CORRESPONDENCE.
ECUADOR AS A HEALTH RESORT.- . [To TRH EDITOR OP TELE " SpacTaTon..") Sir.,—Reuter's announcement a few months back of a revolu- tion in this Mestizo-Spanish Republic, and the defeat of the insurgent army with a loss of four hundred to seven hundred men„ has affected most British readers with wonder, not so much at the event, but at the existence of the. Republic. There is, perhaps, no other country in the world, entitled to consider itself civilised, about which the average European public.knows less than it does about Ecuador.
This ignorance, excusable enough under• the circumstances, is likely very soon to be a thing of the past. The importance of Ecuador, both as a market for British and American exports and as a field of exploitation for the mining engineer, as well as for the hotel and sanatorium keeper also, may soon become as well knOwn and universally recognised' as that of California and South 'Africa.
Ecuador is under one aspect a typical South American country. In its population are represented all the chief elements, except that of the negro (which is numerically very small), that go to constitute the average Ibero-American community. The pure white, whether Creole or European, is in the minority, as in Mexico, Central America,. and Peru. The pure (or almost pure) American aborigine is' more numerous ; but the mass of the civilised community, in highlands and lowlands alike, is composed of the • usual.'" Mestizo" or mixed people of various shades. The climate is also typical of 'the western or Andean side of the continent. Ecuador, moreover, constituted the northern portion of the ancient Empire of the Incas, monumental evidences of which remain.
When these facts, which make it a normal, South Ainfirican country, have been enumerated, almost everything else which. can be said about it is of a distinctive and highly interesting character.. Unlike its better known neighbour in the South- Peru—its rainfall on coast and tableland alike is sufficiently abundant. A few limited districts, like that of Ambato, are nearly rainless.; but in Quito and most other parts of the country, there are frequent showers at all times of the year, with the exception of between two and three comparatively dry months. There are in Ecuador three distinct climatic districts :—(1) That of the coastal lowlands, which of course are tropical, but nevertheless far from unhealthy, as a whole, for Europeans, there being only a few decidedly unsuitable sub-districts ; (2) the great plateau or upland, by no means uniform in its elevation, but of which the capital city, Quito, with its 9,400 ft. odd above the sea-level, may be considered a good example ; and (3) the eastern slope of the Andes, with the head-waters of the Amazon. This last-mentioned district will practically be left out of account in what remains to be said, and for two reasons. The first is that it is very sparsely populated, and by savages only; the second, that its boundaries, on the Peruvian and Columbian sides, at any rate, are very ill- defined.
Confining ourselves, then, to the plateau and mountainous regions and the Pacific lowlands, we find the most remarkable varieties of climates and products that the world can show. As the traveller, landing at Guayaquil, proceeds inland to the capital—a distance of about three hundred miles—he practically experiences every climate (excepting, perhaps, our own incom- parable and inimitable British species) which is to be found between the imaginary "Line " that crosses his goal and the equally imaginary " Poles " to the extreme north and south of it. From the land of the banana and the cacao-plant the train, on its way to Chimbo, the terminus of the only completed railway in the country, carries him into those of the olive and the lemon. Thence he proceeds, by less rapid and less com- fortable stages, on mule-back through a country reminding him of many parts of Southern and Central Europe, right on to the austere heights of the Andean passes. Here, although within a few leagues of the Equator, the almost Arctic winds, blistering his face with cold, will make him bless the motherly prescience of his Guayaquil hostess who induced him to provide himself with plenty of warm wraps. From these freezing altitudes he is not displeased at being dropped down again, several hundred feet, to the level of the Quito tableland. He is now in a country not altogether unlike France or Austria in the month of May. This weather, seasonable only at spring-time in Europe, is perpetual in Ecuador. Here we have an everlasting spring (the average day and night temperatures ranging between 50° and 70° Fahr.), never too hot and rarely too cold for the comfort of a European or North American, and a soil so well watered by frequent light showers as to be redeemed from that monotonous aridity which is the curse of the neighbouring land of Peru. At Quito and in the surrounding country a little rain—enough to lay the dust and wash the streets—can be relied upon nearly every day throughout the year ; but it is a very remarkable fact that the whole forenoon is invariably bright and fine.
To visitors who have travelled .in, other parts of. the world endowed with correspondingly mild and genial temperatures, another striking difference in their everyday experiences; after arrival here, will be the fact that neither the southern aspect of the house (as in Europe, North Africa, Florida, &c.), nor_the northern aspect (as in the temperate portions of Australia and South Africa), is the sunniest and warmest.. On the con- trary, at Quito both the south and the north sides are some- what cooler than the east and west. This, of course, is due to its situation on the very line of the Equator, and the conse- quent position overhead of the noonday sun, the, rays of which strike the roof perpendicularly, and do not affect one side of the house more that another. The eastern' aspect is, of course, warmest in the morning as elsewhere, and -the western in the afternoon.
The Ecuadorian tablelands may be said, in short, to com- bine the climatic advantages of the most favoured regions,in the Torrid and Temperate Zones respectively, without the drawbacks of either. From their tropical situation they derive remarkable uniformity, of temperature thtoughout the twelve months, while free from those trying alternations of extremely dry and wet seasons which characterise other parts of the same zone. To their elevation above the sea- level,,apd .perhaps to other geographical circumstances, they oke their Moderate temperattire and buoyant purity of atmosphere, which render .life upon them so *healthful and enjoyable for Europeans.
As to natural products, mineral and agricultural, let us return for a; 'moment to the first part of the country reached by .the ocean-borne traveller. Of the fertility or this tropical district it is almost unnecessary to speak. Beikles the West Indies, there is no part of the world from which we obtain—whether directly or by way of Prance, Germany, Spain, &c.—so much cocoa as we do from Ecuador. Opinions will differ, of course, as to the relative quality of the West Indian, Brazilian, and Ecuadorian Pods ; possibly with a little more care bestowed upon their preparation on the spot the Ecuadorian varieties would hold More unquestionably the first place. But as to the -fertility, of the country for the growth not only of cocoa, but of coffee, indiarubber, cinchona, ivory nuts, and other vegetable pro- ducts there can be no question. Petroleum is also found in abundance near the coast, and in the neighbouring district of Peru it aPpears to be a remunerative industry for those who work it. Petroleum is likewise known to exist in the mountains of Ecuador, although it has only been exploited there to a small extent hitherto. The present writer, in the course • of his wanderings, came across plenty of evidences of this industry. *hatis perhaps of equal importance, there are rich and exten- sive seams of coal and of other minerals, including, it is believed, valuable deposits of the precious metals.
But to the general public, uninterested in international trade or in business - on the 'large • scale, by far the most important among the attractions of Ecuador will be, undoubtedly, the sanitary and health-restoring properties of its brilliant atmo- sphere. Tubercular consumption is a malady quite unknown among residents on the plateau ; moreover, in every case at presentrecordechwh'ere European patients have been sent there, they have completely recovered. As soon as the projected railway to-Quito is open, a stream of invalid visitors from Europe and the United States is as certain to set in as anything else under that bright sun. More adventurous visitors may, of course, be expected .from other motives, including mountaineering ; but the tourist for health alone will reap a rich reward in most cases, and will bring a new source of wealth to the country which caters to his wants. The existing accommodation for travellers, in Quito and other large towns, is not so very rough or defective as might be expected in so inaccessible a region. With the advent of the railway, great improvements may, of course, be anticipated in the near future.
As • to the people themselves, it may be partly true, or it may not, to describe them, in the orthodox style of the superior British tourist; as 'an ignorant, superstitious, priest- ridden lot of mongrel Spaniards, &c. All the present writer can say is that, having previously visited many other parts of the world, both East and West, and travelling as he did in Ecuador, not as a mere globe-trotter, but upon serious 'business. bent (negotiating on behalf of the Guaya- quil and Quito Railway Company), he found • them a very pleasant people to meet and to deal with,—quite as trustworthy (pace Mr. Whymper and other respect-worthy critics) as many European communities. The. influence of the Church ilt.politics has probably been exaggerated ; anyhow; far from powerful at the present moment. Tithes having been abOlished a few years ago, the chief complaint of the ecclesiastics now is that the voluntary contributions which they are allowed to collect in lieu thereof are quite inadequate. The recent. `trevOlutiOnary" movement, • recruited mainly from cross- frontier desperadoes, but repudiated by their respective Governments, is supposed to be due to the instigation of . the less scrupulous section of the clerical party. It is doomed to be as unsuccessful as it is desperate. Nor does it at all receive the countenance of the Church at large, which numbers among its leaders as respectable men as are to be found in any other (jptholic country. - The chief source of political (and incidentally of financial) weakness in Ecuador has been the conflict of interest, not so much between Church and State as between highlands and lowlands; This is due more, perhaps, to the want of rapid and easy communication between the chief centres of population and the sea-coast than to any other cause. The greater pro- portion of Indian blood in the interior, and the fact that these " Indios " of the plateau preserve the memory and traditions of their ancient non-Christian civilisation, may also have something to do with it,—as doubtless have the much-abused priests. But here, as has happened in the somewhat analogous case of Mexico, the railway system, when finished, will almost certainly effect a complete and peaceful revolution. The populations of the different provinces and their economic interests will become more unified and in harmony. For, in spite of their differences of origin and interests, the Ecuadorians are essentially a patriotic people and easy to deal with if fairly treated. Then the enterprising foreigner from the North will flock in, and things will begin to " hum " generally. Meanwhile the wonderful degree of material prosperity which Ecuador is displaying even now, in spite of its lack of efficient communications and of the other drawbacks above-mentioned, augurs well for its future progress. The writer is giving here not his personal opinion only, but that of more than one observant visitor from the outside world.
This country may be regarded still as an out-of-the-way corner of the globe. It is, however, one which should no longer be neglected either by the seeker after sunshine and health, or by the man of business upon new openings bent. In a very few years'time all may be changed,—whether for the entire good of the simple people of the country itself, who knows ? Meanwhile, it is almost a virgin field for the two clas.4es of travellers that have been referred to, as well as others.—I am, Sir, &c.,
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