Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
made me glad to move onagain. The line goes through tropical forests and wonderful valleys,
while here and there cocoa plantations can be seen, until, finally, swampy parts are reached.
Having arrived at the river Guayas, everybody left the train and boarded a launch that took us
across to the town of Guayaquil in about half an hour.
The Ecuadorian fleet, consisting of two very old and equally rusty cruisers, the
Cotopaxi
and the
Atahuallpa
, lay anchored at a few cable-tow's lengths from the shore. One had
formerlybelongedtoChileandwaslaterpresentedtoEcuador.Theenginesofboththeseves-
sels are rotten with rust, and once upon a time somebody stored sacks of cement on them,
therebynothelpingtoimprovetheircondition.Nevertheless,thereisanadmiraltyupinQuito,
most of its members having never seen the sea, and, of course, there are some officers and
crews. The fleet is apt to sink any day, but in the meantime these 'good ships' slowly pull at
the anchor chains, as the tide regularly ebbs and flows, twice in twenty-four hours.
I found Guayaquil to be a bad imitation of a modern city. Some of the streets are ridicu-
louslywideandverybare,andthemainplazagavemetheimpressionofasmallSaharadesert
with a high monument in the middle. There are some quite up-to-date stores and restaurants,
but the hotels, although not bad, leave much to be desired.
Having finished my business, I lost no time, and took the first train to return to the horses.
I was glad when I was back in the highland, and it felt good to be with my travelling com-
panions once more.
Marching on, we more or less followed the railroad towards Riobamba. Coming over a
mountain we saw this town below us. It is beautifully located, just about halfway between the
coast and Quito, the capital.
FromRiobambaonelooksoutuponapanoramaatoncemajesticandinspiring.Tothewest
stands the snow-covered Andean monarch, Chimborazo; to the east rises the Altar, so named
because,drapedinwhiteandwithgiganticsnowcandlessymmetricallyarranged,itresembles
an altar. Blackening the horizon in his sullen wrath, the great volcano Tungurahua rises in the
north.
I found a fair road leading up the valley from Riobamba to Quito. It leads along the foot of
the Chimborazo and through charming little villages, mostly inhabited by industrious Indians.
Fruits and vegetables grow in abundance and the climate is one of perpetual spring. Towards
Quito the road passed near famous Cotopaxi, a snow-covered, cone-shaped volcano of singu-
lar beauty, towering high up in a clear blue sky.
Victor, although quite a plucky boy in other ways, was terrified of dogs, and if one
happened to rush out of a hut and bark at him he nearly went into hysterics. With all the ex-
ercise and fairly regular eating he had developed an amazing appetite, and as soon as he had
finished one meal he began to look forward to the next.
He had become desperately fond of the horses, especially of Mancha, for whom he always
had a mouthful of something special, and he insisted on feeding him by hand. With all his
fondness, he had so much respect for him that he would never venture to ride him since his
