CHAPTER IX.
Journey from Guayaquil to Quito....Babaoyo....Road to Chimbo....Cuesta de San Antonio....Arrival at Huaranda....Triumphal Arch and Harangue....Description of Huaranda and Province of Chimbo....Chimboraso....Accident at la Ensillada....Road to San Juan....Obrage of Indians....Arrival at Riobamba....Description of....Remains of Old Riobamba......Visit to an old Cacique......Province of Riobamba......Road to Ambato....Description of....Produce....Arrival at Tacunga....Description of....Earthquakes at....Ruins of Callo....Provincial Produce....Arrival at Chisinchi, Ensillada, and Quito....Remarks.
The health of the count being re-established, we left Guayaquil under a discharge of nineteen guns, some pieces of cannon having been placed in front of the custom-house for this purpose. We remained two days at the Bodegas de Babaoyo, a small village, where there is a custom-house for the collection of the duties which are paid on goods, on entering or leaving the province of Guayaquil.
The roads across the savana, notwithstanding the absence of rain for three months, were in some places very bad, although a number of Indians had been sent by the Corregidor of Huaranda to repair them; they were mended by putting the trunks of trees in the deep, muddy places, and laying the branches and leaves of trees on the top. A considerable number of cattle were grazing on the open plains, some of which were very fat. At noon we halted at a farm-house, where a splendid dinner was provided for us by the cura of San Miguel de Chimbo, who had come here to meet us. After dinner we proceeded on our journey to a small farm-house, where every convenient accommodation had been prepared for us, and we remained here during the night. On the following day we arrived at the village of San Miguel, situated in a deep ravine, commanding a beautiful prospect of the mountains, which gradually rose above each other, till their heads were lost in the clouds. On our arrival at this village we were met by about forty indian boys, cholos, fantastically dressed; and the little fellows danced along the sides of the street as we passed to the house prepared for our reception.
On the following day, July 22d, a dreary prospect presented itself; this was the ascent of the cuesta de San Antonio; we began to ascend at nine o'clock in the morning, and at every step new difficulties and greater dangers presented themselves; in some places the road ran along a narrow ridge, with a precipice on each side; in others we had to travel along ladcras, or narrow skirts of the mountain beaten down by travellers into a path, with a deep valley on one side, and a perpendicular rock on the other—a fall on one side threatening inevitable death, and on the other broken arms or legs against the rough sides of the rock. In other parts there was a narrow gully formed by the heavy rains and the transit of mules, the perpendicular sides rising ten or fifteen feet above our heads. To these may be added, that the whole of the road for six leagues is composed of abrupt acclivities or rapid descents, while the track in which the mules tread was composed of deep furrows, called camellones, filled with mud; some of them were more than two feet deep, so that the belly of the mule and the feet of the rider were dragged over the ridges that divide the furrows: these indeed serve as steps, and in some degree may be accounted a security; but if a mule should happen to fall, or even to stumble, the danger of being thrown headlong down a precipice is rather frightful. In some places there are two roads; the one by which the mules descend has no camellones, or furrows, down which the mules seem to prefer sliding to stepping down the others. When at the top, these sagacious animals halt for a short time, shake themselves, and snort, as if conscious of the hazard of the undertaking; they then draw their hind feet forward, place their fore legs in a slanting position, and approach very gradually to the beginning of the descent, when with uncommon velocity they slide on their haunches to the bottom. Their dexterity in the crooked places is truly astonishing; for by a motion of the body they incline themselves first to one side then to the other, keeping the most perfect equilibrium, which is the only means of saving them and their riders from being hurled headlong forward, or dashed to pieces by a fall. During all this time the rider has only to sit still, to lay the reins on the mule's neck, and trust to its sagacity and the recommendation given by its master; for many mules are kept in this neighbourhood, and are highly esteemed for their dexterity in sliding down this part of the road; fortunately for us, being in company with the Captain-general of the kingdom, all the best mules were collected for our use.
At two o'clock in the afternoon we were cheered with se ha acabado la cuesta, we are at the end of the mountain road. This place is called parcara, a gate or entrance; it also signifies a fortified place; such this probably was before the conquest, and such it was made in 1811 by the Quiteños, to prevent the entrance of the Peruvian troops. We all alighted, and shook some of the dirt from our clothes, after which we were politely received by Don Gaspar Morales, the Corregidor of Huaranda, the two alcaldes, several officers, and other gentlemen of the province; but what proved far more welcome, was a relay of horses.
INDIAN WATER CARRIER, & FEMALE INDIAN BRUSH-WOOD CARRIER,
OF QUITO.
Engraved for Stevenson's Narrative of South America.
After our saddles had been placed on our new steeds we mounted, and proceeded in regular procession, two indians, with silver trumpets, going before. At the distance of a league from the town we were met by the brawny vicar, mounted on the finest mule I ever beheld; indeed, such an animal was quite necessary, when it is considered what an unwieldy mass it had to carry: the circumstance made several of us smile, and we could scarcely refrain from laughter when the corregidor presented him to his excellency, saying, "the vicar of Huaranda, Don Juan Antonio Maria de la Magdalena Jaramillo, Pacheco, y Tavera." Heaven help us, said I, to an officer who stood near me, how I pity the parson's mule.