ce of the Maranon and
Nile. Groups of men--not crowds, for there is plenty of elbow-room in
Ecuador--in gay ponchos stand chatting in front of little shops, or lean
against the wall to enjoy the sunshine; beggars in rags or sackcloth
stretch forth their leprous hands for charity; monks in white, and
canons in black, walk in the shade of immense hats; shoeless soldiers
saunter to and fro; Indians from the mountains in every variety of
costume cluster around heaps of vegetables for sale; women in red,
brown, and blue frocks are peddling oranges and alligator pears, or
bearing huge burdens on their heads; children, guiltless of clothing,
and obtuse donkeys, wander whithersoever they will; and water-carriers,
filling their jars at the fountain, start off on a dog-trot.

[Illustration: Quito, from the North.]

We cross the Plaza diagonally, pass down the Calle de San Fernando, up
the Calle del Algodon, and through the busy Calle del Correo, till we
reach the _Casa Frances_, opposite the mansion of the late General
Flores. This is our hotel--owned by a Frenchman, but kept by an Indian.
We ride under the low archway, bowing with ill grace, like all
republicans unaccustomed to royalty, tie our beasts in the court-yard,
ascend to our spacious quarters on the second floor, and, ordering
coffee, seat ourselves in the beautiful balcony to talk of Quito and
Quitonians.

[Illustration: Water-carriers.]

Quito, though not the highest city on the globe, is two thousand feet
higher than the Hospice of Great St. Bernard on the Alps, which is the
only permanent place of abode in Europe above six thousand five hundred
feet. When Mr. Hassaurek was appointed United States Minister to
Ecuador, he thanked Mr. Lincoln for conferring upon him the _highest_
gift in his power. The mean result of our numerous observations with
Green's standard barometer places the Grand Plaza nine thousand five
hundred and twenty feet above the sea, or fifty feet lower than the
calculation of Humboldt. Water boils at 194 deg..5. Cuzco and Potosi may
surpass it in altitude, but there is not a city in the world which can
show at once such a genial climate, such magnificent views, and such a
checkered history. It is unique likewise in its latitude, lying only
fifteen miles below the equator; no other capital comes within three
hundred miles of the equinoctial line.

[Illustration: Street in Quito.]

Whatever may have been the plan of Quito in the days of Huayna