a lemon; they have a smooth yellow skin, striped with red; the pulp is very acid but agreeable, and is sucked on account of its being very fibrous; in size and shape the seed is like the cashew nut, but it is united to the fruit where this joins the branch; the seed is more delicate than an almond, and it is used by the confectioner as well as the fruit: nisperos, an egg shaped fruit about four inches long; the rind is brown and rough; the pulp in some is white, in others reddish, very sweet, and somewhat resembling the taste of a delicious pear; each contains three long hard seeds—this fruit is in season during the whole year: zapotes, a round fruit about five or six inches in diameter, having a soft, downy, yellowish rind; the pulp in some is a very deep yellow, in others it is white, in others almost black, but the yellow kind is considered the best; they are very sweet, but fibrous; in the centre is a large kernel, to which all the fibres appear strongly attached. Oranges, limes, lemons, paltas, lucumas, palillos, tamarinds, guavas, coconuts, and other intertropical fruits are also in very great abundance.
What may be termed a separate fruit market is the astonishing quantities of plantains which are sold, because they constitute the principal support of the lower classes, and are always to be found at the tables of the higher. Large canoes and balsas, carrying five or six hundred bunches of this fruit, arrive every day from different parts at the city, and if the supply happen to be scanty for two or three days, the arrival of canoes or balsas is hailed as a Godsend. Besides the quantity of plantains consumed by the inhabitants, the country ships give rations of them to their crews, instead of bread; and the natives feed their poultry and pigs on the ripe ones. What adds greatly to the curiosity of the market altogether, is the originality of the sight; it is principally held on board the numberless canoes and balsas which arrive from the country, and which remain close to the river side till they have delivered their cargoes.
The winter season, which commences here in the month of December, and continues till the latter end of April, is very disagreeable, owing to the heat, the constant want of a refreshing wind, the unceasing rains, the frequent thunder storms, and the abundance of troublesome insects, all of which seem to combine to incommode the human species; the natives, however, appear to withstand the joint attack with wonderful composure. During the remaining eight months of the year, which is called the summer, the climate is not oppressive; a breeze from the south-west, called the chandui, because it comes over a mountain of this name, generally sets in about noon, and continues to blow till five or six o'clock the following morning. The natives may be seen about noon looking out for the breeze, and on the first appearance of it the rollers of the blinds are placed between the ballustrades of the varandas to catch it: along the Malecon, when it is observed to ripple the water in the river, a general salutation often takes place, and "yonder comes the chandui," may be heard on every side. During the summer all kinds of provisions and fruit are abundant, and of a better quality, and the city is then very healthy; but during the winter intermittent fevers, dysenteries, and diseases of the eyes, are very common, and often prove fatal.
Strangers at Guayaquil are much annoyed by the troublesome insects, as well as the most poisonous reptiles, which abound there. During the rainy months the mosquitos appear in such swarms, that it is impossible to avoid them; and, besides the bite, the continued humming noise which they make prevents a person, unaccustomed to such music, from sleeping, although his bed may be furnished with curtains to protect him against their bite. Another small insect, called jejen, is extremely troublesome: it is so diminutive, that it can pass the bed-curtains, unless they be made of some close fine material; and its bite causes a greater degree of irritation than that of the mosquito. Ants creep about the houses in such prodigious numbers, that it is almost impossible to prevent them from mixing with the victuals, particularly sweetmeats; and it is no uncommon thing, when you take off the crust of a tart, or open ajar of preserves, to find that the whole has been consumed by these insects, and the despoilers in complete possession of the cup or jar. I have frequently seen a cold fowl brought to the table, and on carving it the ants would sally forth in droves, and run all over the table; even the beds are invaded by them, and that person would smart for it who should unwarily lay himself down, without the necessary precaution of well examining the premises.
Another very small insect, called the comejen, although not troublesome in the same manner as the foregoing, is more so in other respects. Its destructive qualities are so active, that in the space of one night it will penetrate the hardest wood, or any other similar substance. I have been assured, that in the same space of time, it has been known to perforate a bale of paper, passing quite through twenty-four reams. This insect builds its nest under the eaves of the houses, of a glutinous clay, similar to that used by the swallows in the fabrication of their nests; but the comejen continues his for several yards in length. The greatest care is necessary to prevent their entering a store or any such place, where their depredations would cause a considerable decrease in the value of the contents. The natives sometimes daub their nests with tar, which destroys the whole swarm; for if disturbed, they will divide into different Societies, and each will separately search for a convenient place in which to form a new one.
In the archives of Quito, there is a curious royal decree of Carlos III. respecting this insect. A number of cases of gun-flints had been sent to Panama from Spain, for the purpose of being forwarded to Lima; but their non-arrival at this place caused the Viceroy to repeat his request to the court for the supply; this produced an investigation—the flints were traced to Panama, and the governor was ordered to account for them. In his answer to the minister, he stated, that the comejen had destroyed the cases in the royal magazine. The minister being ignorant of what the comejen was, an order was issued under the royal seal, commanding the governor of Panama to apprehend the comejen—to form a summary process on the crimes which he had committed, then to send the prisoner and documents, with the necessary guard, in custody to Spain, that he might be dealt with according to the extent of his criminality!
The nigua, called piqui in Lima and other parts of Peru, is a diminutive insect, in appearance like a small flea. They generally introduce themselves under the cuticle of the feet, which causes a slight itching: when they have thus established their residence, they deposit a great number of eggs, the whole increasing to the size of a pea; if not carefully taken out they continue to breed, and, corroding the neighbouring parts, they produce malignant ulcers, which sometimes terminate in gangrene. The greatest care is necessary in taking out these diminutive but disagreeable insects; no part should be left behind, and the whole of the bag which contains the ovii should be extracted; when they have been suffered to remain several days they occasion great pain. Negroes are most troubled with them, on account of their going barefoot, and of their inattention to cleanliness.