after the vertex of the tidal wave should have passed
the meridian of Quito, on the supposition that the interior of the earth
is a liquid mass. The age of the moon at that time was 27.36 days,
_i.e._, it was only about two days before new moon." At the time of the
earthquake, 8 A.M., March 22, 1859, the moon was on meridian 25 deg. 48'
east of that of Quito, and was 17.6 days old. Shocks have since
occurred, March 20th at 3 A.M., and April 10th at 8 A.M., 1869.]

No amount of familiarity with earthquakes enables one to laugh during
the shock, or even at the subterranean thunders which sound like the
clanking of chains in the realm of Pluto. All animated nature is
terror-stricken. The horse trembles in his stall; the cow moans a low,
melancholy tune; the dog sends forth an unearthly yell; sparrows drop
from the trees as if dead; crocodiles leave the trembling bed of the
river and run with loud cries into the forest; and man himself becomes
bewildered and loses all capacity. When the earth rocks beneath our feet
(the motion resembling, in the words of Darwin, "that felt by a person
skating over thin ice which bends under the weight of his body"),
something besides giddiness is produced. We feel our utter
insignificance in the presence of a mysterious power that shakes the
Andes like a reed. But more: there is an awful sensation of insecurity.
"A moment (says Humboldt) destroys the illusion of a whole life: our
deceptive faith in the repose of nature vanishes, and we feel
transported, as it were, into a region of unknown destructive forces." A
judgment day seems impending, and each moment is an age when one stands
on a world convulsed.

CHAPTER XI.

"The Province of the Orient," or the Wild Napo Country.--The Napos,
Zaparos, and Jivaros Indians.--Preparations to cross the Continent.

On the eastern slope of the Ecuadorian Andes, between the Maranon and
its tributary the Putumayo, lies the Napo country. This almost unknown
region has the area of New York and New England together. The government
of Quito, by a sonorous decree in 1854, baptized it "La Provincia del
Oriente." Peru likewise claims it, but neither republic has done any
thing to colonize it. A dense primeval forest, broken only by the
rivers, covers the whole territory, and is the home of wild races
untouched by civilization.[97] There is not a road in the whole
province. A footpath, open only in the dry season, and barely passable
then, c