or an undertaking in
inhospitable regions, passionate love for some class of scientific
labor, and a pure feeling for the enjoyment which nature in her freedom
is ready to impart, are elements which, when they meet together in an
individual, insure the attainment of valuable results from a great and
important journey."

The journey to Quito must be made between May and November; in the rainy
season the roads are impassable. From Guayaquil to Bodegas by Yankee
steamer; fare, $2; time, eight hours. At Bodegas hire beasts at the
_Consignacion_ for Guaranda; price for riding and cargo beasts, $4 each.
No extras for the _arriero_. A mule will carry two hundred and fifty
pounds. Buy bread at Bodegas and Guaranda. The Indians on the road are
very loth to sell any thing; buy a fowl, therefore, at the first
opportunity, or you will have to live on dirty potato soup, and be glad
of that. At the tambos, or wayside inns, you pay only for _yerba_
(fodder). Never unsaddle your beast till it is cool; an Indian will even
leave the bridle on for a time. To Guaranda, three full days. There take
mules (safer than horses in climbing the mountains) for Quito; $6 25,
silver, per beast; time, five days. Be sure to leave Guaranda by 4 a.m.,
for in the afternoon Chimborazo is swept by furious winds. Also start
with a full stomach; you will get nothing for two days. Drink sparingly
of the snow-water which dashes down the mountain. You will be tempted
to curse Chuquipoyo; but thank heaven it is no worse.

There are two hotels in Quito, French and American; the former has the
better location, the latter the better rooms. Best front room,
furnished, half a dollar a day; cheaper by the month. Meals (two),
twenty-five cents each. The beef is excellent, but the _cuisine_--oh,
onions! "God sends the meat, and the evil one cooks." You can hire a
professional male cook (Indian) for $5 a month, but you can't teach him
any thing. Fish is not to be had in Quito. Gibbon speaks of having some
in Cuzco, but does not tell us where it came from.[186] Price of best
flour, $3 60 per quintal; butter, thirty cents a pound; beef, $1 an
arroba (twenty-five pounds); refined sugar, $3 50 an arroba; brown sugar
(_rapidura_),[187] five cents a pound; cigars, from six to sixteen for a
dime; cigarettes, five cents a hundred. Horse hire, from fifty cents to
$1 per day. If you are to remain some time, buy a beast: a good mule
costs $40; an ordinary horse, $50. The Post-offic