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THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF ILLINOIS 
 LIBRARY 
 
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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2016 
 
 https://archive.org/details/eveningswithchilOOrams 
 
LIBRARY 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 
Here we find a railroad ready to carry us to Panama. 
 
 Page 13. 
 
OR. 
 
 €nk Is in %mma. 
 
 MRS. V. G. RAMSEY. 
 
 1 'Boston : 
 
 Published by O. Pothrop & Co. 
 
 (Dover, JV. H. : <?, T. (Day <&* Co. 
 i8yi. 
 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, 
 By D. LOTHROP and L. R. BURLINGAME, 
 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
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 Whom the writer has personally known and loved, and 
 to those also whom she may have in any measure 
 interested with her pen, 
 
 THIS LITTLE BOOK IS DEDICATED, 
 
 WITH THE PRAYER, 
 
 That it may aid them in the acquisition of knowledge, 
 and thjjit they may all be taught of Him 
 
 WHOM TO KNOW IS LIFE ETERNAL, 
 
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CONTENTS. 
 
 FIEST EVENING. 
 
 Studying Geography —Desiring to learn about South America.— 
 Why so few travelers go to South America.— Henry and Laura start 
 on their imaginary journey.— Central America.— The railroad.— The 
 forests.— Passion - flowers, Cactuses, and strange Orchises.— The 
 Nopal plant.— The Coccus cacti.— Coccus ilicis page 9. 
 
 SECOND EVENING. 
 
 The animals of Central America.— Alligators.— The Manati or Yaca 
 Marina.— The Boa Constrictor, Jaguar.— The Carcojou, Parrots, 
 Mocking birds, Humming birds, Mexican feather work. — Vasco Nu- 
 nez de Balboa page 22. 
 
 THIRD EVENING. 
 
 Francisco Pizarro.— Balboa’s ship. — The first voyage of discovery 
 in the Pacific Ocean.— Perils from storms and famine.— The inhospi- 
 table shore.— Pizarro sends his vessel back to Panama for food.— 
 Discovery of an Indian Village.— Groping along the shore.— Battle 
 with the Indians.— Return to Panama page 35. 
 
 FOURTH EVENING. 
 
 Second voyage of discovery .—The Peruvian balsa.— First meeting 
 of the Spaniards and Peruvians.— Peruvian civilization and origin 
 of the Incas.— Cordilleras of the Andes.— Crossing the equator. — 
 Sufferings of the adventurers.— Exploring the coast page 47. 
 
 FIFTH EVENING. 
 
 Pizarro goes to Spain.— Charles V. gives him authority to conquer 
 and possess Peru.— The first armament for the subjugation of the 
 empire.— Civil war in Peru.— Founding the city of San Miguel.— 
 Pizarro proceeds to . meet Atahuallpa.— The Spaniards cross the 
 mountains.— The city of Caxamalca.— The visit of the Inca.— Spanish 
 treachery, and cruel massacre of the Indians page 59. 
 
6 
 
 Contents, 
 
 SIXTH EVENING. 
 
 Atalmallpa offers to fill a room with gold.— Golden ornaments and 
 utensils.— The great image of the sun.— Pizarro refuses to release 
 his prisoner.— Atalmallpa is sentenced to he humed.— The empire 
 falls.— Improvidence of the Spaniards.— The conquerors quarrel, 
 and destroy each other page 71. 
 
 SEVENTH EVENING. 
 
 Henry and Laura resume their travels.— The city of Guayaquil.— 
 Dress and manners of the people— The Indian, the Spanish lady 
 and gentleman.— The Panama hat.— Safety of traveling.— The 
 climate.— Tropical fruits and snow from Chimborazo. —Splendid 
 view of the mountains page 80. 
 
 EIGHTH EVENING. 
 
 * 
 
 Going to Quito.— Bananas and plantains.— Oranges.— Lemons. — 
 Pine-apples.— Cacao.— Coffee.— Rural villages.— No hotels.— Ascend- 
 ing the mountains.— Changes in climate and productions.— Chimbo- 
 razo.— Frightful mountain paths.—' View of Quito page 90. 
 
 NINTH EVENING. 
 
 The city of Quito.— The black poncho.— The Idleness of the peo- 
 ple.— Ladies without bonnets.— The universal politeness.— The 
 Catholic church, its influence. — The perfect climate . . .page 102. 
 
 TENTH EVENING. 
 
 The wonderful mountains.— Attempts to ascend Chimborazo.— 
 Silence of the mountains.— Pichincha.— Sublime view from the top. 
 — The great crater. — The snow capped mountain on the equator. — 
 The great earthquake of 1868 page 112. 
 
 ELEVENTH EVENING. 
 
 The four sheep of the Incas.— The number and importance of the 
 llamas at the time of the conquest.— How the Indians catch the wild 
 llamas.— Pumas.— Jaguars.— Tapirs.— Peccaries.— Condors.— Hum- 
 ming birds.— Reptiles almost unknown PAGE 122. 
 
 TWELFTH EVENING. 
 
 Gonzalo Pizarro.— El Dorado.— The Gilded King.— The city of 
 Manoa.— Pizarro’s expedition in search of El Dorado.—' Their perils 
 and sufferings. — Cruelty to the Indians. — Discovery oftheNapo. — 
 Pizarro builds a vessel page 131. 
 
Contents. 
 
 7 
 
 THIRTEENTH EVENING. 
 
 Orellana goes clown the Napo in search of food.— He deserts Pi- 
 zarro, and proceeds down the Amazon to the sea.— Desperate cir- 
 cumstances of Pizarro and his party.— Their return to Quito. — 
 Madame Godin page 141. 
 
 FOURTEENTH EVENING. 
 
 Traveling east from Quito.— Imhahura.— Cayambi.— Antisana.— 
 Cotopaxi.— Descending the mountains.— Papallacta.— Entering the 
 forest.— The Sindicaspi.— The water tree.— Parasites.— Silence of 
 the forest.. page 154. 
 
 FIFTEENTH EVENING. 
 
 The river Napo.— Mr. Edwards’s vanilla plantation.— The Yuca. — 
 The blow gun.— The Urari— Catching fish.— Bamboo.— Palms.— 
 Napo tea.— No music on the Napo page 165. 
 
 SIXTEENTH EVENING. 
 
 The Amazon.— Turtles.— Turtle egg butter.— The steam-boat on 
 the Amazon. — The town of Ega. — The Manati. — The pirarucu. — 
 The cocoa palm page 175. 
 
 SEVENTEENTH EVENING. 
 
 The caoutchouc or India rubber tree.— The cow - tree. — Annato.— 
 Brazil nuts.— Wild cacao.— Suaba ants.— Dragon-flies and butter- 
 flies PAGE 185. 
 
 EIGHTEENTH EVENING. 
 
 Mouth of the Rio Negro .—Town of Manaos.— The aromatic tonka 
 beans. — Mandioca. — Valuable woods.— The Victoria Regia.— The 
 city of Para.— Madame Ida Pfeiffer page 194. 
 
 NINETEENTH EVENING. 
 
 The great extent of Brazil.— Matto Grosso.— The gold mines.— 
 Famine among the miners.— Wonderful cataracts and caverns. — 
 Leaving Para.— Great tidal waves.— Discovery of this coast -Treach- 
 ery off Spaniards.— Three expeditions perish on the coast, page 206. 
 
 TWENTIETH EVENING. 
 
 The city of Maranham— The city of Pernambuco.— The republic 
 of Palmares.— The cashew tree. — The cataract of Paulo Affonso. — 
 The city of Bahia.— The first settler.— Henry Martyn.— Prince Maxi- 
 milian.— Rio de Janeiro page 218. 
 
OR 
 
 aviudo in foutlt gUnma. 
 
 FIRST EVENING. 
 
 TAKING AN IMAGINARY JOURNEY. 
 
 f ^ENRY and Laura had been study- 
 ing their geography lesson, which was 
 on South America, and were busy 
 trying to draw a map of the continent. 
 They had succeeded very well with the outline, 
 and were " putting in the filling,” as Henry said. 
 
 " Here,” said Laura, marking away with her 
 pencil on the eastern side, " the Amazon, the 
 
10 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 largest river in the world, rolls its mighty waters 
 into the ocean.” 
 
 " And here,” said Henry, making turkey tracks 
 near the western coast, "here are the Andes, the 
 longest range of mountains in the world ; and 
 here I shall place the mighty Aconcagua, with his 
 snowy head piercing the skies, and here is Coto- 
 paxi, the tallest of volcanoes.” 
 
 "And here,” continued Laura, "is Patagonia, 
 the land of giants, and Terra del Fuego, the land 
 of fire, in the midst of snow and ice.” 
 
 Henry laid down his pencil, and turning to his 
 mother, who was sewing by the table, said : 
 
 " Do tell me, mamma, what is the reason no- 
 body goes to South America. The newspapers 
 are always fulKof letters from Europe, and I feel 
 as if I had been a dozen times over the road from 
 Paris to Pome, and seen the Alps, and the Rhine, 
 and the Phone ; and we hear a good deal about 
 Asia ; and since I read Paul Du Chaillu’s book, I 
 think I know something about Africa ; but I 
 
Taking an Imaginary Journey . 
 
 11 
 
 never hear of anybody who has been to South 
 America, though it seems to me it must be a very 
 strange and interesting country.” 
 
 " It is, no doubt, a strange and interesting coun- 
 try,” replied Mrs. White; "and travelers do 
 sometimes visit it. Have you not heard of Prof. 
 Agassiz’s visit to the valley of the Amazon, 
 and of Prof. Orton’s journey across the Conti- 
 nent ? ” 
 
 Henry blushed slightly. "Oh, yes,” he said; 
 " and I tried to read some of Prof. Agassiz’s let- 
 ters, but they were all about strata, and debris, 
 and shell - fish, with names I could not pronounce. 
 I want to know how the mountains and rivers 
 and animals look to common folks. I wish I 
 could go and see.” 
 
 " And are you, my daughter,” said Mrs. White, 
 " so anxious to become acquainted with this great 
 country of which you hear so little ? ” 
 
 "Indeed, I am, mamma,” Laura replied. "If 
 I could travel, I think I would rather go to South 
 
12 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 America than to Europe. If I wrote letters 
 from there* I could tell of something that every- 
 body has not heard of over and over again.” 
 
 " It is very true that travelers go to Europe 
 and Asia much oftener than to South America, 
 because on this continent there are no great works 
 of art, no wonders of architecture, like St. Peter’s 
 church, nor old historic associations to attract 
 them ; but the country has not been so much 
 neglected as you seem to suppose, and, if you 
 wish for information, it may be found.” 
 
 "Qh, yes, I suppose so,” said Henry ; "but 
 you know we have not time to read big books, 
 even if we had them.” 
 
 " Which we have not ; and so we must content 
 ourselves with what Mitchell says about it,” Laura 
 said, taking her pencil, and resuming her work on 
 the map. 
 
 The mother laid her sewing aside and took up 
 her knitting. 
 
 "You might travel in imagination,” she said ; 
 
Taking an Imaginary Journey . 13 
 
 " and see what you can learn. I will be your 
 guide.” 
 
 The children clapped their hands with delight, 
 and insisted on starting at once on their journey . 
 
 "Very well,” she said; "what part of the 
 country do you wish to visit first ? ” 
 
 They agreed that the western coast must be the 
 most interesting on account of its great mountain 
 ranges. 
 
 - " The natural features of the western coast are 
 
 no doubt the most wonderful and its history the 
 most interesting,” said the mother. 
 
 " Let us proceed, at once,” cried Henry ; "and 
 have a few lectures on history as we go along.” 
 
 " Then let us suppose we left New York eight 
 or ten days ago by one of the splendid steamships 
 on this line, and have reached the City of Aspin- 
 wall on the Gulf of Mexico. Here we find a 
 railroad ready to convey us to Panama, on the 
 western coast. This railroad, over which we pass 
 with such rapidity and comfort, was built at great 
 
14 
 
 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 expense of life and property, on account of the 
 very unhealthy climate of the country through 
 which it passes. It has been said that it cost a 
 man’s life for the length of every rail.” 
 
 " O mamma, I wonder it was ever built !” 
 cried Laura. 
 
 " You see, my dear, how convenient it is to us, 
 and, before the completion of the Pacific railroad, 
 it was more necessary than now. Then, if we 
 had wished to visit California or the western coast 
 of South America, we should have been obliged 
 to cross this Isthmus or make a long voyage 
 round Cape Horn. Thirty years ago, when the 
 tide of immigration first turned towards California, 
 it was a difficult and perilous undertaking to cross 
 the Isthmus, though it is less than thirty miles 
 wide.” 
 
 " I should not mind that, with a good horse,” 
 said Henry. 
 
 " But this country is very different from any 
 that you have ever seen. Here are dangerous 
 
Taking an Imaginary Journey . 15 
 
 swamps full of poisonous reptiles, and covered 
 with pestilential vapors ; here are forests, with 
 trees so large, and so filled with underbrush, and 
 interwoven with vines, that it is very difficult to 
 pass through them ; and there are unbridged 
 rivers, and precipitous mountains ; but, worst of 
 all, the route was infested by roving bands of rob- 
 bers.” 
 
 "I do not wonder people did not travel in 
 South America in those days ; but we are gliding 
 along safely enough on the railroad,” said Laura, 
 " and I fancy I can see those dense forests, and 
 great trees in the distance. What kind of trees 
 are they, mamma ? ” 
 
 "The mahogany tree grows here,” — 
 
 "Ah,” 6aid Henry, examining the sofa on 
 which he was sitting, " this is beautiful wood.” 
 "Yes, and the forest, which you imagine you 
 see, is composed largely of those valuable and 
 beautiful trees ; and here, also, the red - wood, or 
 Nicaragua - wood, and log - wood grow in great 
 
16 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 abundance. You see the great trees are festooned 
 with enormous vines, and covered with such a 
 profusion of gorgeous blossoms as we never see 
 in the North. Here the cactuses, and passion- 
 flowers, which we cultivate with so much care, 
 grow in wild abundance, and here are curious par- 
 asites and strange orchises which are never seen 
 beyond the tropics. For some of these the na- 
 tives have great reverence, regarding them as the 
 symbols of spiritual things ; and they are, indeed, 
 very wonderful. One resembles a tiny white 
 dove, perfect even to the little red bill, nestling in 
 a crystal cup ; and as the passion-flower, with its 
 cross and triple crown, suggests the crucifix- 
 ion, this reminds us of the Spirit descending in 
 the form of a dove, and lighting on Christ.” 
 "How very curious,” said Laura; "I would 
 go a long way to see some of those flowers. Are 
 they not cultivated in hot-houses ? ” 
 
 " I believe no plants are considered so diffi- 
 cult of cultivation as those of the orchis genus.” 
 
Talcing an Imaginary Journey. 
 
 17 
 
 In these dark, tropical forests and pestilential 
 swamps, they grow in the greatest abundance and 
 perfection ; and a few species are found here in 
 the North, by those who are willing to search for 
 them in unfrequented woods. They seem to de- 
 light in wildness, loneliness and desolation, and 
 they disappear at the approach of civilization, and 
 die at the touch of man.” 
 
 " Are the flowers of those which grow here so 
 strange?” said Laura. 
 
 "Not so wonderful as the tropical species, but 
 they are all very strange and grotesque in their 
 forms. When I was a child, I knew a dark place 
 in the forest, where, in the month of June, I 
 could find a curious flower, which looked like a 
 pink bumble-bee, sitting on a stalk so slender 
 that it bent under its weight. I have often filled 
 my hands with them, quite unconscious that they 
 . belonged to this wonderful orchis family ; but 
 they disappeared years ago, and now I do not 
 know where one could be found.” 
 
18 Evenings ivith the Children . 
 
 " Are these plants good for anything except to 
 be looked at ? ” asked Henry. 
 
 " The aromatic vanilla, so highly valued as a 
 perfume and flavor, is obtained from the seed of 
 a climbing orchis, which grows here in Central 
 America.” 
 
 m 
 
 " Oh ! I had almost forgotten that we were 
 traveling,” cried Laura. " I will keep a bright 
 look out, and perhaps I shall see a vanilla plant.” 
 
 " Always keep your eyes open when you travel,” 
 said the mother, smiling. " You may see a grove 
 of cocoa palms, or plantations of indigo, or 
 nopal.” 
 
 " Pray, mother, what kind of plantations are 
 you speaking of ? ” asked Henry. 
 
 " The indigo plant from which the most valuable 
 blue dye is produced, is extensively cultivated 
 here, and the indigo is a principal article of trade 
 in the sea ports. The nopal is a kind of cactus 
 on which the cochineal insect feeds. It grows 
 here, but is more extensively cultivated in Mexico.” 
 
Taking an Imaginary Journey . 19 
 
 " I have seen you coloring scarlet with cochi- 
 neal,” cried Laura. " I did not know it was an 
 insect. Pray tell us about it.” 
 
 " The nopal plant grows ten or twelve feet high. 
 It consists of broad, juicy leaves, growing one 
 out of another. The plants are set two or three 
 feet apart, and when they are sufficiently grown, 
 a few of the insects, which are called in natural 
 history, the coccus cacti , are placed among them. 
 Like most insects, they multiply with wonderful 
 rapidity. One will lay a thousand eggs, and six 
 generations are said to be produced in a year ; so 
 you see^ that in a very short time the plants are 
 loaded with them. In^ December, they are care- 
 fully scraped off, and dipped in boiling water to 
 kill them, then they are dried and ready for use.” 
 " It seems to me,” said Henry, " that we are 
 much indebted to this region for dye stuffs, — red- 
 wood, log- wood, indigo, and cochineal.” 
 
 " Certainly we are, and I hope you will remem- 
 ber that to this little insect we are indebted for 
 
20 Evenings ivith the Children . 
 
 the means of producing the most permanent and 
 beautiful color.” 
 
 Henry looked very thoughtful. " People were 
 able to color scarlet in very ancient times,” he 
 said. " The Bible speaks of it. They could not 
 have been acquainted with this American insect in 
 those days.” 
 
 " Not with this American insect, but probably 
 with a cousin.” 
 
 The children laughed, and begged their mother 
 to explain. 
 
 " There is an insect of this genus called the 
 coccus ilicis by naturalists, because it feeds on 
 the oak. It is found ia abundance in Arabia, 
 and in the south of Europe. The ancients were 
 acquainted with its use, and it is supposed that 
 the famous Tyrian purple was colored with it, 
 and that the Israelites used it in the wilderness 
 to dye the curtains of the tabernacle. The Arabs 
 call it kermes , and from this are derived our words, 
 carmine and crimson. There is another species 
 
Taking an Imaginary Journey . 21 
 
 of this insect found in India, from which the lac 
 dye is produced. Scarlet, properly colored with 
 these dyes, is permanent. I have seen it stated 
 that paper - makers find means to extract all 
 colors except scarlet, but no chemical has been 
 discovered which will remove this. The prophet 
 Isaiah mentions this color, saying, — " Come now, 
 and let us reason together, saith the Lord ; though 
 your sins be as scarlet they shall be white as snow 
 and I hope you will remember this text in con- 
 nection with what I have been telling you. Re- 
 member that sin makes the deepest and most in- 
 delible stain, and there is nothing in the universe 
 can wash it out but the mercy of God through 
 Christ, and that can make the scarlet white as 
 snow.” 
 
 Mrs*. White paused. 
 
 " O mamma,” said Laura, " must we stop right 
 here ? But you will tell us more about this strange 
 country to - morrow ? ” 
 
 She promised to do so. 
 
SECOND EVENING. 
 
 CENTRAL AMERICA. 
 
 >ENRY and Laura studied hard in 
 order to get through their lessons 
 early, and when they were completed, 
 they begged of their mother that they 
 might continue their travels. 
 
 " Very well,” she replied, quite pleased to find 
 them interested ; " we have made some observa- 
 tions in the vegetable kingdom, and now we will 
 turn our attention to the animals, which you will 
 find as strange and unfamiliar as the trees and 
 flowers. We suppose ourselves traveling on the 
 railroad, and, looking from the windows, we may 
 see a sluggish stream creeping along in the dark 
 
Central America. 
 
 23 
 
 shade of the great trees, or spreading itself out 
 over the hot sands or muddy marshes. The 
 green, slimy current is very different from our 
 sparkling, dancing streams, and the animals 
 which inhabit it are such as you have never seen. 
 There are alligators twenty feet long, lazily 
 floating about in the water. They are frightful 
 monsters, and you will not wish to bathe in the 
 streams where they are found.” 
 
 " Alligators are plenty in the Southern States,” 
 Henry said. "I have heard the soldiers who 
 were in Texas and Mississippi during the war, 
 talk about them.” 
 
 " Yes, they abound in all the southern streams 
 and lakes, and are very dangerous to men and 
 animals. Sometimes they assemble in large num- 
 bers in the evening, and make a frightful bellow- 
 ing noise, which may be heard for a mile. When 
 the alligator is about to lay her eggs, she digs 
 a hole in the sand and deposits them, to the 
 number of fifty or sixty, in layers, separated by 
 
24 Evenings with the Children. 
 
 leaves or dry grass. She watches about the spot 
 till the heat of the sun warms them into life, and 
 the little reptiles come forth ; and then she leads 
 them about and protects them as well as she can 
 for several months. Fortunately, they have so 
 many enemies that very few of them live to grow 
 large. At the approach of the cool season, these 
 creatures bury themselves in the mud, and sink 
 into a sleep so profound that nothing will arouse 
 them. 
 
 " But this is not the only strange animal in 
 these waters. The Manati, or vaca marina , so 
 common in the Amazon and its tributaries, is 
 found here. This is said to be the largest fish 
 inhabiting fresh water. It is*sometimes seven- 
 teen feet long and weighs as many hundred 
 pounds. It is covered with a hard, black skin 
 without scales. Some travelers have imagined 
 that the upper part of the animal has a grotesque 
 resemblance to a human being, and call it the 
 human fish. Instead of the fins of an ordinary 
 
Central America . 
 
 25 
 
 fish, it has short arms, terminating in a sort of 
 hand, with which it handles its young with great 
 dexterity.” 
 
 " What a strange fish ! ” said Henry. " I wish 
 I could see one.” 
 
 " It is, indeed, a strange fish, for the flesh re- 
 sembles pork, only it has a strong fishy flavor. 
 The Indians of South America make great use of 
 it for food. 
 
 " These swamps are alive with lizards and 
 snakes. If you are not careful, you may step on 
 a venomous cotton - mouth, or be caught in the 
 coils of the dreadful emperor boa.” 
 
 " I have heard of the boa constrictor,” said 
 I^aura, " but not of the emperor boa. Pray tell 
 us about it, mamma.” 
 
 " Boa constrictor is the general name of an 
 order embracing many species of huge serpents 
 found in the hot regions of the earth. The name 
 constrictor is applied to them because they destroy 
 their prey by crushing it. They lay in ambush 
 
26 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 in trees, grasping the trunk or branches with 
 their tails, and when an animal approaches with- 
 in reach of one of them, he darts upon it, and 
 winding himself about it, crushes it in his terri- 
 ble coils. A large boa will seize a deer in this 
 way, and when he has broken all the bones, 
 crushing the whole animal into a shapeless mass, 
 he opens his monstrous jaws, and draws the 
 head into his mouth ; distending his neck till it 
 seems ready to burst, he sucks the whole body 
 down. He then quietly seeks his den, which is 
 generally in the clefts of a rock, or under the 
 roots of a large tree, and, coiling himself up, he 
 sometimes lies torpid for a month. When he has 
 digested that meal, he sallies forth to seek another. 
 The emperor boa is the species found in Mexico 
 and Central America. They are beautifully 
 tinted, and gleam in the sun like a coil of splen- 
 did jewels.” 
 
 "How large are they, mamma, — how long, I 
 mean?” inquired Henry. 
 
Central America. 
 
 27 
 
 " One twenty-five or thirty feet long is consid- 
 ered large ; but if we may credit the ancient histori- 
 ans, Diodorus Siculus and Suetonius, serpents of 
 this order were found in their days, fifty and sev- 
 enty-five feet long. 5 ’ 
 
 " What awful monsters ! ” cried Laura. " I 
 am glad they do not grow so large now . 55 
 
 "I wish they did, 55 said Henry, "and I could 
 see one, — but girls are always so timid . 55 
 
 " Do n’t boast of your courage till it is tried , 55 
 replied his sister. " I do not think you would 
 wish to meet even a modern boa in the woods 
 alone . 55 
 
 "We should rather see these monsters in a 
 cage, than to encounter them in their native 
 haunts , 55 said the mother, smiling ; " but they are 
 not the animals most dreaded by those who ex- 
 plore the forests of this country . 55 
 
 " I am sure there is nothing of which I should 
 be more afraid than of those awful snakes , 55 said 
 Laura, with a shudder. 
 
28 
 
 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 "The jaguar is more dangerous. Among the 
 beasts of prey which inhabit the earth, perhaps 
 no one is more formidable. This animal resem- 
 bles the African leopard, which he excels in 
 beauty, strength and ferocity. He generally lies 
 concealed in the dense forest during the day, and 
 at night he goes forth in search of food. He 
 knows where the antelopes and mustangs resort 
 for water, and he will climb into a tree, and, 
 concealed by the thick branches, wait till one 
 comes within his reach. Then his eyes glare, 
 and his powerful limbs quiver with excitement, 
 and, with a tremendous leap, he pounces on his 
 victim, fastening his terrible teeth in his neck, 
 while his claws are struck deep into his back and 
 sides. The poor creature makes violent efforts 
 to . shake off his enemy ; but the jaguar, with 
 fierce growls, begins to devour him while yet 
 alive.” 
 
 " I think that is just as bad as being crushed 
 by a boa,” said Henry. 
 

 
 
Parrots of gay plumage flutter amid the dense foliage.” page 29. 
 
Central America. 
 
 29 
 
 " The carcajou, or wolverine, another fierce 
 and dangerous animal, is found here ; and there 
 are a great many others of which I will not tell 
 you now. You will learn about them when you 
 study natural history.” 
 
 " Please, mamma, let us hear something about 
 the birds,” said Laura. "I am sure they will 
 not frighten us like the snakes and jaguars.” 
 
 " The birds of this region are numerous and 
 beautiful. Parrots of gay plumage flutter amid 
 the dense foliage, and chatter and scream to the 
 sloths and peccaries. The mocking-bird is as 
 common as the robin in the North. His plumage 
 is plain, but he has the most wonderful power of 
 song. His natural notes are bold and spirited, 
 and he has the faculty of imitating, with decep- 
 tive fidelity, every sound lie hears. He screams 
 like the eagle, chatters like the parrot, barks like 
 the dog, and repeats the exquisite notes of the 
 nightingale and thrush with such superior execu- 
 tion that the vanquished songsters are silent from 
 
30 Evenings with the Children. 
 
 mortification. He often deceives the hunter, and 
 sends him in search of birds which, perhaps, are 
 not within miles of him. The resplendent trogon 
 is found in the dense forests, and the scarlet ibis 
 on the borders of the rivers and lakes. This 
 region, as well as Mexico and South America, is 
 the natural home of the humming - birds. They 
 love the land of perpetual sunshine and flowers, 
 and they are the most exquisite grnaments of 
 garden and groves. Audubon tells us there are 
 a hundred species of these beautiful birds on this 
 continent. You know that they sometimes visit 
 us in summer, and enchant us with the beauty of 
 their plumage, and the gracefulness of their rapid 
 movements ; but in this tropical region they are 
 much more brilliant, so that they can only be 
 compared to the most gorgeous gems and the 
 richest metals. Here they are seen in flocks, 
 fluttering with such airy, graceful motions among 
 the flowers, that they seem as if upheld by magic; 
 and as they wheel and glance in the sunlight, if 
 
Central America . 
 
 31 
 
 you watch a single one, he appears to you, now 
 as a burning ruby, now as a topaz, now as an* 
 emerald in a coat of transparent gold, and now, 
 darting into the shade, he wears a shining velvety 
 black.” 
 
 ” O, mamma ! 99 cried Laura, " how I wish I 
 could see those beautiful birds !”* 
 
 "They would delight you greatly, my dear; 
 for, among the beautiful works of our heavenly 
 Father, there is nothing more deserving of ad- 
 miration. Feathers are among our most beauti- 
 ful ornaments, and though we have no cause to 
 be proud of our borrowed plumage, they are cer- 
 tainly very graceful and becoming. The Mexi- 
 cans, at the time they were conquered by the 
 Spaniards, possessed the art of making a beautiful 
 kind of feather - work. On a web of fine cotton, 
 they wrought the gorgeous plumage of these 
 tropical birds into patterns which are described 
 as very magnificent. 4 This work was used in 
 robes for the royal family, in hangings for the 
 
32 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 temples, and banners for the army. Many pieces 
 were carried to Spain by the conquerors, and 
 worn by ladies of the highest rank.” 
 
 " O, mamma!” cried Laura, ”1 remember 
 reading about this feather - work in Prescott’s 
 History of Mexico. But have they lost the 
 art?” 
 
 " If they have not, Laura wants to send for 
 a cloak,” said Henry ; " a cloak of green parrots’ 
 feathers, with a border of red.” 
 
 "Now, Henry, do be serious,” said his sister, 
 " and attend to what mamma says.” 
 
 " The art seems to have been, lost,” continued 
 
 i 
 
 Mrs. White. "Pefrhaps the poor Indians had 
 no heart to do this work, after their princes were 
 slain, their temples destroyed, and their armies 
 dispersed.” 
 
 " I am sure,” said Henry, " as the isthmus is 
 but thirty miles wide, we must be near Panama.” 
 " So we will consider ourselves, and looking 
 back over the railroad which we have passed so 
 
Central America . 
 
 33 
 
 rapidly, we will remember the adventurer who 
 first crossed this narrow neck of land. The 
 Spaniards took early possession of the eastern 
 coast, and one day, in the year 1511, as Yasco 
 Nunez de Balboa was weighing some gold, a 
 young Indian chief who was present, struck the 
 scales, and scattered the precious metal about 
 the apartment, exclaiming, " If this is what you 
 prize so much that you are willing to leave your 
 homes and risk your lives for it, I can tell you of 
 a land where they eat and drink out of golden 
 vessels ; ” — and then he told of the great Peru- 
 vian empire, whose shores were washed by the 
 mighty, unknown sea. Fired by this account 
 Balboa, not long after, achieved the perilous ad- 
 venture of crossing the isthmus, probably not 
 very far from the route of the railroad. Reaching 
 the shore of the great ocean, he rushed into the 
 water, and cried out that he claimed this un- 
 known sea with .all it contained for his master, 
 the king of Castile, and that he would make good 
 
34 
 
 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 his claim against all, Christians or infidels, who 
 dared gainsay it. This bold cavalier commenced 
 the settlement of old Panama, which was some 
 distance east of the present city ; from that point 
 expeditions were sent out to explore the unknown 
 coast, and from there the modern traveler takes a 
 steamship for the ports of South America.” 
 
THIRD EVENING. 
 
 PIZAERO’S VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY. 
 
 [ (^m^THINK we are traveling very slow- 
 ( ly,” said Henry, when the books were 
 laid away. " I am getting very im-* 
 zry patient to reach South America. Please, 
 mamma, let us proceed.” 
 
 " Good travelers make haste slowly,” replied 
 the mother, smiling. "I would like ta know 
 how much you remember of what I have told 
 you about Central America.” 
 
 " I remember,” said Laura, " who first crossed 
 this isthmus, when it was a pathless wilderness, 
 and took such bold possession of the great Pacific 
 ocean. Mamma, what do you think he would 
 
36 
 
 Evenings with the Children. 
 
 say if lie could see the railroad, with its puffiing 
 engine and gorgeous cars ? 
 
 " He would no doubt be as much surprised as 
 the poor Indians were at the ships and horses of 
 the Spaniards. As I told you last evening, the 
 city of Panama is a short distance west of the 
 old town of that name, which was commenced by 
 Balboa, and from which the small Spanish ships 
 crept cautiously along the unknown coast. Now 
 a coasting steamer leaves this city the thirteenth 
 of every month for the port of Guayaquil, and 
 we may travel with a speed and comfort of which 
 those bold cavaliers never dreamed. By this 
 steamer, we can reach Guayaquil in five days, 
 making a voyage which cost them years of peril- 
 ous toil.” 
 
 " Please tell us, mamma,” said Henry, " who 
 first explored this coast ? ” 
 
 " The history of its discovery is very interest- 
 ing, and I will tell you a little about it, hoping 
 that you may soon have an opportunity of read- 
 
Bizarre? s Voyage of Discovery . 37 
 
 ing a fuller account. You remember that Balboa 
 had been induced to cross the isthmus by the ac- 
 count he heard of a country rich in gold, which 
 lay somewhere to the south. Pie built a ship at 
 Panama, for the purpose of seeking that country, 
 but died without accomplishing his purpose. 
 Among the adventurers who crossed the isthmus 
 with him was Francisco Pizarro, a man whose 
 name will never be forgotten. He was a person 
 of obscure birth, and so uneducated that he could 
 not even read and write ; but he possessed the 
 courage which no perils could daunt, and the 
 strength of purpose which surmounted obstacles 
 that seemed unconquerable to others. He was cruel 
 and unscrupulous, but his success as a conqueror 
 has given him a place in history ; and, though 
 we do not love his memory, we have to accord 
 to him, and his associate, Almagro, the honor of 
 exploring the coast, and finding a path through 
 this mighty ocean. 
 
 " The vessel which Balboa built for this ex- 
 
38 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 pedifcion lay dismantled in the harbor for several 
 years after his death, but Pizarro never lost sight 
 of the object. He thought by day and dreamed 
 by night of that land of gold, tie would open that 
 land to the world ; he would make himself and 
 his country rich with its precious spoils ; and to 
 the accomplishment *of this purpose he bent all 
 the energies of his fertile brain. After many 
 disappointments, which would have discouraged a 
 less determined person, he succeeded in raising the 
 means to purchase the ship built by Balboa, and, 
 with a crew of one hundred men, he left the port 
 of Panama about the middle of November, 1524, 
 and struck boldly out into the unknown ocean. 
 
 "The time was the most unfavorable that 
 could have been chosen, as it was the rainy sea- 
 son within the tropics, and the coast was swept 
 by frequent and terrible tempests. But no one 
 had been here before to make them acquainted 
 with this fact, and warn them of the danger. 
 Though the ocean, the continent, and the seasons 
 
Piz arrows Voyage of Discovery. 39 
 
 are the same, proceeding as we may along the 
 coast in a steamship from one city to another, 
 we shall have very little conception of the experi- 
 ence of those adventurers. They sailed south, and, 
 entering the river Biru, made their first landing 
 about six miles above its mouth. Here it seemed 
 as if nature had mustered her forces to repel 
 them. The margins of the stream were dismal 
 morasses through which they passed with great 
 difficulty and danger. Beyond these were woods, 
 through whose thick and tangled undergrowth 
 they were forced to cut their way ; and, emerging 
 from these, they came out on a hilly country, so 
 rough and rocky that their feet were cut to the 
 bone. After a few days of fruitless toil, they 
 returned, fainting and nearly famished, to their 
 ship, and, dropping down the river, they pro- 
 ceeded on their voyage south. They soon began 
 to encounter a succession of terrible tempests, 
 accompanied by such awful thunder and such 
 floods of rain as are known only within the trop- 
 
40 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 ics. For ten days they were tossed about by 
 the pitiless elements, expecting every hour that 
 their frail bark would go down in the billows. 
 To add to their distress, their provisions began 
 to fail, and they were reduced to the wretched 
 allowance of two ears of Indian corn a day for 
 each man. 
 
 " Exhausted by hunger and the incessant and 
 terrible labor by which alone they had saved 
 their ship from ruin, they turned to the inhospita- 
 ble shore and dropped their anchor in a little bay. 
 Nothing could be more unpromising than the 
 aspect of the country. The ground was low and 
 marshy, and covered with what seemed to be 
 interminable forests. It was in vain that the 
 adventurers endeavored to penetrate this tangled 
 thicket, where the gigantic vines which are nour- 
 ished by the rank soil and humid atmosphere 
 twine themselves around the trunks of the trees, 
 and, flinging themselves from one to another, 
 bind them in a network through which a path 
 
Pizarro's Voyage of Discovery. 41 
 
 can be opened only with great labor. Floods of 
 rain continued to fall, and the air was poisoned 
 by exhalations from the steaming soil. Unbroken 
 silence reigned in this dismal solitude. Not a 
 bird sang in the trees, not a beast crept through 
 the forest. The only forms of animal life which 
 greeted them were loathsome reptiles and venom- 
 ous insects. Entirely discouraged by the difficul- 
 ties which surrounded them, the crew became 
 clamorous against their commander, accusing him 
 of deluding them with false hopes, and demand- 
 ing that he should immediately attempt to return 
 to Panama. ” 
 
 " O mamma, what else could they do ? ” cried 
 Laura ; " I am sure they would be very thankful 
 to get back alive.” 
 
 " Certainly, my dear,” continued Mrs. White. 
 f ' The circumstances were very trying, but they 
 only developed the strength of Pizarro’s will, and 
 his ability to govern his turbulent followers. To 
 have returned at this time would have dissipated 
 
42 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 his golden dreams forever, and left him bankrupt 
 in credit, an object of derision among his coun- 
 trymen ; but he was equal to the occasion, and, 
 with a daring which we can not but admire, re- 
 solved to pursue his course. He addressed to his 
 men every argument that ambition or avarice 
 could suggest. He besought them by their cour- 
 age and constancy to prove themselves worthy of 
 success. He was able to inspire them with' so 
 much of his spirit that they consented to remain 
 in this dismal place, while he should send the 
 vessel back for a fresh supply of provis- 
 ions. 
 
 "After the departure of the vessel, Pizarro 
 continued his fruitless endeavors to explore the 
 country, and t <y find food for his famishing follow- 
 ers. They picked up a few shell-fish on the 
 shore, and found a few unwholesome berries in 
 the forest, — these were all. As day after day 
 and week after week passed and the vessel did not 
 return, the stoutest - hearted began to despair. 
 
Pizarro’s Voyage of Discovery . 43 
 
 One after another yielded to their terrible fate. 
 Twenty of the little band had died. At this cri- 
 sis, a light was discovered through a partial open- 
 ing in the woods. With the energy of despair, 
 the wretched Spaniards forced their way through 
 the wilderness, and, to their unspeakable joy, 
 found an open country and an Indian village. 
 They obtained from the simple and friendly 
 people the food for which they were dying, and 
 they gathered from the clumsy gold ornaments 
 which they wore, and of which they did not 
 hesitate to rob them, a confirmation of the reports 
 which had drawn them to this coast. 
 
 " Six weeks afterward, the wandering bark, 
 which had borne away their comrades, sailed into 
 the port laden with provisions. Both parties had 
 doleful tales of distress to tell. Those who had 
 been on the sea, had been beaten and baffled by 
 storms and head winds, and had barely escaped 
 with their lives ; and those who had waited on the 
 shore, were so wasted and haggard from hunger 
 
44 livening s with the Children . 
 
 and sickness, that their companions beheld them 
 with horror. Revived by the necessary food, 
 with a buoyancy which belongs to men of a rov- 
 ing and hazardous life, they soon forgot the past 
 in their eagerness to discover the land of gold, of 
 which they now felt more certain than be- 
 fore. Re- embarking, therefore, they opened 
 their sails to the winds and bore away to the 
 South. 
 
 "'You must remember that these adventurers 
 were groping their way, obliged to feel it inch by 
 inch, as it were. They had no chart to warn 
 them of rocks and currents, and they did not 
 know where the region lay of which they were in 
 pursuit. So they crept along the coast, landing 
 wherever they found an opportunity, and finding 
 everywhere among the natives evidences of abun- 
 dance of gold. In this way, they proceeded to a 
 point named by Pizarro, Punta Quemada. Here 
 the shore was fringed with a deep belt of man- 
 
 grove trees. 
 
JPiz arrows Voyage of Discovery . 45 
 
 " I know how mangrove trees grow,” said Hen- 
 ry. "There is a picture of them in Paul Du 
 Chaillu’s book on the Gorrilla country. The 
 roots start out from the trunks of the trees seven 
 or eight feet from the ground, and interlace each 
 other so that I should think they would stop 
 everything but the snakes. I did not know that 
 they grew in South America.” 
 
 " Oh, yes, they are common in tropical coun- 
 tries ; and, as you say, the interlacing roots make 
 a formidable barrier ; but the Spaniards found an 
 opening where they effected a landing. Here, 
 they met with a warlike tribe of Indians who 
 were not disposed to be plundered of their gold 
 and food without resistance. They boldly at- 
 tacked the invaders, who, though they repulsed 
 them, suffered a heavy loss in killed and 
 wounded. This circumstance decided Pizarro to 
 return to Panama, where he hoped that the gold 
 they had collected would attract new recruits to 
 his standard and secure the aid of the governor to 
 
46 
 
 Evenings with the Children. 
 
 his enterprise. Burying their comrades who had 
 been killed by the Indians, and bearing the 
 wounded to the ship, they turned their faces 
 toward the North, and, without further accident, 
 reached the port from which they sailed. Thus 
 ended the first voyage of discovery on the coast.” 
 
FOURTH EVENING. 
 
 SECOND VOYAGE. 
 
 A MM A,” said Henry, ” please 
 tell Lls some thing more about the 
 S&jW discovery of South America.” 
 
 ” Do you remember what I have al- 
 ready told you? ” she asked. " It is not my ob- 
 ject simply to amuse you. I am communicating 
 facts to you, which I wish you to retain in con- 
 nection with the geography of this country.” 
 
 ”1 am quite sure, mamma,” Laura said, "I 
 shall not forget that Francisco Fizarro made the 
 first discoveries, and that, between the storms at 
 sea and sickness and starvation on the land, they 
 
48 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 had a hard time. When they were back to Pan- 
 ama they must have been glad enough to stay 
 there.” 
 
 " You are quite mistaken, my child. You do 
 not understand how strong w r ere the purposes of 
 those men. All the sufferings of the past and 
 all the perils of the future were quite forgotten in 
 their golden dreams. Pizarro, and his associate 
 Almagro, lost no time in preparing for a second 
 voyage. Though one fourth of the men who em- 
 barked in the first cruise had perished, others were 
 
 * 
 
 found willing to take their places ; and with two 
 vessels, larger and better appointed than the first, 
 they sailed again in search of the land of gold. 
 
 " They did not creep along the coast, but, 
 standing boldly out to sea, in a few days they 
 reached the limit of their first voyage, and en- 
 tered the mouth of the San Juan river. Here 
 they disembarked, and finding an Indian village, 
 they commenced the work of pillage and murder. 
 They obtained so large a quantity of gold that 
 
Second Voyage . 49 
 
 Almagro sailed back to Panama to exhibit their 
 booty and to enlist more men, while Euiz, the 
 pilot, cruised along the coast, and Pizarro, with 
 the larger part of the men, remained near the 
 mouth of the river. 
 
 " The old pilot, Euiz, sailing southward, dis- 
 covered, to his great astonishment, a craft moving 
 in the opposite direction. This proved to be an 
 Indian vessel, or rather, raft, which they called a 
 balsa ; and as it is still used on this coast and on 
 the rivers, I will describe it to you. The balsa is 
 made by lashing together a number of large tim- 
 bers of a light, porous wood, on which a floor of 
 reeds is laid. In the middle, two stout poles are 
 raised, which support a square sail. A rude kind 
 of rudder and a movable keel enable the mariner 
 to give direction to the floating craft. 
 
 ” On coming along side, Euiz found several men 
 and women on board, who wore rich ornaments 
 of gold on their persons ; and what astonished 
 him more, they were dressed in a woolen cloth of 
 
50 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 fine texture, delicately embroidered, and brilliant- 
 ly dyed. They were Peruvians from Tumbez, 
 carrying rich and curious articles, such as silver 
 mirrors, gold vases, and delicate fabrics of cotton 
 and wool, in which they trafficked along the coast. 
 This was the first contact of this unfortunate race 
 with the Spaniards, and it would be difficult to 
 tell which was the more astonished. The former 
 looked with something of religious awe on the 
 mailed and bearded strangers, whose vessel was 
 so superior to their own ; and the latter were sur- 
 prised, no less than delighted, at these sudden 
 and unexpected proofs of civilization and wealth, 
 so much greater than had been seen before in the 
 new world. ” 
 
 " I think they must have been astonished to 
 meet thus on the ocean/’ said Laura; "but did 
 the Peruvians know how to manufacture nice 
 cloths, mamma?” 
 
 " So the history tells us, my dear. You must 
 remember they were a very different people from 
 
Second Voyage . 51 
 
 the North American Indians, and at the time of 
 the discovery, possessed a higher degree of civil- 
 ization and wealth than at the present time. The 
 origin of their civilization is enveloped in impene- 
 trable mystery. Their own account of it was, 
 that, in ancient time, the race was plunged in the 
 most deplorable degradation and poverty, and the 
 Sun, the great luminary and parent^of mankind, 
 took compassion on them, and sent two of his 
 children to teach them the arts of civilized life. 
 Manco Capac, and his sister, who was also his 
 wife, took up their abode in the valley of Cuzcoi 
 They proclaimed their divine origin, and demanded 
 of the people the most implicit obedience. They 
 were received with joy and treated with the ut- 
 most veneration ; and under their instruction, the 
 docile people learned the arts of agriculture and 
 the mysteries of spinning and weaving. They 
 also taught them to build houses, and to work the 
 precious metals, of which there was a great 
 abundance among the mountains ; and they es- 
 
52 Evenings with the Children. 
 
 tablished a system of government which was 
 at once the most despotic and the most benefi- 
 cent. 
 
 " When Manco Capac and his wife, Mama 
 Oello, died, they left the scepter to their son, and 
 it descended in the family, which was called the 
 Incas, for many generations. Gradually the em- 
 pire extended, till, at the time of which we are 
 now speaking, it reached from two degrees north 
 of the equator to the thirty - seventh degree south, 
 embracing the region along the coast and the 
 great table - land between the Cordilleras of the 
 Andes.” 
 
 " Please, mamma, tell us what you mean by 
 the Cordilleras of the Andes,” said Henry ; " I 
 do n’t quite understand it.” 
 
 " The word Cordillera means a long ridge, and 
 if you will examine your map you will see that 
 the Andes extend in two chains, or Cordilleras, 
 as they are called, running nearly parallel with 
 the coast, and enclosing the great table -land, 
 
Second Voyage . 
 
 53 
 
 which has a mean altitude twice as great as Mt. 
 Washington. Now try to remember that it was 
 this rich and populous empire which the Spaniards 
 were about to enter, and which, in a few years, 
 they conquered, leaving its beautiful cities in 
 ruins, and its fertile fields deserted. 
 
 "We will now return to our story. The Span- 
 ish commander seized several of the defenseless 
 Peruvians, and, detaining them on his ship, he 
 suffered the rest to depart, while he held on his 
 way soutli till he reached Cape Pasado, which 
 you will see on the map is in one half a degree 
 south latitude, thus securing the glory of first 
 crossing the equator on the Pacific ocean. From 
 this point he returned, and, after an absence of 
 sixty days, reached the spot where he had left 
 Pizarro and his comrades. 
 
 "Famine, sickness and the hostile natives were 
 threatening to exterminate the little band. They 
 had tried to explore the country, but nature had 
 baffled and repelled them on every side. They 
 
54 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 could not pierce the dense and trackless forest, 
 they could not cross the frightful ravines, nor 
 climb the steep hills which rose, like successive 
 waves, and rolled away to join the mighty Andes. 
 The animal life which met them was most un- 
 friendly. Monkeys, chattering and grinning, 
 seemed to mock their misery. Hideous reptiles 
 and gigantic snakes gathered around their feet 
 and darted on them from the trees, and swarms 
 of poisonous insects sometimes forced them to 
 bury themselves to their very faces in the sand. 
 They had sustained life on the wild cocoa nuts 
 and wild potatoes, of which they found a scanty 
 supply. 5 ’ 
 
 " Wild potatoes, did you say, mamma? ” cried 
 Henry. 
 
 "Yes, my dear ; this is the region where the 
 potato was found, and from which it was intro- 
 duced into other countries. 
 
 " A few days after the return of Ruiz, Alma- 
 gro appeared with a vessel laden with provisions, 
 
Second Voyage . ^ 55 
 
 and a considerable re - inforcement of volunteers , 
 who filled the places of those that had miserably- 
 perished in this inhospitable place. As their 
 strength returned, their sufferings were forgotten, 
 and they were eager to press forward to the land 
 of gold. 
 
 " I have not time to give you the details of 
 
 their subsequent voyages, which occupied about 
 
 $ 
 
 two years. I have told you enough to show you 
 that they were necessarily attended with great 
 dangers and difficulties, and that they accomplish- 
 ed their purpose only by the most determined per- 
 severance. At every step, as they proceeded .south, 
 after they crossed the equator and struck the 
 coast of Peru, they found their wildest hopes jus- 
 tified. Evidences of wealth and civilization 
 were constantly exhibited in the aspect of the 
 country and the inhabitants, and the fruits of in- 
 dustry were visible on every side. The natural 
 features of the coast became more inviting. In- 
 stead of the mangrove trees, with their compli- 
 
56 
 
 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 cated roots, snarled into formidable coils under the 
 water, as if to waylay and entangle the adventurer, 
 the low margin of the sea was covered with a 
 stately growth of mahogany, ebony and palms ; 
 and, instead of the tainted and pestilential air 
 which they had experienced, the breezes brought to 
 them the sweet odor of sandal - wood and the fra- 
 grance of flowers. The hill-sides were covered 
 with fields of corn and potatoes, checkered with 
 plantations of banana and cocoa. The white cot- 
 tages of the natives glistened among the trees, 
 and. populous villages studded the shore. 
 
 " Gradually, as they sailed along the coast, the 
 mighty panorama of the Andes was unfolded be- 
 fore their astonished eyes. Chimborazo, lifting 
 its stupendous head into the heavens, and Coto- 
 paxi with its dazzling cone of silvery white, which 
 knows no change except from its own volcanic 
 fires, rose before them. The Spaniards could not 
 have been entirely insensible to the beauty and 
 grandeur of the scenes which were spread out in 
 
Second Voyage . 57 
 
 full view, but avarice and ambition left little 
 room in their hearts for the love of nature. The 
 mountains were interesting to them as mines of 
 gold, and the fruitful fields and beautiful villages 
 awoke only thoughts of conquest and plunder. 
 The Peruvians received them with hospitality and 
 kindness, supplied all their wants with liberality, 
 and told them, in unsuspecting confidence, of the 
 riches of their country. 
 
 "These discoveries, which extended to the 
 ninth degree of south latitude along the western 
 coast, occupied Pizarro and his associates from 
 1524 to 1528, and their history fills a volume.” 
 " Four years,” said Henry, thoughtfully, mov- 
 ing his finger slowly down the coast on the map 
 of South America. "Four years, and so much 
 suffering and death to explore this coast.” 
 
 " The story seems short, as you have told it, 
 mamma,” said Laura, " but these must have been 
 long, weary years to Pizarro and his compan- 
 
 ions. 
 
58 Evenings with the Children . . 
 
 " They were years full of difficulties and perils 
 and trials, and, if their courage and perse- 
 verance had been inspired by high and holy mo- 
 tives, we should regard them among the greatest 
 of men ; but when we remember their avarice 
 and cruelty, we can not feel either sympathy "or 
 admiration for them. 
 
 " In our next talk I will tell you how they con- 
 quered and plundered this fair Peruvian empire 
 which they had discovered.” 
 
FIFTH EVENING. 
 
 CIVIL WAR IjST PERU. 
 
 OW, mamma / 9 said Henry, 
 "please tell us how the Spaniards con- 
 quered Peru.” 
 
 " What did I tell you last evening of the 
 extent of this empire?” replied Mrs. White. 
 
 " It extends from two degrees north of the equa- 
 tor to thirty - seven degrees south,” said Laura, 
 examining her map ; " and must have included the 
 territories of the modern republics of Equador, 
 Peru, Bolivia, and Chili.” 
 
 "Very true, my dear,” said the mother, smil- 
 ing. "I am glad you have observed this. It 
 
60 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 will save you from confounding the old Peruvian 
 empire with modern Peru. Pizarro, having 
 explored the coast and obtained sufficient evi- 
 dence of the riches of the empire, repaired to 
 Spain, and laid the enterprise before the emperor, 
 Charles the Fifth. Rumors of the golden land 
 had preceded him, and Charles was well pleased 
 to hear the story of the adventure. 
 
 " He told of their perils on the unknown and 
 stormy sea, and of their terrible suffering on the 
 dismal and pestilent coast, and showed, as the re- 
 ward of their unconquerable spirit, the gold and sil- 
 ver they had collected, which he represented was 
 as a drop to the ocean when compared with the 
 treasures of the land. His royal auditor was 
 moved to tears by his narrative, and gave him his 
 gracious permission to conquer and take posses- 
 sion of the country he had discovered.” 
 
 " But what right had Charles the Fifth to give 
 away the empire of Peru ? ” asked Henry. 
 
 " The Spanish government claimed all the 
 
Civil War in Peru . 
 
 61 
 
 land discovered by its subjects,” replied Mrs.. 
 White. 
 
 " But if the Peruvians had crossed the ocean 
 on their balsas , and discovered Spain, they would 
 have had just as good a right to it ; — that is my 
 opinion,” said the boy, with much earnestness. 
 
 "This is a subject we have no time to discuss,” 
 said the mother ; " but I am well pleased that 
 you should consider the justice of their claims. 
 Pizarro did not act as if he was troubled with 
 doubts on the subject. Hastily availing himself 
 of the slight assistance offered him by the emper- 
 or, he returned to Panama, and, having provided 
 himself with three ships and gathered a band of 
 one hundred and eighty men, in the early part of 
 January, 1531, he sailed from that port, resolved, 
 with this insignificant force, to attempt the sub- 
 jugation of a great empire. They proceeded to 
 the island of Puna, in the gulf of Guayaquil, 
 where they were joined by a re - inforce ment of 
 one hundred men, and horses for the cavalry. 
 
62 
 
 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 " Here Pizarro learned, with great joy, that a 
 civil war was raging in the country. Two broth- 
 ers were fighting for the empire, and he saw, in 
 this unnatural strife, the assurance of his own suc- 
 cess. Leaving the island, he landed his little 
 army near the city of Tumbez, and after several 
 weeks spent in reconnoitering the country, they 
 laid the foundation of the city of San Niguel. I 
 want you to remember that this was the first Eu- 
 ropean town in South America, and these adven- 
 turers intended it as a base from which they could 
 move in their perilous enterprise, and a home to 
 which they could send the sick and wounded. 
 
 "Having built his little town, and leaving fifty 
 men to garrison it, the daring leader and his little 
 band struck boldly out into the country, proclaim- 
 ing everywhere that he came in the name of the 
 Vicar of God and the Sovereign of Spain, to en- 
 lighten the people in the true faith, and to claim 
 their submission to his imperial master. The 
 simple natives, greatly alarmed at their fire - arms 
 
Civil War in Peru . 
 
 63 
 
 and their horses, either fled at their approach, or 
 submitted to whatever terms they chose to dictate, 
 and the Spaniards were too wise’ to arouse their 
 anger., by offering them any violence at this 
 time. 
 
 " The country through which they passed was 
 fruitful and fair. Rain seldom falls in that re- 
 gion, but the industrious and ingenious Peruvi- 
 ans had constructed a vast net - work of canals 
 and aqueducts, by which they watered their fields 
 and gardens ; and the invaders marched through 
 a paradise of plenty, finding ample accommoda- 
 tions in the caravansaries which the Incas had 
 built in almost every village. Thus they were 
 provided with quarters along their route, at the 
 expense of the government they were preparing 
 to overthrow. 
 
 " Atahuallpa, one of the rival brothers who 
 had been contending for the throne of the Incas, 
 having achieved a great victory and made his 
 brother a prisoner, now lay with an army of 
 
64 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 fifty thousand men in the lofty region beyond the 
 western Cordillera. Pizarro proceeded directly 
 to meet him. He did not go as an open enemy, 
 but rather as an ambassador from his master, the 
 emperor of Spain, and in this character the un- 
 suspecting Inca permitted him to approach. 
 
 " The Spaniards had crossed the low region 
 which lies along the coast, and reached the mighty 
 Andes, which rose before them, their skirts dark 
 with evergreen forests and their crests glittering 
 with eternal snow. Across this stupendous ram- 
 part, through a labyrinth of dangerous passes they 
 must go. Here the Peruvians might have de- 
 stroyed them with the greatest ease if they had 
 been disposed to do so ; but no danger deterred 
 their daring leader. ' Come on,’ he cried to his 
 men. ' Take heart, like good soldiers, for God 
 will fight for his own.’ ' Lead on,’ they shouted. 
 
 ' You shall see we can do our duty in the cause 
 of God and our King.’ 
 
 " In this spirit they passed on up the craggy 
 
Civil War in Peru. 
 
 65 
 
 ami precipitous mountains, and through the dark 
 and intricate gorges, where a handful of men 
 might have stopped their progress, and -where 
 they often feared they might arouse an ambushed 
 foe. It was hard and perilous work, for their 
 . paths often lay on the sides of those awful fissures 
 where a false step would have plunged them into 
 depths their eyes could not fathom ; but all things 
 seem possible to such brave and resolute men, 
 and so they crossed this barrier and found them- 
 selves in the beautiful and fruitful valley of Cax- 
 amalca, where the Inca and his army lay en- 
 camped. 
 
 In the city of Caxamalca, there was a strono- 
 stone fortress, connected with low buildings, sur- 
 rounding a large square, which had been used for 
 military purposes. Here the Inca hospitably in- 
 vited the Spaniards to establish their quarters, and 
 here, after many friendly messages had passed 
 between them, he accepted their invitation to 
 visit them. The hospitality and confidence of the 
 
66 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 Peruvian monarch was rewarded by one of the 
 most atrocious acts of perfidy on the record of 
 history. 
 
 " Atahuallpa came to this visit with a great 
 crowd of unarmed followers, wearing their gay- 
 est apparel and richest ornaments. He was 
 borne on the shoulders of his nobles, seated in a 
 chair of massive gold, in a palanquin lined with 
 the richly colored plumes of tropical birds and 
 studded with glittering plates of gold and silver. 
 He wore a magnificent collar of emeralds, and on 
 his forehead the crimson fringe which was the 
 badge of royalty. His garments, of fine wool, 
 were gorgeously embroidered with gold and pre- 
 cious stones.” 
 
 O mamma,” cried Laura, " he must have 
 looked magnificent. I did not know the Indians 
 had anything so splendid.” 
 
 " It was no doubt a grand sight, for one of the 
 conquerors informs us that the royal retinue, as 
 they entered the great square, fairly blazed like 
 
Civil War in Peru . 
 
 67 
 
 the sun. Little dreaming of the fate that awaited 
 them, they came with shouts and songs, and, to 
 the number of five or six thousand, surrounded 
 the person of their venerated sovereign. 
 
 " This was on the sixteenth of November, 1532, 
 the memorable day that decided the fate of the 
 Peruvian empire. The plan of the cruel and per- 
 fidious Spaniard was perfected, and every circum- 
 stance favored its execution. He knew that if he 
 could obtain possession of the person of the Inca, 
 the fate of the nation was in his hands. The em- 
 pire, with all its wealth and power, would be 
 like a body without a head. The political sys- 
 tem would be in ruins, and there would be no 
 strength to oppose him.” 
 
 ” But could they do nothing without the Inca, 
 mamma?” inquired Henry ; " you say they were a 
 great people, and he was only one man.” 
 
 " The Peruvian state was so different from our 
 own, that it is very difficult for you to understand 
 it. As I told you, the sun was the God of the 
 
68 
 
 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 Peruvians, and they regarded the Incas as his 
 children, whom, in his beneficence, he had sent to 
 protect and govern them. The Inca was more 
 than a father, more than a king. He was the 
 soul of the body politic, and Pizarro judged cor- 
 rectly, that the body without the soul is power- 
 less, so, instead of fighting and conquering the 
 nation, he prepared to make himself its master by 
 one bold stroke. 
 
 The great square of which I told you, sur- 
 rounded by the low stone buildings, which had 
 been assigned to the Spaniards, seemed like a 
 trap which the unwary Inca had made for himself, 
 and into which he came with all his unarmed 
 followers. When the procession halted, the Pe- 
 ruvian monarch was met, not, as he expected, by 
 Pizarro, to thank him for his condescension in 
 coming, but by a priest, who approached him 
 with a crucifix in his hand, and haughtily de- 
 manded that he should renounce the errors of his 
 faith and embrace Christianity, and, furthermore, 
 
Civil War in Peru. 
 
 69 
 
 that he should acknowledge himself the vassal and 
 tributary of the Sovereign of Spain. 
 
 " The eyes of the Indian flashed fire at this in- 
 sult. 'I will be no man’s vassal,’ he cried, ' and, 
 as to my faith, I will not change it.’ The priest 
 returned and reported his answer to Pizarro, who 
 was concealed in the fortress with his followers. 
 A gun was fired, and with the old cry of ' St. 
 Jago and at them !’ every Spaniard sprang into 
 the square, and threw themselves, with the fury 
 of demons, on the unarmed, unsuspicious crowd. 
 Nobles and people were trampled under the fierce 
 charge of cavalry. The panic - stricken mass, 
 which found no way of escape, was swept by the 
 artillery and musketry, and blinded by the sul- 
 phurous smoke which wrapped them like a cloud.” 
 "O mamma,” cried Laura, " could the Spaniards 
 be so cruel as to murder these poor people, who 
 had come to make them a friendly visit ? ” 
 
 " Yes, my dear, they murdered them, and with 
 a treachery and ingratitude so great that history 
 
70 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 hardly shows a parallel for their crime. The Pe- 
 ruvians, with a touching fidelity, crowded around 
 their beloved ruler, and covered his sacred person 
 with their own defenseless bodies. They had 
 nothing but their numbers to oppose the Spanish 
 arms, and the dead were soon piled in heaps 
 around the royal litter. The conflict, or rather 
 the massacre, was of short duration. The whole 
 time, it is said, did not exceed half an hour, but 
 five or six thousand Indians lay dead or dying in 
 the great square, and the Inca was a prisoner in 
 the hands of the Spaniards/ 5 
 
SIXTH EVENING. 
 
 DEATH OF ATAHUALLPA. 
 
 .LEASE tell us what became of 
 poor Atahuallpa,” said Laura, as soon as 
 the school books were laid aside. " You 
 know we left him in the hands of the 
 cruel and treacherous Spaniards. I can’t help 
 hating them, — and I could not sleep last night 
 for thinking of him.” 
 
 r ' The captive Inca must have been overwhelmed 
 by the sudden and unexpected calamity which had 
 befallen him, but he behaved with great calmness 
 and dignity. He was informed that his person 
 would be safe so long as his people remained quiet. 
 
72 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 and he made no attempt to escape. He wanted 
 his freedom, but neither he nor his people dared 
 make any effort, for they knew the first move- 
 ment would cost him his life. In the hope of 
 effecting his purpose by appealing to the avarice 
 of his captors, he offered, if they would set him 
 free, to fill the room in which he was confined 
 with gold as high as he could reach. The Span- 
 iards heard of the offer with incredulity, but they 
 accepted it, and a written contract was made.” 
 
 " O mamma, how large was that room ? ” cried 
 Henry. 
 
 " The historian tells us it was twenty - two feet 
 long by seventeen wide.” 
 
 "And did he really fill it with gold, — with 
 solid gold?” 
 
 " Not with solid gold ; — according to the con- 
 tract the articles were thrown together in the shape 
 in which they were found. The Inca sent his 
 servants to the great cities to collect the treasure, 
 and the city of Cuzco alone furnished as much as 
 
Death of Atahuallpa. 73 
 
 four hundred Indians could carry. The spoil 
 
 taken from the temples and royal palaces, was 
 composed of ornaments and utensils of every size 
 and shape, — -goblets, vases, tiles, plates, and 
 curious imitations of plants and animals. Among 
 the plants, the most beautiful was the Indian corn, 
 the golden ear sheathed in leaves of silver, from 
 which hung a rich tassel of silver threads. 5 ’ 
 
 "Oh, how beautiful that must have been !” ex- 
 claimed Laura. " I wish I could see such corn. 55 
 
 "Yes, my dear, those were beautiful and costly 
 things, but they were not so precious to the Inca 
 as his freedom, which he hoped to purchase with 
 them. The great temple at Cuzco, which had 
 been the pride and glory of the empire, was liter- 
 ally a mine of gold, and among the spoils was 
 the great image of the sun which had adorned 
 that temple. This image consisted of a human 
 face, looking forth from amidst innumerable rays, 
 as you may have seen the sun represented. It 
 was engraven on a massive plate of gold, of 
 
74 Evenings with the Children. 
 
 enormous dimensions, and thickly powdered with 
 precious stones. It is said that, besides this, 
 seven hundred plates of gold and silver were taken 
 from this building. The poor Peruvians were 
 sadly grieved to see their temples despoiled, but 
 they offered no resistance, for it was the com- 
 mand of the Inca, and they were accustomed to 
 implicit obedience. 
 
 "After a while the gold, valued at fifteen and 
 a half millions of dollars, was collected, and 
 Atahuallpa demanded his freedom, but Pizarro, 
 who probably never intended to set him at liberty, 
 now accused him of secretly mustering his armies, 
 with the intention of attacking the Spaniards. 
 The captive monarch, probably foreseeing the con- 
 sequence of this accusation, denied it most earn- 
 estly. ' Am I not a poor captive in your hands ? 9 
 he said. ' How could I harbor the design you 
 impute to me, when I should be the first victim 
 of an outbreak ? And you little know my people 
 if you think such a movement would be made 
 
Death of Atahuallpa. 
 
 75 
 
 without my orders, when the very birds in my 
 dominion would scarcely venture to fly contrary 
 to my will.” 
 
 " It made no difference that this was the truth. 
 The Spaniards had decided that it was unsafe to 
 give their captive his liberty, and it was incon- 
 venient to hold him a prisoner ; therefore he must 
 die. They seem to have considered it necessary 
 to have an excuse for this barbarous murder, so 
 they tried him on the charge of conspiracy ; add- 
 ing to his indictment that he was a polygamist 
 and idolater. With a cruelty which appears un- 
 equaled, they condemned their helpless victim to 
 be burned alive on the very night in which he re- 
 ceived his sentence. 
 
 " When this inhuman sentence was communi- 
 cated to the unfortunate Inca, for a moment the 
 overwhelming calamity seemed to unman him. 
 'What have I done,’ he cried, addressing Pizarro, 
 ' that I should meet such a fate ? And from your 
 hands, too, who have met with friendship and 
 
76" Evenings with the Children . 
 
 kindness from my people, and who have received 
 only benefits from me ! ’ ” 
 
 " And did they burn the poor Inca, mamma? ” 
 said Laura, her eyes glistening with tears. 
 
 "No, my dear, they did not burn him. The 
 Spanish priest who had sanctioned the iniquitous 
 sentence, accompanied him to the place of execu- 
 tion, and with great zeal for the salvation of his 
 soul, besought him to embrace Christianity and 
 be baptized, assuring him that, if he did so, he 
 should be strangled instead of burned. 
 
 "We can not suppose that the Inca had a de- 
 sire to embrace the faith of his treacherous and 
 cruel enemies, but for the sake of a less painful 
 death he acquiesced in the proposal, and the priest 
 performed the solemn mockery of the most sacred , 
 rite of our holy religion, and he was mercifully 
 permitted to die by the garrote instead of the 
 fagot. Thus, on the twenty - ninth of August, 
 1533, Atahuallpa, the last of the Incas, perished 
 by the death of a malefactor ; and the great em- 
 
Death of Aiahuallpa . 
 
 77 
 
 pire over which he ruled, like an arch when the 
 key - stone is removed, fell by its own weight, 
 and crumbled into ruins beneath the feet of the 
 conquerors. 5 ’ 
 
 "But, mamma,” said Henry, "did the Peru- 
 vians submit without resistance? I should like 
 them better if they had died in the ' last ditch, 5 
 fighting for liberty.” 
 
 " They did not submit without resistance. The 
 death of Atahuallpa was followed by fierce but 
 ineffectual struggles, in which they inflicted some 
 damage on the Spaniards, but received a hundred 
 fold more themselves. They had no leader capa- 
 ble of uniting and controlling them, and the 
 horses and the fire - arms of their enemies gave 
 them an immeasurable advantage over them in 
 battle ; so, after a few years, they seem to have 
 yielded in despair and sunk into hopeless bondage. 
 
 " When the Spaniards obtained possession of 
 Peru, they found the country well advanced in 
 the arts of civilization. The valleys were teem- 
 
78 
 
 Evenings with the Children. 
 
 ing with the fruits of a patient and scientific cult- 
 ure ; the uplands were whitened with flocks, and 
 the whole land rejoiced in its abundance. Instead 
 of introducing a higher civilization and a better 
 government, the land was given up to pillage, 
 and the wretched natives were parceled out like 
 slaves, to toil for their conquerors in the mines. 
 The flocks were wantonly destroyed ; the grana- 
 ries were emptied ; the beautiful and costly works 
 for irrigating the soil were suffered to fall into 
 decay; and, at this time, the country is far less 
 fruitful and populous than at the time of the con- 
 quest ; and the Indian, after three centuries of 
 bondage and degradation, seems like an alien in 
 the land of his fathers. 
 
 "The poor Indians, while they saw the ruin of 
 the country, might have felt some satisfaction in 
 witnessing the misery of their conquerors. Ava- 
 rice and ambition are never satisfied, and the 
 Spaniards soon began to quarrel over their spoils, 
 and to destroy each other ; it is said that not one 
 
Death of Aiahucillpa. 
 
 79 
 
 of those who were responsible for the murder of 
 Atahuallpa died a natural death. Pizarro was 
 assassinated in his own house, and his body w r as 
 secretly buried in the night to save it from the 
 violence of his enemies. ' And there was none/ 
 says an old chronicle, ' even to say God forgife 
 him.’ Thus miserably perished the conquerors of 
 Peru, and the power and wealth, gained through 
 so much toil and suffering and crime, could 
 never have made them happy.” 
 
 Mrs. White paused, and Henry said, thought- 
 fully, " I am sure I shall study the map of South 
 America with more interest, now that I know 
 even a very little of its history.” 
 
 " It is only a little that I can tell you in these 
 short evenings,” said the mother; " but if you 
 remember this, it will be better than a volume 
 read carelessly. To - morrow evening I will tell 
 you something of the present appearance of this 
 region, and I think you will be the more inter- 
 ested for knowing something of its history.” 
 
SEVENTH EVENING. 
 
 THE CITY OF GUAYAQUIL. 
 
 HAT did I promise to talk about 
 evening?” said Mrs. White, as 
 children closed their school - books 
 drew their chairs near her. 
 
 " Why, mamma,” said Laura, "we are to resume 
 our travels, you know. We have been stopping 
 several days at Panama, and now we are ready to 
 visit South America.” 
 
 "Very well, then we will embark on the coast 
 steamer, which leaves Panama the thirteenth of 
 every month, and, following in the track of Pi- 
 zarro, we shall find ourselves in the city of Guay- 
 aquil in four or five days. We are fortunate, as 
 
The City of Guayaquil. 81 
 
 9' 
 
 this is the best season of the year for this voyage, 
 and we shall probably find the great ocean, that 
 treated those early adventurers so roughly, quiet 
 enough to merit the name of Pacific. You re- 
 member that they were about three years reaching 
 this point.” 
 
 " But we have not stopped to explore the coast 
 as they did,” said Henry. " Should we find it so 
 frightful now, mamma?” 
 
 "The coast retains the same natural features, 
 but there are a few sea - ports where we might 
 land, instead of plunging into the mangrove 
 swamps. There is, however, very little to inter- 
 est the traveler, and nothing which we will stop 
 to examine. 
 
 " This city of Guayaquil is situated on the river 
 Guayas, near where it empties into the gulf 
 of Guayaquil. As we move up the stream 
 to the steamboat* landing, everything about 
 us reminds us that we are in a strange land. 
 Hundreds of canoes, rowed by dark - faced men, 
 
82 
 
 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 glide to and fro, — and here are the balsas , the 
 Peruvian balsas , just like that one which the old 
 pilot Euis saw, with so much surprise, more than 
 three hundred years ago. You remember I told 
 you about it ? ” 
 
 . " Oh, yes,” said Laura. "It was on that, that 
 the Spaniards and Peruvians first met.” 
 
 " They are bringing the products of the sur- 
 rounding country into the city, for nearly all the 
 exports of Equador pass through this port ; and 
 if there were among the people the same industry 
 and enterprise which we witness in our own coun- 
 try, it would be made a large and beautiful town ; 
 but, as we Tand, we find that the streets are .ex- 
 ceedingly filthy, and the buildings have a thrift- 
 less, tumble - down appearance, which surprises 
 us. Even the great cathedral, which has an ele- 
 gant design, is a shabby structure, and the pic- 
 tures and images, which are designed to adorn it, 
 'are wretched caricatures. 
 
 " The people we meet in the street are so differ- 
 
The City of Guayaquil . 
 
 83 
 
 ent in their persons, manners and dress from any 
 we have seen before, that they impress us more 
 than the aspect of the city. Here is an Indian, 
 a descendant, for aught we know, of the rich and 
 powerful Incas. Look at him ! He wears trou- 
 sers, made of some coarse stuff, which reach on- 
 ly to the knee ; a straw hat with brim so wide 
 that it looks like an umbrella ; and his shoulders 
 are covered with a poncho, striped like an Arab’s 
 blanket.” 
 
 ♦ 
 
 "Please tell us what a poncho is,” said Laura. 
 
 " A poncho is a square cloth, with a slit in the 
 middle, so that it can be drawn over the head, 
 and fall loosely all around. This garment, made 
 of different material, is worn by all classes, and, 
 for its convenience, it is generally adopted by 
 travelers. 
 
 " Our Indian has a stolid, beardless, bronze - 
 colored face, with a sad, patient expression, as if- 
 the wrongs and degradation of his race were ever 
 present to his mind. He never sings and seldom 
 
84 
 
 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 laughs, but silently, with slow, reluctant steps, 
 bears his heavy burden through the street. He is 
 the beast of burden here. You seldom see horses 
 or carriages, but everywhere the Indians with 
 their broad shoulders bending; under their loads. 
 
 "And here is a black -eyed Spanish lady, with 
 small feet and delicate hands, her head gracefully 
 wrapped in the black lace mantilla. By her side 
 walks a descendant of the conquerors, one of the 
 race that for three centuries has ruled, and nearly 
 ruined, this country. He is heavily bearded, and 
 wears a poncho of fine cloth, and a broad - 
 brimmed Panama hat. These Panama hats are 
 manufactured here, and are one of the principal 
 articles of export.” 
 
 " Pray, mamma, what are they made of ? ” said 
 Laura. 
 
 " Of the leaves of the toquilla, and they are 
 sometimes called Toquilla hats, which is certain- 
 ly a more proper name. The leaves, which re- 
 semble palm leaves, are cut while they are green, 
 
The City of Guayaquil . 
 
 85 
 
 and split into fine shreds. It is then boiled to 
 make it soft and elastic, and bleached in the sun 
 till it is white, and then, with great patience and 
 skill, it is wrought by the fingers of the Indian 
 women into these beautiful hats. It requires the 
 labor of two or three months to make a good one, 
 but it will last a life-time, and, in a warm cli- 
 mate^ it is the most convenient of hats, as it can 
 be folded up and packed away in a vest pocket.” 
 
 " That is just the hat I want,” said Henry. 
 " Why can’t I have one, mamma? ” 
 
 " I am afraid you can not be gratified, my 
 dear,” replied the mother, smiling. "These hats 
 are too expensive for general use. The best ones 
 are worth one hundred and fifty dollars, and 
 I fear that even the poorest are beyond our 
 reach.” 
 
 " Never mind, Henry,” said his sister. "I am 
 going to learn to make Panama hats, and then 
 you shall have a nice one.” 
 
 " This Spanish gentleman,” continued Mrs. 
 
86 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 White, laughing with the children, "probably has 
 a small dagger concealed under his poncho, but 
 you need not fear ; if you do not make him angry, 
 he will treat you with great politeness and hospi- 
 tality. The poor Indians who take off their big 
 hats as they pass us, muttering, 'Blessed be the 
 altar of God/ are harmless and kind. Professor 
 Orton assures us that we can travel here with as 
 much safety as in our own country, and that even 
 among the poor mountaineers, we shall be treated 
 with a warm - hearted and generous hospitality 
 which we do not often witness at home. 
 
 " The northern summer is the best season for 
 
 traveling in Equador, as well as for sailing on 
 
 j 
 
 the coast. 'You know that within the tropics 
 there is neither spring, nor autumn, nor winter. 
 The year is divided into the rainy and the dry 
 seasons. 'The dry season commences here in June 
 and continues till November, and, as we are 
 south of the equator, July is the coldest part of 
 the year. This port has earned the reputation of 
 
The City of Guayaquil . 
 
 87 
 
 being one of the most pestiferous spots on this 
 globe during the wet season, but, at this time, 
 no place is more healthy. The alternate land 
 jpid sea breezes are cool and invigorating. The 
 climate is nearly perfect, and we are surprised to 
 enjoy so much comfort in the torrid zone ; but if 
 we had been here five or six months ago, we 
 should have found it very different. The air, 
 then, was intolerably damp, hot and oppressive; 
 the plains around the city, which are now covered 
 with the richest vegetation, were then flooded with 
 water, and even some of the streets were impas- 
 
 a* 
 
 sable ; and the intolerable mosquitoes and cock- 
 roaches, the disgusting centipedes and venomous 
 snakes, would have made us wish for our north- 
 ern home. 
 
 ” As we walk through the market, we observe 
 the great abundance and variety of fruits. Here 
 are oranges, lemons, limes, plantains, bananas, 
 melons, pine - apples and cocoa-nuts, and many 
 others which we have never seen before. And 
 
88 Evenings with the Children. 
 
 here are ice and snow brought from Chimborazo. 
 We can buy it for one dollar a pound, and we 
 can get a glass of pine - apple ice-cream, which is 
 really delicious in this climate. 
 
 " But, from the balcony of our hotel, we behold 
 a landscape which makes us forget the city and 
 all it contains. For days, perhaps, the mount- 
 ains have been covered with a veil of mist, but 
 suddenly the curtain rises, and we are speech- 
 less with admiration and awe, as the stupendous 
 Andes, in their inconceivable grandeur, are re- 
 vealed to us. Looking to the south-east, we be- 
 hold a sea of hills rolling away in green billows, 
 the color changing into indescribable tints as they 
 rise higher and higher, till they culminate in the 
 mighty peaks of Peru ; to the north - east the 
 peerless Chimborazo lifts its untrodden and unap- 
 proachable summit into the heavens. As the sun 
 declines towards the west, the great snow - 
 crowned dome reflects his rays in a dazzling glory, 
 and, as the shadows creep upward, there is a 
 
The City of Guayaquil . 89 
 
 play of colors on the mountain side, wonderful and 
 never forgotten by those who have seen it. Per- 
 haps this resembles the wonderful clouds we some- 
 times see at sunset, more than anything else I 
 can remind you of; but the gold and vermilion, 
 the purple and amber, mingle and change more 
 rapidly on the mountain, and produce a more 
 beautiful effect. 
 
 " A traveler, who has seen a large part of the 
 world, says,' — -'It is worth a long voyage to see 
 this picture which nature nowhere repeats.’ ” 
 
 Mrs. White paused, and Laura said, "I do be- 
 lieve, mamma, my eyes ache with the glory of the 
 mountains.” 
 
 " I believe they are heavy with sleep,” replied 
 the mother. " So we will rest till another day.” 
 
EIGHTH EVENING. 
 
 CLIMATE AND PRODUCTIONS. 
 
 THINK we must content ourselves 
 ^\f| f with our brief and imperfect observation 
 on the city of Guayaquil,” said Mrs. 
 #3? White, " and proceed on our journey* 
 We will take the route most frequently followed 
 by travelers, which will lead to Quito.” 
 
 w Oh, that will be delightful ! ” exclaimed 
 Laura. " I would rather go to Quito than to 
 London.” 
 
 " Or to Paris,” said Henry. " I do want to 
 know how that city looks among the mountains, 
 and how the mountains look around the city.” 
 
 ' r We will take passage on one of the small 
 
Climate and Productions . 
 
 91 
 
 steamers that ply on the Guayas. The river 
 flows sluggishly through a fertile valley, and, as 
 we proceed, we may observe how beautifully our 
 heavenly Father supplies this tropical region with 
 the fruits of the earth. As soon as we get out of 
 the city, we see the banks lined with forests of 
 banana and plantain trees. This fruit is the most 
 common article- of food here, and is eaten raw, 
 roasted, baked, boiled and fried. It grows on a 
 stem fifteen or twenty feet high, formed of sheath- 
 like leaf- stalks, rolled over one another, and 
 terminating in enormous green, glossy blades, 
 eight or ten feet long by two feet wide. Each 
 tree produces fruit but once, and then dies. A 
 single bunch often weighs sixty or seventy 
 pounds.” 
 
 " What a strange tree, mamma ! ” said Henry. 
 
 "Yes, my dear, it seems to us a very strange 
 tree, with its rich fruit and long leaves, and we 
 must not forget that it is one of the most useful 
 that God has given to man.” 
 
92 Evenings tvith the Children . 
 
 " Do you mean that the banana and plantain 
 trees are all one?” inquired Laura. 
 
 " I did speak of them as if they were one, but 
 that is not so. They are different species of the 
 same genus. The fruit of the plantain is pris- 
 matic in shape, and, uncooked, is considered un- 
 healthy ; the banana, which is not half as large, 
 is cylindrical, and, as you know, is delicious, raw. 
 It is said thafffour thousand pounds of plantains 
 will grow on as much grouijd as it takes to pro- 
 duce a bushel of wheat, and that no article of 
 food costs so little in proportion to its value. 
 
 "A little farther on, and the breezes waft to us 
 rich perfume from groves of oranges and lemons ; 
 and we can see the ripening fruit, golden and 
 fragrant, amid the shining leaves. Passing these, 
 the steamer bears us along - side of broad fields 
 covered with the prickly pine - apple ; and be- 
 yond these we move between orchards of mango 
 and bread fruit trees, or great plantations of 
 cacao and coffee arrest our attention; and, high 
 
Climate and Productions . 
 
 93 
 
 above all, the beautiful cocoa - nut palm lifts its 
 crown of glory.” 
 
 " Please, tell us what is cacao, mamma?” said 
 Henry. 
 
 w Cacao is the shrub which produces the nuts 
 from wdiich chocolate is made. It resembles lilac 
 in size and shape, and the flowers and fruit grow 
 directly out of the trunk and branches. It yields 
 three crops a year, which ripen in March, June 
 and September. It is indigenous to this coast, 
 and grows in the greatest abundance. Twenty 
 million pounds are annually exported from Guay- 
 aquil, and it contributes more than any other 
 product of the soil to the wealth and commerce of 
 Equador.” 
 
 "I think 1 will settle here and go to farming,” 
 said Henry. " Won’t it be nice, Laura, to have 
 oranges and pine - apples and cpcoa - nuts in our 
 garden ? ” 
 
 " Splendid ! ” replied Laura ; " and we will have 
 pure coffee and chocolate, won’t we ? And when 
 
94 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 we want bread, we can gather it from the trees. 
 Ah, it will be fine.” 
 
 Us 
 
 The mother laughed. " How would you like 
 the long and oppressive heat, the dreary rains, 
 the musquitoes, the snakes and the fevers?” she 
 said; 
 
 "Oh, I hadn’t thought of those,” said Henry. 
 
 " The tropical region has many delights, yet I 
 do not think you would choose it for a home. 
 The fruits are abundant and delicious, but we 
 should not gain so very much by exchanging our 
 berries, peaches, pears, grapes and apples for 
 them ; and if they were a great deal better, I am 
 sure we could not afford to barter the inherit- 
 ance which we possess in our free and well es- 
 tablished government for such advantages. 
 
 " Having proceeded seventy miles up the river, 
 we must leave the steamboat and take to horses 
 and mules for the rest of the journey to Quito.” 
 
 "Why don’t they have a railroad?” inquired 
 Henry. 
 
Climate and Productions . 
 
 95 
 
 " A railroad over the Andes, my dear, if the 
 
 thing is indeed possible, would tax the resources 
 
 • 
 
 of a great and rich nation ; but Equador is a weak 
 state, the government is not well established, and 
 the people have not the industry and enterprise 
 necessary to sustain even a stage coach on the 
 road which leads from the capital to the principal 
 sea - port. As we travel through the country, the 
 proofs of indolence and indifference to the com- 
 forts of civilized life will astonish you, and you 
 will learn that human poverty and wretchedness 
 may be very great in the midst of natural wealth. 
 
 " The villages are groups of bamboo huts, oft- 
 en on stilts, because the site is flooded in the 
 rainy season. Idle men, filthy and ill - clad, 
 lounge in the shade ; sad - looking women, carry- 
 ing naked children, or red water jars, on their 
 backs, walk listlessly through the streets ; black 
 hogs and lean poultry wander at will into the 
 houses. Such is the aspect of rural life that 
 meets you here. 
 
96 
 
 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 " You must not expect to find hotels on this 
 route, where you can obtain good beds and well 
 cooked meals. The traveler is fortunate to find 
 shelter in a bamboo hut when night approaches, 
 and to have the privilege of making his chocolate 
 over a fire built on the mud floor. It is said there 
 is not a chimney in the republic.” 
 
 " O mamma, how does the smoke get out.? ” 
 exclaimed Laura. 
 
 " The smoke is allowed to follow ' it’s own 
 sweet will,’ my dear. It settles down in a suf- 
 focating mass in the hut, or escapes through the 
 open door, and the many cracks in the walls. 
 You think this is not a nice way of keeping 
 house, but the natives, who know of nothing bet- 
 ter, seem quite contented and happy in the midst 
 of their smoke and dirt. 
 
 " But, as we proceed, the wonderful and ever - 
 varying beauty of nature makes us forget all in- 
 conveniences. ' Delight is a weak term,’ says a 
 recent traveler, ' to express the feeling of one who 
 
Climate and Productions . 97 
 
 wanders for the first time in a South American flor- 
 id 
 
 est. This road to the Andes is a paradise to a 
 contemplative man.’ 
 
 " As we approach the mountains, our path lies 
 for miles through an unbroken wilderness, where 
 the buds of spring, the flowers of summer and the 
 fruits of autumn are perpetually mingled ; but 
 when we. begin the ascent, our road becomes more 
 rugged and difficult, and we soon notice a change 
 in the vegetable and animal life. We leave the 
 plantain and the palm, the snakes and the mos- 
 quitoes behind us. In beautiful, sheltered val- 
 leys, .among the hills, we find little villages. The 
 huts are not built of bamboo as on the lowland, 
 but . of sun - dried blocks of mud and straw, 
 called adobe. There are herds of cattle and 
 fields of potatoes and wheat. Nature is still 
 beautiful, but the people are indolent and poor. 
 With such possibilities of comfort, it is painful 
 to witness their miserable diet, their raggedness 
 and filth. 
 
98 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 " Still ascending, we leave the wheat fields, 
 
 > 
 
 and enter a wilderness of craggy and precipitous 
 mountains, covered only with a long, wiry grass 
 called paja. The road lies along the side of 
 Chimborazo, and reaches an elevation of more 
 than fourteen thousand feet. Nature has noth- 
 ing to reveal to the eye of man more stupendous 
 than the scenes which she here unfolds to us. The 
 untrodden and unapproachable summit of the 
 great mountain lies to the west of us. The 
 snowy dome, eight thousand feet above our heads, 
 is flooded with golden sunlight, and we look down 
 into dark gorges beneath us, where Vesuvius 
 might be buried out of sight. The sublimity is 
 overwhelming, the vast ness oppressive, and the 
 loneliness brings us nearer to God.” 
 
 " But do you think,” said Henry, " that no man 
 will ever reach the summit of Chimborazo ? ” 
 
 " The difficulties appear to be insurmountable. 
 The great quantity of snow, the awful precipices 
 and fissures baffle the strength of man ; and be- 
 
Climate and Productions . 
 
 99 
 
 sides these, the air is so rarefied at such a hight, 
 that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to 
 breathe. At this elevation, which is only a thou- 
 sand feet less than the summit of Mount Blanc, 
 the traveler is usually affected with violent head- 
 ache, nausea, and difficulty of breathing, and vi- 
 olent snow storms often sweep down the sides of 
 the mountain, which put his life in peril. 
 
 " From this point the road descends rapidly 
 over the naked volcanic cliffs. The mules, 
 trained to these perilous paths, draw their legs 
 together, and slide down the slippery steeps with 
 startling velocity, and follow the windings with 
 wonderful dexterity.” 
 
 " This is a frightful way of traveling,” said 
 Laura. 
 
 " Yes, my dear, but it is the only way of 
 reaching Quito. You must not forget that this 
 is the great road which has been traveled by the 
 Spaniards more than three centuries, and while 
 the government remains so unsettled, and the peo- 
 
100 
 
 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 pie so idle and ignorant, it will never be im- 
 proved. As we descend, the aspect gradually 
 changes. We find beautiful valleys which enjoy 
 a perpetual spring, nestling among the hills. 
 They look like the garden of Eden, at a distance. 
 An intelligent and industrious people would 
 make happy homes in them, but, like every part 
 of the republic, they are full of poverty and 
 wretchedness. 
 
 " Again our path ascends, and, skirting the 
 foot of Cotopaxi, winds, for weary miles, through 
 vast deposits of volcanic matter. This highest 
 and most terrible volcano on the earth stands 
 threateningly near, and its muttering thunder re- 
 minds us that the awful fire is still burning in its 
 bosom. Abreast of Cotopaxi the road crosses the 
 great water - shed of the continent, at a hight of 
 nearly twelve thousand feet. 
 
 " Descending, we soon reach a point where 
 the most magnificent prospect opens before us, 
 and we forget the toil and dangers of the journey 
 
Climate and Productions . 
 
 101 
 
 in the delight of the moment. Far away to the 
 south stretch the two Cordilleras till they are 
 lost in mist. Turning to the north, the city of 
 Quito lies at our feet, — 'the city above the 
 clouds.’ The green valley, with the city ‘like a 
 jewel on its bosom, the grand old mountains 
 encircling it like a mighty wall, is a glorious 
 sight, never forgotten by those who have looked 
 on it.” 
 
NINTH EVENING. 
 
 VISIT TO QUITO. 
 
 ERE we are in Quito,” said Henry, 
 
 f 
 
 and I am in a hurry to see how it 
 oks.” 
 
 This city,” replied Mrs. White, 
 " is peculiar in its situation. It is nearer the 
 equator, and can show a more genial climate and 
 more magnificent views than any other on earth. 
 It lies nine thousand and five hundred feet above 
 the sea, which is two thousand feet higher than 
 the highest habitable spot in Europe. 
 
 " To the traveler, emerging from the mount- 
 ains, weary with forests and rocks, bridgeless 
 rivers, frightful precipices and barren wastes, it 
 
Visit to Quito. 
 
 103 
 
 looks like a fairy city lying in the lap of the 
 Andes ; but as he approaches and examines its de- 
 tails, it appears to be a shabby and thriftless 
 place, like all the cities of Spanish America. 
 
 " The finest structures surround the great square 
 in the center of the city. Here are the public 
 buildings, some of which are three hundred years 
 old. They are quite massive and imposing, but 
 sadly out of repair. And here is the great 
 Cathedral, and the church of San Francisco, which 
 was built by the. treasures of Atahuallpa. The 
 interior of this church fairly blazes with gilding, 
 and reminds us of the splendor of the ancient 
 Peruvian temples.” 
 
 " I wonder if the poor Indians remember whose 
 gold built this church,” said Laura. 
 
 w They are silent, and appear very stupid and 
 indifferent, but it is said they cherish, with sacred 
 care, every relic of their former national glory, 
 and that they secretly hope for its return. The 
 mountaineers wear a small black poncho next 
 
104 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 their persons in mourning for the Inca. There 
 is something which touches our hearts in this 
 silent mourning for departed greatness, and this 
 forlorn hope for better days. 
 
 "Beyond the public buildings, the homes of 
 the Spanish aidstocracy are clustered around the 
 great square. Their houses are built of adobe, 
 two stories high. The first floor is occupied by 
 the Indian servants. They are lazy, thievish and 
 dirty, but they do all the work that is done. You 
 may sometimes see a dozen of them, with as 
 many naked, filthy children, in one house. The 
 second floor is occupied by the master and mis- 
 tress of this gang, who, however poor they may 
 be, are too proud for any labor. 
 
 "The habitations of the Indians, which encircle 
 this city, are miserable mud huts, filthy within and 
 without.” 
 
 " O mamma,” exclaimed Laura, " is this ever- 
 green Quito? I am afraid, after all our trouble 
 to get here, we shall be in a hurry to get away.” 
 

Visit to Quito. Page 105. 
 
Visit to Quito , 
 
 105 
 
 "This Is the architectural aspect. There are 
 many other things to observe* but I think you will 
 find nothing except the beauties and wonders of 
 nature to tempt you to remain long. 
 
 " As we walk through the streets, everything is 
 so different ’ from the cities of; the north, that we 
 wonder if we have not been transported to Asia 
 or Africa. Here , are groups of men in gay pon- 
 chos, not hurrying to and fro , intent on business 
 or pleasure, but lounging in front of the shops, 
 or leaning listlessly against the walls, and Indians 
 creeping along with heavy water -jars or big 
 baskets on their backs, or sitting by heaps of veg- 
 etables which* they have brought from the mount- 
 ains for sale. Here are files of bare - footed 
 soldiers, strange - looking mei^ with an uncertain 
 mixture of Spanish, Indian and Negro blood in 
 their veins, and long processions of monks in 
 white robes which reach to their feet, and priests 
 in similar garments of black, all wearing enor- 
 mous hats turned up in a comical way at the sides. 
 
106 Evenings with the Children* 
 
 Occasionally we meet a Spanish gentleman, one 
 who boasts his descent from the conquerors. He 
 disdains the poncho, and wears the classic cloak 
 of old Spain ; hence the citizens are divided into 
 men with ponchos and gentlemen with cloaks. 
 The ladies are not troubled about the fashion of 
 hats or bonnets. They . have gone a step beyond 
 us, and discard them altogether.” 
 
 "Do they wear mantillas over their heads, like 
 the ladies of Guayaquil? ” said Laura. 
 
 " Yes, my dear, they call it a paneulon, and it 
 seems the most indispensable article of female 
 dress. 
 
 " There is one thing hei*e which never fails to 
 please the stranger, and which goes far to cover 
 a multitude of sin^. And that is the universal 
 politeness. We observe it in every class, from 
 the proud aristocrat down to the ragged beggar 
 who stretches out his leprous hand to us for char- 
 ity in the street. There is none of the rudeness 
 and insolence which many people consider as 
 
Visit to Quito. 
 
 107 
 
 proofs of equality and independence. And 
 though there is very little mutual confidence or 
 real friendship, they contrive, by their profuse 
 compliments and promises, to soothe all passions 
 and to prevent quarrels.” 
 
 " But is it a good thing,” said Henry, " to con- 
 ceal enmity and distrust with all this politeness ? ” 
 
 " Politeness is always good, and enmity and dis- 
 trust are evil under all conditions, but whether 
 they are worse, concealed under a mask of civil- 
 ity, "or openly revealed in all their ugliness, is a 
 question we have not time to discuss ; however, 
 amid the ignorance, superstition and idleness of 
 the Quitonians, we are glad to acknowledge ' 
 any merit which they possess.” 
 
 " I always thought,” said Laura, " that people 
 who live among the mountains were bold and 
 manly ; that there was something like their own 
 hills in them.” 
 
 "I think that is generally true,” said the 
 mother, smiling, " and perhaps the character of 
 
108 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 the people of Quito is as peculiar as its situation. 
 We should suppose that men surrounded by 
 everything so truly beautiful, so sublimely grand 
 in nature, would have some corresponding virtues ; 
 but here, in the. very midst of the mighty mount- 
 ains, which are the symbols of the strength and 
 righteousness of God, we find a weak and igno- 
 rant people, and one of the most corrupt and un- 
 stable governments on the earth. It is painful to 
 look on their poverty in the midst of such bound- 
 less natural wealth, to see their miserable mud 
 houses, their abominable roads and neglected 
 fields, and to remember their advantages for 
 * beauty and comfort.” 
 
 " But what makes them contented to live so ? ” 
 said Henry. " Why do they not go to work and 
 improve their condition ? ” 
 
 " A high civilization is the result of many in- 
 fluences, the effect of many causes, some of 
 which lie deep in our natures, or far back in the 
 ages which have passed ; but the most potent and 
 
Visit to Quito . 
 
 109 
 
 indispensable force is a pure Christianity, and 
 that is what this people have lacked. The 
 Roman Catholic church, established here by the 
 conquerors, has had for three centuries complete 
 control oyer them, and we see what they have be- 
 come under its influence. One - fourth part of 
 Quito is covered with churches and convents. 
 The priests and monks, who are notoriously idle, 
 ignorant and immoral, swarm like locusts. The 
 time is consumed in shows and processions, which 
 amuse the idle and ignorant populace, but noth- 
 ing is done to make them wiser or better. As in 
 all Catholic countries, the Bible is kept from the 
 people, and, instead of it, they are taught legends 
 of the saints, Latin prayers which they do not 
 understand, and a blind, bigoted faith in the 
 church . 
 
 "You ask why they are contented in their pov- 
 erty and ignorance. I think the great cause is, 
 they lack the stimulus which the ' truth as it is in 
 Jesus’ supplies to society. We find a similar 
 
110 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 condition in all Catholic countries, -and the pov- 
 erty and degradation are in proportion as this 
 corrupt religion Has more or less control. Let us 
 be thankful for the Bible, and remember that we 
 are not only indebted to it for spiritual light and 
 immortal joys, but that it lies at the foundation 
 of our political ‘Strength and social happiness. 
 
 " Let us turn now from society, where we find 
 so much to condemn and deplore, and observe 
 the wonderful beauty and exhaustless wealth 
 which God has bestowed on this mountain region. 
 The climate is perfect. Here they never faint 
 under the summer sun nor shiver in the winter 
 blasts. Frost is unknown, and fires are never 
 made for warmth.” 
 
 " Ah,” said Laura, " how delightful that must 
 be, never to fear a frost ! ” 
 
 "But there is no skating,” said Henry, " and 
 no coasting, though there are ever so many hills. 
 I do n’t think I should like it.” 
 
 " There are nine snowy peaks within sight,” re- 
 
Visit to Quito. 
 
 Ill 
 
 plied the mother, laughing, "but I can not promise 
 that they afford fine coasting. The atmosphere 
 is of transparent clearness, and objects are seen 
 at an amazing distance. The stars stand out and 
 shine with a peculiar light. The diseases com- 
 mon in hot regions are unknown. If there is a 
 spot on the earth where men ought to live without 
 sickness, it is here, for it seems as if the diseases 
 from which they suffer may all be traced to their 
 bad diet and filthy habits ; and it is said that, even 
 with these, the doctors find it hard to live. 
 
 " This little state of Equador presents every 
 grade of climate; so, also, it is capable of every 
 variety of vegetable production. Professor Orton 
 says : ' As the Equadorian sees all the constella- 
 tions of the firmament, so nature surrounds him 
 with representatives of every family of plants. 
 There are places where the eye may look up to 
 a barley -field and potato patch, and down to 
 the sugar - cane and pine - apple .’ 99 
 
TENTH EVENING. 
 
 WONDERFUL MOUNTAINS. 
 
 "You may well say the wonderful mountains, 
 for no where else on the earth is there such a 
 display of terrific grandeur. ' Twenty volcanoes, 
 presided over by the princely Chimborazo and 
 Cotopaxi, rise out of a sublime congregation of 
 mountains surrounding the famous valley of 
 Quito/ Twenty-two summits wear their crowns 
 of perpetual snow under the vertical sun.” 
 
 " But why does not somebody ascend these 
 
 AMMA,” said Henry, "please 
 let us learn something more about 
 these wonderful mountains which in- 
 close this beautiful valley of Quito.” 
 
Wonderful Mountains . 
 
 113 
 
 mountains, and tell us more particularly about 
 them?” said Laura. "A great many people 
 climb the Alps and write about the glaciers, and 
 avalanches, and Alpine torrents, till I feel as if I 
 had seen them.” 
 
 "As I told you, my dear, the highest of these 
 mountains are, no doubt, inaccessible. The great 
 Humboldt made the attempt to ascend Chimbo- 
 razo sixty-eight years ago, but he gave up in de-* 
 spair four thousand feet below the summit. The 
 intrepid Bolivar, who gave his name to the state 
 of Bolivia, went somewhat higher, but he, too 
 returned a defeated man. A few years ago a 
 Frenchman named Boussingault, after prodigious 
 labor, reached the elevation of nineteen thousand 
 six hundred feet, — -the highest point ever trodden 
 by the foot of man,— but the dome, in its inap- 
 proachable glory, still lay nearly two thousand 
 feet above him.” 
 
 " Are there glaciers and avalanches here, as in 
 the Alps? ” asked Henry. 
 
114 
 
 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 " Neither are found here. Humboldt ascribes 
 their, absence to the steepness of the mountains, 
 and to the dryness of the air. The great Chirn- 
 purazu, or the snowy mountain, as the word 
 means, ' sits motionless, in calm serenity and 
 unbroken silence, — a silence which is absolute 
 and actually oppressive ; but there was a time 
 when that cold silvery dome gleamed with vol- 
 ‘canic fires, and the mountain, now so still, 
 rocked and reeled in the awful convulsions which 
 plowed its sides with furrows and rent them with 
 chasms so dark and deep that they seem to lead 
 to the confines of the lower world.’ This is the 
 monarch leading a long train of ambitious peaks 
 in the western Cordillera. Next to him, and 
 separated only by a deep and narrow valley, is 
 Caraguairaza, which the Indians call the wife of 
 Chimborazo. A hundred and seventy years ago, 
 the top of this mountain fell in, and torrents of 
 mud and water, containing multitudes of fishes, 
 flowed out. 
 
Wonderful Mountains . 115 
 
 "We have not time to notice all these mount- 
 ains, but we will give a little attention to Pichin- 
 cha, whose smoking crater is within six miles 
 of the city of Quito. This mountain is consid- 
 ered a little one among the Andes, and its sum- 
 mit not difficult, of access, though it is nearly a 
 thousand feet higher than Mont Blanc. Some 
 French scholars ascended it in 1742, and, sixty 
 years later, Humbolt stood on the rim of the 
 great crater, and pronounced the bottom inac- 
 cessible from its great depth and precipitous 
 descent. This is the deepest crater on the* 
 globe, — at least, it is the deepest which has 
 been seen by human eyes. 
 
 " The traveler who visits this mountain secures 
 an Indian guide and a horse or mule that has 
 been trained to the perilous mountain paths. He 
 passes through a dense forest that belts the vol- 
 cano up to the hight of 12,000 feet, emerging 
 gradually into a thicket of stunted bushes, and 
 then entering the dreary region covered only with 
 
116 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 a stiff, wiry grass. Toiling upwards, he reaches 
 the base of the cone, where vegetation ceases, 
 and the path becomes so steep that he must leave 
 his mule and try it with hands and feet. The 
 cone is covered with cinders and sand, which 
 slip beneath the feet. As he creeps upward, he 
 finds snow in the clefts of the rocks, and here 
 and there a delicate flower rises out of the vol- 
 canic dust. The work is hard, requiring strength 
 of purpose and strength of muscle, but when it 
 is accomplished, and he stands on the summit, 
 toil and dangers are forgotten. As he gazes 
 around him, he learns the full meaning of the 
 words, ' sublimely awful.’ To the east are the 
 snowy peaks of the eastern Cordillera, which 
 look 'like icebergs floating in a sea of clouds,’ 
 and Cotopaxi, from its smoking cone, sends him 
 a salute like the peal of a thousand cannon. To 
 the west, the parallel ridges of the mountain 
 chains drop one behind the other like gigantic 
 stairs, and are lost in a white sea of cloud that 
 
W onderful Mountains . 117 
 
 covers the coast ; and at his feet he beholds a 
 frightful opening in the earth, nearly a mile wide 
 and a half mile deep, out of which rolls a cloud 
 of sulphurous smoke.” 
 
 "You remember, mamma,” said Laura, "that 
 we read Richardson’s description of the Yo Sem- 
 ite valley. I thought then that that was the 
 most wonderful place in the world. He said he 
 was perfectly overwhelmed wheh he looked down 
 into the great gulf, but it seems to me that it is 
 nothing to this.” 
 
 " That wonderful valley must awake very 
 different emotions from this place. It is as deep 
 as this crater, but the eye looks down on a scene 
 of quiet beauty, enclosed by those gigantic walls. 
 Here everything is awful as well as grand. The 
 black, rugged rocks which surround the great 
 basin, seem like a fitting wall to the infernal re- 
 gion. No sign of animal or vegetable life exists 
 here. Not an insect moves his wing, not a lichen 
 clings to the scathed and beetling crags. The 
 
118 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 silence is broken alone by the low muttering of 
 the smoldering fires, and the hissing and bub- 
 bling of boiling water in the great caldron be- 
 neath, or the awful thunderings of the neighbor- 
 ing volcanoes. The snowy peaks, miles above 
 the clouds, which surround the spot like sleepless 
 sentinels, add to the solemn magnificence and 
 help to produce the most profound impressions. 
 
 " I told you that Humboldt pronounced the 
 bottom of the crater inaccessible, but several 
 persons have proved that he was mistaken.” 
 
 ” Has any one ever really been down into this 
 crater? ” said Henry. " I thought the bottom of 
 a crater was full of fire, hot lava, and smoking 
 sulphur. How can any person live there ? ” 
 
 " Your ideas of a crater are not quite correct. 
 They differ greatly in different mountains, and 
 you must not imagine that the description of this 
 one will apply exactly to any other. This is a 
 monstrous funnel-shaped basin. The traveler 
 enters it on the southern side, which is the least 
 
Wonderful Mountains . 
 
 119 
 
 precipitous, and, amid rolling stones and treach- 
 erous sands, in imminent peril of life and limbs, 
 he slides and tumbles downward. When he has 
 reached the bottom, he finds a deeply - furrowed 
 plain strewn with rugged rocks* containing a few 
 patches of vegetation and half a dozen species of 
 flowers. In the center is an irregular heap of 
 stones, two hundred and sixty feet high by eight 
 hundred in diameter. This is the cone of erup- 
 tion, its sides and summit covered with an impos- 
 ing group of vents seventy in number, all lined 
 with sulphur and exhaling steam, black smoke, 
 and sulphurous gas. 
 
 " This is the description Prof. Orton gave of 
 it three years ago. At that time, the volcano was 
 in a state of rest. Two centuries had elapsed 
 since the last eruption, which covered Quito three 
 feet deep with. ashes and stones, and furrowed the 
 mountain side with torrents of bitumen and boil- 
 ing water. Since the great earthquake, two 
 years ago, Pichincha has shown signs of activity, 
 
120 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 sending forth dense clouds of black smoke, and 
 so much sand that one can not reach the crater.” 
 " O mamma,” said Laura, " what has become 
 of the poor little flowers, then? ” 
 
 " They have no doubt perished with every 
 other living thing, leaving the horrid pit utterly 
 desolate. It seemed strange to find such sweet 
 and beautiful things in such a place.” 
 
 • ” They certainly were 
 
 ‘ born to blusli unseen, 
 
 And waste their sweetness on the sulphurous air,’ ” 
 said Henry. "But after all, mamma, I -think I 
 shall not settle among the Andes. The mount- 
 ains are very grand, the climate delightful, and 
 the’ fruits delicious ; yet it can not be pleasant to 
 live in fear of being swallowed up by an earth- 
 quake or buried by a volcano.” 
 
 " Henry is growing sensible,” said Laura ; " I 
 supposed he would want to know just how an 
 earthquake would feel.” 
 
 "Henry is generally sensible,” said the mother, 
 laughing. " Perhaps he would like to know how 
 
Wonderful Mountains . 
 
 121 
 
 a snow - capped mountain looks just on the 
 equator. There is but one such spot on the 
 earth, and that is the mountain Cayambi, nine- 
 teen thousand five hundred feet high. It stands 
 in full view from Quito, gloriously magnificent 
 when illuminated by the sun, and looking like 
 ' a gigantic ghost in sepulchral sheets ’ when the 
 twilight comes on. Thirty miles north of Quito 
 is the province of Imbabura, which was made 
 desolate by the earthquake of 1868. On the 
 16th of August, while the people slept, there 
 was one tremendous shock, lasting not more 
 than a minute ; but in that minute ten cities and 
 villages were laid in ruins, and fifty thousand 
 persons perished. Do you remember that we 
 read about it in the newspapers ? ” 
 
 " Oh, yes,” replied Laura; "but I did not 
 think much about it. It seemed a great way off.” 
 " I can not describe other mountains which sur- 
 round Quito. You can read what travelers have 
 written about them.” 
 
ELEVENTH EVENING. 
 
 ANIMALS AND BIRDS. 
 
 Q NOT let us forget the animals, 
 mamma. I think there ought to be 
 some wonderful creatures among these 
 mountains,” said Henry. 
 
 ” South America is more distinguished for vege- 
 table than animal life, yet it is not without inter- 
 est in this respect, as it has some animals which 
 are unknown in other parts of the world, the 
 most remarkable of which are the llamas, or 
 American camels.” 
 
 " Oh, yes,” said Laura, " there is a picture of 
 a llama in our geography. I don’t think he 
 looks much like a camel.” 
 
Animals and Birds. 
 
 123 
 
 " That is very true, my dear,” said the mother, 
 examining the picture which Laura presented ; 
 " but there are some points of resemblance, which 
 I can not stop to explain to you, so that natural- 
 ists class them together. There are four species 
 of these animals, the llama proper, which is the 
 most common, the guanaco, the alpaca, and the 
 vicugna. These were called the four sheep of 
 the Incas. The llama is a domesticated animal, 
 and was the only beast of burden known to the 
 Peruvians at the time of the discovery. Unlike 
 the camel, it is a beautiful creature, with long, 
 slender neck, fine legs, a graceful carriage, soft, 
 restless eyes, and . quivering lips. It is gentle 
 and grateful for tender treatment, but shows 
 anger when injured, and sheds tears when in 
 pain. They are not strong and swifi; like horses. 
 A hundred pounds make a load for one of them, 
 and they are not able to travel more than twelve 
 or fifteen miles in a day. Though horses and 
 mules have taken their place to a great degree, 
 
124 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 you may still see the Indian and liis llama trudg- 
 ing along together. He shifts the burden from 
 his own broad shoulders to the back of his faith- 
 ful beast, which bears it as long as it is able, and 
 then the master takes it again ; so they help 
 each other along.” 
 
 " Please tell us the color of the llamas,” 
 said Henry. 
 
 ” Sometimes white, but generally brown, with 
 patches of white. The guanaco, or wild llama, 
 is a deep, rich fawn color, varying to white on 
 the under parts, and the alpaca is various shades 
 of maroon brown, the breast and inside of the 
 thighs being white. The vicugna is the most 
 beautiful of the species. It is smaller and more 
 graceful than the llamas, and the wool is exceed- 
 ingly fine and very valuable.” 
 
 ” The wool, mamma ? ” cried Laura. " Do 
 these annuals have wool ? ” 
 
 " Yes, my dear. I told you they were some- 
 times called the four sheep of the Incas. At the 
 
Animals and Birds. 
 
 125 
 
 time of the conquest, there were immense num- 
 bers in the country, and they were of the utmost 
 importance to the people. The fleece of the 
 llama, which was the coarsest and most abun- 
 dant, clothed the multitude, the guanaco and al- 
 paca served the nobles, and the soft and beautiful 
 vicugna was reserved for royal use. The native 
 fabrics from these wools were highly valued by 
 the Spaniards ; but, with a thoughtless improvi- 
 dence, they wantonly destroyed the flocks which 
 had been so carefully preserved by the Indians. 
 Guanacos, alpacas and vicugnas are still found 
 in large numbers among the mountains, where 
 they are hunted for their fleeces.” 
 
 " How do they catch them? ” said Henry. " I 
 should think it would be as difficult as hunting 
 chamois among the Alps.” 
 
 " A large number of Indians assemble together 
 when they are going to hunt the wild llamas or 
 vicugnas. They make strong ropes of the vines 
 which grow so plentifully in this country, with 
 
126 
 
 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 which they inclose two sides of a triangle. Then 
 they separate, and, inclosing a flock, drive them 
 into the open side of the triangle, and frighten 
 them along till they are huddled together in the 
 apex, where the poor creatures are slaughtered 
 without mercy. Sometimes they stop the small 
 part of a mountain gorge, into which they drive 
 them.” 
 
 ” The Africans catch elephants in a way much 
 like that,” said Henry ; " but are there no savage 
 wild beasts ? nothing to hunt but these innocent, 
 timid llamas ? ” 
 
 "Oh, yes, there are pumas and tiger - cats 
 among, the mountains, but they are not numerous 
 like the wild beasts of Africa, and one may travel 
 days without seeing a dangerous animal. The 
 jaguar, which I told you was found in Central 
 America, is not uncommon east of the Andes, 
 but I believe it is never found here. The tapir 
 is the largest native quadruped. This animal be- 
 longs to the same order as the elephant. Pie is 
 
Animals and Birds. 
 
 127 
 
 from five to six feet in bight, with a thick, dark 
 colored skin. Though he is a powerful and 
 strange looking beast, yet, if he is not disurbed, 
 he is quite harmless. He is sometimes tamed, and 
 becomes as completely domesticated, and as much 
 at home among men, as a dog.” 
 
 " What a nice pet ! ” said Laura. 
 
 " Rather an awkward pet, my dear, but many 
 persons believe he might be made very valuable 
 as a beast of burden. His docility and great 
 strength are strong recommendations for such serv- 
 ice. You know that in Asia the elephant is 
 taught to work.” 
 
 "Yes,” said Henry, "and if the Indians would 
 employ the tapir instead of the llama, they them- 
 selves might ride instead of helping to carry 
 their little loads.” 
 
 " The peccari, which belongs to the hog tribe, 
 is perhaps the most pugnacious and dangerous 
 animal. They are generally found in herds. 
 They seem entirely insensible to fear, and fight 
 
128 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 with terrible ferocity when they are attacked. 
 There are many other small animals which we 
 have not time to notice ; but, as I told you, the 
 wild beasts of South America, especially west of 
 the Andes, are not, like those of Africa, either 
 numerous or savage.” 
 
 " But the birds, mamma,” said Laura ; " I 
 hope ther£ are plenty of birds.” 
 
 " Yes, my dear, there are plenty of birds, but 
 here among the mountains there are none which 
 you will particularly notice except the humming 
 birds and the condor, and they are the two ex- 
 tremes, the smallest and the largest of birds. 
 The condor appears in its glory among the mount- 
 ains. The usual spread of its wings is nine feet. 
 Though it is a cowardly robber, with a loathsome 
 taste for putrescence and death, yet, when it is 
 seen soaring above the summit of Chimborazo, 
 or poising with unwearied wings over the fiery 
 cone of Cotopaxi, gazing with fearless eyes into 
 the awful gulf which mortal vision may never see, 
 
Animals and Birds. 
 
 129 
 
 we call it a glorious bird, as it certainly is. 
 
 "tip to the line where vegetation ceases, .the 
 beautiful humming birds are seen side by side 
 with the condor, and the warm, sunny valleys 
 fairly swarm with them. Like the flowers on 
 which they feed, their presence is a perpetual de- 
 light. East of the mountains, in the great val- 
 ley of the Amazon, the feathered race appears 
 in robes of richest colors. I will not tell you 
 about them now, but confine your attention to 
 the mountains and highlands. 
 
 It is one of the blessings of these high regions 
 that they are free from the reptiles which infest 
 low tropical countries. Alligators are unknown, 
 and snakes, frogs and lizards are rarely seen. 
 Of fishes, there is but one solitary species, and that 
 a little thing about as long as one’s finger. Mos- 
 quitoes, bed - bugs and the myriad kinds of flies 
 which render life a torture on the coast, do not 
 seem to enjoy the mountain air. Fleas and lice, 
 however, are plenty among the filthy Indians. 
 
130 Evenings with the Children. 
 
 " In the southern part of the valley of Quito 
 there are large plantations of cactus, on which the 
 cochineal insects are raised for market.” 
 
 "I remember,” said Laura, "you told us 
 about the cactus plantations and the cochineal in- 
 sects in Central America.” 
 
 " Silk worms have been introduced into the 
 country within a few years. The soil and climate 
 seem so well adapted to their production, that, if 
 the people are not too indolent, silk culture will 
 soon become a source of wealth to Equador.” 
 " Here is a great region east of the mountains,” 
 said Henry, examining his map. " Who live 
 here, and what kind of animals and fruits and 
 flowers are there in all this wide land ? ” 
 
 " In our next talk I will tell you about the dis- 
 covery of the Amazon, and the perilous adven- 
 tures of early travelers in this region.” 
 
TWELFTH EVENING. 
 
 EL DORADO. 
 
 5 PROMISED to tell you something 
 about the discovery of the Amazon this 
 evening,” said Mrs. White, as’ the 
 children laid their books aside and 
 drew their chairs near her. 
 
 " Yes, mamma,” said Henry, "and we are 
 quite impatient to hear about it.” 
 
 " I hope you remember what I have told you 
 of the discovery and conquest of the Peruvian 
 empire,” said the mother. 
 
 " Oh, yes,” said Laura,” I shall not forget 
 the cruel and treacherous Pizarro, nor the unfor- 
 tunate Atahuallpa.” 
 
V 
 
 132 Evenings icith the Children . 
 
 " The discovery of the Amazon is connected 
 with the conquest of Peru. You remember that 
 Quito was included in the empire of the Inca. 
 After the conquerors had overrun the southern 
 part, they hastened to take possession of this 
 also. In the year 1540, seven years after the 
 death of Atahuallpa, Gonzalo Pizarro, a brother 
 of Francisco Pizarro, was appointed a governor 
 of Quito with authority to make conquests or 
 discoveries towards the east. The avarice of the 
 Spaniards, far from being satisfied with the im- 
 mense treasures they had acquired in Peru, was 
 only inflamed by them. The word of God as- 
 sures us that ' he who loveth silver shall not be 
 satisfied with silver, nor he that loveth abun- 
 dance, with increase ; ? and we see a confirmation 
 of this truth in the history of these adventurers. 
 Unsatisfied and restless, they dreamed of other 
 conquests and richer spoils, and the Indians 
 knew how to excite their cupidity and ambition 
 by fabulous stories of a land of gold, — an El 
 
El Dorado . 
 
 133 
 
 Dorado, the Spaniards called it, — in the east. 
 No fiction concerning this land was too extrava- 
 gant for belief. They had seen the silver aque- 
 ducts and the golden fountains of Cuzco, and 
 they had some excuse for their credulity. 
 
 " This fabulous kingdom, shaped out of the 
 half - comprehended tales of the Indians and 
 their own extravagant fancies, was said to be 
 governed by a king who wore a more costly 
 attire than any other monarch on the earth. I 
 think you will laugh when I tell you how they 
 said he was dressed.” 
 
 " Oh, do tell us,” cried Laura ; " was it more 
 magnificent than the robes of the Inca made of 
 the fine wool of the vicugna, and adorned with 
 gold and emeralds ? ” 
 
 " It was quite different, my dear, — a daily 
 coating of pure gold dust. This fabulous king 
 bathed every morning in the perfumed waters of 
 a golden cistern, then his body was covered with 
 a costly and fragrant gum, and gold dust was 
 
134 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 showered over him till he was completely coated.” 
 "He saved the tailor’s bills, didn’t he, mam- 
 ma? ” said Henry, laughing. 
 
 " I think he ought to save in something,” said 
 Laura. " He must have found a new suit of 
 gold every morning quite expensive.” 
 
 " The great city of Manoa, where this gilded 
 king was supposed to reside, was represented as 
 wonderfully magnificent. The columns of the 
 royal palace were of alabaster, the throne was of 
 ivory, and the steps leading to it of gold. Indeed, 
 there was no end to the silver, the gold and the 
 precious stones ; and, besides these, the land was 
 represented rich as beyond comparison in deli- 
 cious fruits and precious spices. 
 
 " These fables had long captivated the imagi- 
 nation of Gonzalo Pizarro, and, when he found 
 himself intrusted with the government of Quito, 
 he resolved to explore the region to the east, 
 hoping, by the greatness of his discoveries and 
 conquests, to rival, if not eclipse, his brother. 
 
El Dorado . 
 
 135 
 
 He found among his followers an enthusiasm 
 equal to his own, and in a short time he mustered 
 three hundred and fifty Spaniards, one hundred 
 aud fifty of whom were mounted, and four thou- 
 sand Indians. All were equipped- .in the most 
 complete manner for the great undertaking. He 
 provided against famine by large stores of provis- 
 ions, and an immense drove of swine which 
 followed in the rear. 
 
 " Moving eastward from Quito, they were 
 obliged to cross the eastern cordillera of the 
 Andes. I think we have but a faint and imperfect 
 idea of the perils of travel among those mighty 
 mountains. Many of the adventurers perished in 
 the intricate passes or found a wintry grave on 
 the snowy hights. An earthquake, which shook 
 the mountains % and rent them with fearful cavi- 
 ties, added to their perils, and warned them from 
 their undertaking, but Gonzalo Fizarro was not 
 a man to turn back when glory or gold beckoned 
 him on. 
 
136 
 
 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 "Escaping from the mountains, they found the 
 fierce cold succeeded by suffocating heat, while 
 tempests of thunder and lightning, and deluges 
 of rain poured on their unprotected heads day 
 and night. 
 
 " Every tribe of Indians they met was inter- 
 rogated about El Dorado, and when they were 
 unable to give any intelligence of it, they, were 
 put to torture ; some were burned alive, and 
 others were torn to pieces by blood - hounds.” 
 
 " What cruel people ! ” exclaimed Laura. 
 " It is a pity they were not all swallowed up 
 by the earthquake.” 
 
 "The effect of their cruelty returned upon their 
 own heads with terrible vengeance. As tidings of 
 their approach spread from tribe to tribe, the 
 poor natives learned to flatter their hopes and 
 send them along. Their clothes, kept constantly 
 wet, rotted and fell from them. They were 
 forced to wade over flooded plains and marshes J 
 and to cross swift and dangerous mountain 
 
El Dorado . 
 
 137 
 
 streams ; they were tortured by clouds of poison- 
 ous insects ; still they pressed on, and after some 
 months they reached the cinnamon forests.” 
 
 " Cinnamon forests ? ” cried Henry. " I thought 
 that cinnamon grew in Ceylon.” 
 
 " So it does, and the cinnamon we use comes 
 from that island ; but here in South America there 
 are great forests of cinnamon trees. The qual- 
 ity, however, is considered inferior, and it has 
 not been exported to any great extent. The 
 Spaniards were seeking for precious spices, you 
 know. They found this, but in this remote 
 region it could be of no use to them. 
 
 " The Indians, taught to deceive by their 
 cruelty, always assured them the land of gold 
 and of plenty was just before them. Sometimes 
 they \yere forced to hew open a passage with 
 their axes through the thick forests, where the 
 trees of stupendous growth were woven together 
 with gigantic vines.” 
 
 '' * Did they find any trees in this region , as 
 
138 
 
 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 large as the great trees of California ? ” inquired 
 Laura. 
 
 " Yes, dear, if we may believe their report, 
 they found trees so large that sixteen men could 
 hardly encompass them with their extended arms. 
 As they pushed their way onward, their condi- 
 tion grew worse and worse. First their provis- 
 ions failed. The hogs, of which they had such a 
 great drove, had been consumed or made their 
 escape in the woods and mountains, and the 
 dogs and horses had been killed and eaten ; and, 
 when these were gone, they had only such fruits 
 and roots as they could gather in the woods. 
 
 " At length the weary adventurers reached the 
 Napo, which, as you will see on the map, flows 
 from the north-west into the Amazon ; but the 
 river brought them no relief. No living thing 
 was found on its borders but the wild tenants of 
 the wilderness. Huge anacondas floated in the 
 water or coiled among the trees ; loathsome 
 alligators swarmed on the borders of the stream, 
 
El Dorado . 
 
 139 
 
 and monkeys screamed and grinned above their 
 heads. For weeks they wandered in this in- 
 hospitable wilderness, their number daily de- ' 
 creasing from famine and sickness. 
 
 " Finally, spent with toil and suffering, Gon- 
 zalo resolved to construct a bark large enough to 
 carry the sick and feeble. It was a work of 
 great difficulty, and cost them two months’ labor ; 
 but its completion was a triumph, and they hoped 
 to find it of great service. As they moved down 
 the river, they fell in with Indians, who assured 
 them that th ft stream emptied into a still larger 
 one, and at the junction there was a fruitful coun- 
 try abounding in provisions.” 
 
 ” Had they abandoned the idea of finding the 
 gilded king, and his wonderful city ? ” inquired 
 Laura. 
 
 " I think at this time they were more anxious 
 for food than gold. It is probable that they were 
 three or four hundred miles from the point where 
 the Napo unites with the Amazon. Get your 
 
140 
 
 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 map and fix the locality as near as you can.” 
 The children examined their map, and, apply- 
 ing a scale of miles to the river, decided where the 
 adventurers must have been. 
 
 " Remember that they had been wandering 
 amono’ the mountains and through the trackless 
 forests of this region eighteen months, that one 
 half of their number had perished, that they were 
 now in a miserable condition, far from all human 
 aid. Though they were reckless and avaricious 
 men, following a phantom which fled before them, 
 we ought to give them credit for conferring on the 
 world its first knowledge of this land, a knowl- 
 edge which they gained by untold suffering and 
 toil. In our next talk, I will tell you of their 
 further adventures.” 
 
THIRTEENTH EVENING. 
 
 TREACHERY OF ORELLANA, 
 
 !§V*E want to know what became of 
 the Spaniards/’ said Laura. " You 
 remember, mamma, we left them on 
 the river Napo, three or four hun- 
 dred miles from the Amazon.” 
 
 "Yes, my dear,” replied Mrs. White; "we 
 left them in a wretched condition, suffering for 
 food. Flattered by the stories of the Indians, 
 Pizarro resolved to halt where he was, and send 
 one of his officers, named Orellana, in his brig- 
 antine, to the confluence of the rivers, that he 
 might procure, in that land of plenty, a load of 
 
142 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 provisions, which would put them in a condition 
 to resume their march. That cavalier, taking 
 with him fifty of the strongest men, pushed off 
 into the middle of the river, and they were speed- 
 ily borne by the swift current beyond the sight of 
 their comrades. 
 
 " Weeks passed away, and the vessel on which 
 they had fixed their hopes did not return. You 
 must try to imagine with what ‘anxiety these fam- 
 ishing people watched for it, as, day by day, they 
 were exhausting the scant supplies of food around 
 them. At last, unable to endure the suspense 
 or to sustain themselves longer in their present 
 quarters, they determined to proceed to the junc- 
 tion of the rivers. Two months were consumed 
 in this weary and dreadful journey, and when 
 they had reached the spot so long desired, and 
 looked on the mighty river bearing the tribute of 
 a thousand streams to the far-off ocean, they 
 found little mitigation of their woe.” 
 
 "But what had become of the vessel, and of 
 
Treachery of Orellana . 143 
 
 Orellana and his men ? Had they all been 
 drowned ? ” inquired Henry. 
 
 "Oh, no, they had not been drowned ; and a 
 few days after they reached this place, Pizarro 
 and his companions learned what had become of 
 them. A party, exploring the forest for food, 
 discovered a mail whom, though naked and nearly 
 starved, they recognized as one of their com- 
 rades who sailed with Orellana. He told them 
 that, borne by the rapid stream, they had reached 
 the Amazon in three days, but, instead of .finding 
 food to load their vessel, they scarcely found 
 enough for their own wants. Here Orellana 
 formed the extraordinary resolution which, though 
 it has given his name a place in history, has 
 stained it indellibly with ingratitude and treach- 
 ery. Instead of returning to his unfortunate 
 commander and perishing companions, he de- 
 termined to launch his bark on the bosom of the 
 great river, and descend its waters to its mouth, 
 thus securing to himself the glory of whatever 
 
144 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 discoveries might be made in that direction.” 
 " These Spaniards were as treacherous to each 
 other as to the poor Indians, mamma,” said 
 Laura. "It is said that there is honor among 
 thieves, but I am sure there was none among 
 them. Why was this man left in the woods?” 
 
 " This man, whose name was Sanchez de Var- 
 gos, had objected to the purpose of Orellana 
 as treacherous and cruel, and his fidelity had been 
 rewarded by being set on shore and abandoned in 
 this desolate region.” 
 
 "I will remember his name,” said Henry, writ- 
 ing it in a pass - book. " I like him better than 
 any other Spaniard you have told us of.” 
 
 " I am glad he lived to tell his story,” said 
 Laura. " But did Orellana succeed in his pur- 
 pose, and reach the mouth of the Amazon? ” ' 
 "Yes, my dear ; but it was through such perils 
 and sufferings as very few have passed. This 
 adventurous voyage was commenced on the last 
 day of Dec., 1541. For many days they floated 
 
Treachery of Orellana . 
 
 145 
 
 down the river, whose inhospitable shores of- 
 fered them no relief. Their food was exhausted, 
 and they boiled their shoes and their leather 
 girdles in hope of deriving . nourishment from 
 them. Just as hope seemed departing, they dis- 
 covered an Indian village. Impelled by the 
 desperation of famine, they attacked the natives, 
 and, driving them into the forest, took possession 
 of their stores of provisions. 
 
 "This was only the beginning of their troubles. 
 They were seven months descending the river, 
 and constantly in peril from famine, from the 
 hostile Indians, — who fell upon them whenever 
 they attempted to land and sometimes attacked 
 them from their canoes,— and from the hidden 
 rocks and furious rapids of the unknown stream. 
 It was in the month of June that they said they 
 met the Amazons, or women warriors, from 
 whom the river is named.” 
 
 " But did they really meet women warriors ? ” 
 inquired Laura. 
 
146 Evenings with the Children. 
 
 "They said they did, and very formidable ene- 
 mies they represented them to be. It is gener- 
 ally believed, however, that they invented the 
 story to excite wonder and create an interest in 
 their discoveries. If this was so, it is a curious 
 fact that the memory of the fable is perpetuated 
 in the name of the great river, while the discov- 
 erer, who sacrificed his honor for the barren 
 glory of first navigating its waters, is almost for- 
 gotten. The aboriginal name, Parana Tinga, 
 which means King of Waters, was certainly very 
 pretty and yery appropriate, but it is said to be 
 seldom heard now, even among the Indians. 
 
 ' O Amazonas’ is the universal appellation of the 
 great river among those who float on its waters 
 and those who dwell on its banks.” 
 
 "But pray, mamma, what became of Pizarro 
 and his company ? ” said Henry. " How angry 
 they must have felt that Orellana had gone off 
 with the vessel for which they had labored so 
 hard.” 
 
Treachery of Orellana . 
 
 147 
 
 " It is impossible to describe their rage or their 
 despair, as they saw themselves thus deserted in 
 the wilderness and deprived of their only means 
 of escape. Then it was that the qualities of Gron- 
 zalo Pizarro, as a fit leader in the time of ex- 
 treme danger, shone out conspicuously. To ad- 
 vance further was hopeless. To remain where 
 they were, without food, raiment or shelter, was 
 impossible. They must return to Quito or per- 
 ish. But how could they meet the toils and suf- 
 ferings of that terrible journey of twelve hundred 
 miles ? All but the leader were ready to lie down 
 in hopeless despondency. He exhorted them to 
 make an effort for their lives, and by his own 
 courage and cheerfulness inspired them with hope 
 to commence their homeward march. 
 
 " I will not attempt to tell you of their suffer- 
 ings or adventures. After something more than 
 a year consumed in the homeward journey, the 
 wretched survivors reached the elevated plains, 
 from which they looked down on the city of 
 
148 Evenings ivith the Children . 
 
 Quito. But how different their aspect from 
 that which they exhibited two years and a half 
 before, when, with high, romantic hopes, they 
 issued from its gates ! Of the three hundred and 
 fifty Spaniards who went forth, eighty returned, 
 and they were more like skeletons from the 
 charnel house than like living men. Their faces 
 were burned and blackened by the tropical sun, 
 and their bodies were wasted by famine and dis- 
 ease, and sorely disfigured by scars. Their only 
 clothing was the skins of wild beasts, and their 
 hair and beard, long and matted, hung wildly 
 over their shoulders and breasts. The Spanish 
 inhabitants of the city went forth to meet them, 
 and while they ministered to their wants they 
 wept at the sad recital of their woes.” 
 
 Mrs. White paused, and Henry, examining 
 his map, remarked, — "This expedition was more 
 than three hundred years ago, before the earliest 
 settlement in this northern part of the continent, 
 and yet there are now very few towns or cities on 
 
Treachery of Orellana. 149 
 
 the great river or in the great valley which it 
 drains. ” 
 
 " That is very true,” she replied. " This great 
 region is still almost unsettled and unknown. 
 Nearly a hundred years passed after thnt expedi- 
 tion before the continent was crossed again, and 
 more than two hundred before a map of the river 
 was constructed or any reliable information ob- 
 tained.” 
 
 "I do not wonder,” said Laura, " after what 
 Pizarro and his men had suffered, that no one 
 wished to go in search of the gilded king, or to 
 waste his life in this terrible wilderness for the 
 sake of exploring it.” 
 
 " And yet, my dear, just about one hundred 
 years ago, an unprotected woman undertook this 
 journey.” 
 
 "A woman, mamma? what could tempt a 
 woman into such an undertaking ? ” 
 
 *D 
 
 ” A feeling which more frequently sways the 
 female heart than curiosity, ambition, or avarice ; 
 
150 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 it was love that moved her,— love of her hus- 
 band whom she had not seen in sixteen long 
 years.” 
 
 " Tell us about her, — who was she ? ” cried the 
 children. 
 
 ” This was a French lady named Madame Go- 
 din. Her husband was sent by the French gov- 
 ernment to make scientific observations in South 
 America. He took his family with him to Quito, 
 but, being ordered to Cayenne, he was forced to 
 leave them there. Year after year passed. The 
 husband could not return, and it was only at 
 long intervals that they Were able to communicate 
 with each other. The separation became insup- 
 portable to them. He attempted to ascend the 
 Amazon, but was taken sick and forced to re- 
 turn. A rumor, perhaps growing out of this at- 
 tempt, reached her that an expedition had been 
 dispatched to meet her on the upper Amazon, and 
 with a courage inspired by her deep affection, she 
 set out on the perilous journey. She was accom- 
 
Treachery of Orellana . 151 
 
 panied by her brother, her two children and five 
 servants. 
 
 They crossed the mountains, and followed the 
 Pastassa to its junction with the great river. 
 There they expected to obtain aid from the Indi- 
 ans, among whom Catholic missionaries had been 
 laboring ; but they found the missions desolated 
 from the ravages of small - pox, and they could 
 not find even a guide or canoe -man. They 
 found a canoe, however, and in this attempted to 
 descend the river ; but, unacquainted with nav- 
 igation and unaccustomed to toil, their frail bark 
 was soon wrecked, and they barely escaped with 
 their lives to the shore. They had no alterna- 
 tive but to attempt to make their way through 
 the awful solitude on foot. Their misery was 
 now beyond description, and you may attempt to 
 imagine the horrors which overwhelmed this he- 
 roic woman as she saw one after another of her 
 company lying down to die, till finally she found 
 herself the sole survivor. 55 
 
152 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 " O mamma ! ” cried Laura, " was she really 
 left alone in that great wilderness ? ” 
 
 " Yes, my dear, alone, nearly three thousand 
 miles from the ocean, without food, her feet torn 
 and bleeding, and her clothes falling from her. 
 But she did not sit down in despair. The hope 
 of meeting her husband seems to have inspired 
 her with superhuman strength. Taking the 
 shoes of one of the dead men, she traveled on, 
 subsisting on such wild fruit as she could find. 
 The wild denizens of the forest were her only 
 companions,— loathsome reptiles, frightful snakes 
 and savage beasts. But she was not forsaken. 
 A strong arm sustained and guided her ; and 
 through those days of wretchedness and nights of 
 horror, she knew that 'the angels of the Lord en- 
 camp around about them that fear him. 5 
 
 " One day she heard the sound of human 
 voices, and, hastening toward the river, discovered 
 a company of Indians in a canoe. Doubting 
 whether they would prove friends or enemies, she 
 
Treachery of Orellanas 
 
 153 
 
 discovered herself to them. They gave her all 
 the aid in their power, and conducted her to a 
 mission station, from which, after long delays 
 and great sufferings, she was conveyed down the 
 Amazon and restored to her husband. 
 
 " To - morrow evening I will tell you some- 
 thing of the present condition of this region.” 
 
FOURTEENTH EVENING. 
 
 DESCENDING THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 OW we -have had our lesson in 
 history,” said Henry, " and I think we 
 ought to proceed on our journey. I 
 would like to travel down the eastern 
 slope of the Andes, and see if the country is as 
 wild as when Pizarro visited it.” 
 
 They ought to have a road by this time,” 
 said Laura. "I hope they have, for I shall not 
 like to cut a path through the forest, and wade 
 the unbridged rivers.” 
 
 " Oh, that is nothing,” replied her brother. 
 " I shall be along to help you over the bad plac- 
 es, — but girls always are afraid ! ” 
 
Descending the Mountains . 155 
 
 Mrs. White laughed. " This journey of which 
 you are talking has tried the strength and cour- 
 age of the bravest men,” she said ; " but, escorted 
 by my valiant son, we need not fear ; so let us set 
 off. You thought that traveling over the mount- 
 ains on mules was rather rough, but if you go 
 east, you will have to trust to your own feet.” 
 
 " What, all the way, mamma?” cried Laura. 
 " Not quite all the way. Setting out from 
 Quito, we find a bridle path to Papallacta, a 
 distance of forty miles. This path lies over the 
 eastern Cordillera, and rises to the elevation of 
 fifteen thousand feet.” ^ 
 
 " So we have to climb, getting out of Quito 
 as well as getting into it,” said Henry. 
 
 "Yes, my dear ; and from this high point we 
 have one of the most magnificent prospects that 
 the earth affords. The mountains we are leaving 
 lie around us. To the north is Imbabura ; the 
 word means fish - producing, and comes from the 
 fact that this mountain sometimes pours forth 
 
156 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 from its crater immense quantities of mud and 
 water, with thousands of fishes. At its feet is 
 the beautiful lake of San Pablo, which contains 
 fishes of the same species as those which have 
 been thrown out of the mountain.” 
 
 " That must have been a ' pretty kettle of 
 fish,’ ” said Henry, " which was boiled in that 
 volcano, and thrown out with such a wasteful 
 hand ; just to think of it, thousands of fishes 
 served up with mud and water ! ” 
 
 " My dear,” said the mother, laughing, " your 
 remark proves that ' there is but one step from 
 thc^sublime to the ridiculous,’ but if this thought 
 helps you to remember the fact, we will pardon 
 it. 
 
 " Still nearer, in the same direction, is Cayambi, 
 standing exactly on the equator. I told you of this 
 mountain before, and I wish you to notice and 
 remember it. Its appearance from this point is 
 indescribably sublime. Rising to the hight of 
 nineteen thousand and five hundred feet, it seems 
 
Descending the Mountains . 157 
 
 a mighty mass of ice and snow, which the sun- 
 light kindles into ineffable glory. South, is 
 Antisana, a fierce volcano in ages past, second 
 only to Cotopaxi. Its sides have been rent by 
 internal fires, and plowed by rivers of molten lava ; 
 but now the snow lies cold and still, covering it 
 three thousand feet below its inapproachable sum- 
 mit. And still a little farther off is Cotopaxi 
 itself, the most terrific of volcanoes. We can 
 see the silvery cone from which issues a great 
 cloud of black smoke, and we can hear the deep 
 rumbling thunder of its subterranean fire. East- 
 ward, is the great valley we are about to enter. 
 It looks like a great ocean of foliage, rolling, wave 
 after wave, up the mountain side. 
 
 From this point the descent is frightful, through 
 quagmires and swamps, and down flights of rocky 
 steps. General Putnam’s famous ride was noth- 
 ing to it, but the Indian horses are trained to 
 such roads, and generally manage to carry their 
 riders safely. 
 
158 
 
 livening s with the Children . 
 
 Here, on the eastern slope of the mountains 
 and western edge of the great forest is Papal- 
 lacta, a village of thirty houses, or rather hovels, 
 miserable and dirty beyond description. With 
 their usual hospitality, the poor people offer us 
 the best they have, and even the governor and his 
 family will turn themselves out of doors that we 
 may have their best bed, which is a raw hide 
 stretched over some round poles.” 
 
 "Who can ever sleep on such a bed?” said 
 Laura. 
 
 " You remember you thought it very strange 
 that so few people travel in South America. 
 You begin to understand that it involves such 
 hardships as very few are willing to encounter. 
 If you follow the track of Pizarro, you must pre- 
 pare yourself for still greater privations. 
 
 " Here we must bid farewell to our horses, and 
 hire Indians to carry our baggage and guide us 
 through the wilderness. Our outfit for this jour- 
 ney requires more calculation and care than for a 
 
Descending the Mountains . 
 
 159 
 
 voyage round the world. We shall be cut off for 
 weeks, perhaps for months, from all resources east 
 or west, and we must carry everything with us 
 that is indispensable to life.” 
 
 " Why can we not catch game, and live as 
 travelers do in Africa, and in our own western 
 forest?” inquired Henry. 
 
 " Because wild animals are not plenty enough 
 to be depended on for food, especially in the dry 
 season, which extends from November to April. 
 In the rainy season, the swollen streams and 
 flooded plains render the journey impossible even 
 to Indians. 
 
 "An Indian will carry seventy -five pounds, 
 made into a bundle and bound to his shoulders 
 by straps across his forehead and breast. With 
 fifteen or twenty of these peons, as they are called, 
 bearing our food, clothing, medicine, tools, (fee., 
 we plunge into the forest. Laura thought there 
 ought to be a road, but there is only a trail, and 
 that so little used we are in danger of losing it. 
 
160 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 " What a journey is before us, — over the hills, 
 through the swamps, across the unbridged rivers ! 
 Strong men think they have done well when they 
 have traveled twelve or fifteen miles a day. 
 When night overtakes us, there is not even the 
 shelter of a bamboo hut ; but our Indians make 
 us a booth of palm - leaves under which we must 
 rest. We want a fire to cook our suppers, but 
 we wonder how we shall get it, for everything in 
 the forest is dripping wet. The Indians know 
 what -to do. They look about till they find a 
 tree which they call sindicaspi , — which means 
 wood that burns, — and, gathering the green 
 boughs, they make a pile, and kindle them with a 
 match. This tree seems a special provision for 
 our wants. So we hang our dripping garments 
 by the cheerful blaze, and sip our hot chocolate 
 under a canopy of leaves so thick that the sun 
 never pierces it. We will thank God for the 
 wood that burns where everything is wet.” 
 
 said Laura, with a sigh, 
 
 "Ah, mamma,” 
 
LIBRARY 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILUNOM 
 
View in the A rules. Page 97. 
 
Descending the Mountains . 
 
 161 
 
 it is very dreary traveling here in the wilder- 
 ness. What shall we find to pay us for our 
 trouble ? ” 
 
 ” The manifold and wonderful works of God, 
 my child. Those only who have an enthusiastic 
 love of nature, forget the discomforts of the 
 situation. Here are ferns fifty feet high, with 
 stout, rough stems like trees ; and rushes, — 
 plants akin to those you have so often gathered 
 in the swamps for playthings, — which are 
 twenty - five feet in length ; and here is the 
 water - tree, — huadhuac , the natives call it, — a 
 kind of bamboo, which sometimes yields two 
 quarts of clear water between the joints ; here 
 also are curious orchises which can be found in 
 no other part of the world, and wonderful para- 
 sites.” 
 
 " Pray, what are parasites ? ” said Henry. 
 
 " Parasites are a class of plants which, instead 
 of having their roots in the earth, fix themselves 
 on other plants or trees, from which they draw 
 
162 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 their nourishment. They abound here, and we 
 frequently see trees of stupendous growth, 
 strangled in their twining arms, and standing like 
 skeletons in the midst of wonderful masses of 
 flowers and foliage which they have nourished 
 with their very lives.” 
 
 " What selfish and ungrateful plants ! ” ex- 
 claimed Laura. " They remind me of wicked 
 people who live at the expense of others.” 
 
 "This thought has occurred to others,” replied 
 the mother, smiling. " The German traveler, 
 Burmeister, observes that ' the contemplation of 
 a tropical forest produced on him a painful im- 
 pression, on account of the vegetation displaying 
 a spirit of restless selfishness, eager emulation and 
 craftiness. 5 Another traveler has suggested that 
 a tropical forest is a fit emblem of humanity. The 
 fierce struggle for existence in which the strong 
 show no respect for the weak, and the selfish- 
 ness of parasites, which advance themselves at 
 the expense of others, find their parallels in 
 
Descending the Mountains . 
 
 1G3 
 
 human society. There is another aspect which 
 reminds us of our own lives. Leaves have no 
 set time to fall, and flowers do not wither ' at the 
 north wind’s breath,’ but they are budding and 
 decaying all the year,, It seems like a constant 
 struggle between life and death, 
 
 6 Where ever upon old decay 
 The freshest verdure springs.’ 
 
 "The silence in this deep forest is almost per- 
 fect. We may travel for days without the sight 
 of any living creature except insects. If we meet 
 with no misfortune, we may hope to get through 
 the wilderness in two weeks, and reach the vil- 
 lage of Archidona, where there is a Catholic 
 mission. We are very glad to escape from the 
 leafy canopy and to look up into the sky. We 
 are glad to see the faces of human beings, and 
 though this is a poor place, it seems full of com- 
 fort to us, and the Catholic missionary is a friend 
 and brother. This has been a missionary station 
 two hundred years. The Indians are childlike 
 and docile, but the corrupt religion which has 
 
164 Evenings with the Children .. 
 
 been taught them, has benefited them very little. 
 There is a church, and morning and evening the 
 people assemble to sing and pray ; but there are 
 no signs of the spiritual purity or intellectual 
 growth which always accompanies a pure Chris- 
 tianity. 
 
 Another day’s journey brings us to the Rio 
 Napo. We will rest here to - night, and to - 
 morrow proceed down the river to the Amazon.” 
 
FIFTEENTH EVENING. 
 
 THE RIVER NAPO. 
 
 >ERE we are on the Rio Napo,” 
 said Henry, as he and his sister ex- 
 amined their map, and traced their 
 imaginary course through the wilder- 
 " How far are we to travel before we reach 
 the Amazon ? ” 
 
 " Five hundred miles,” replied Mrs. White. 
 
 " Oh, dear ! ” said Laura ; " can it be so far? ” 
 " This little river is eight hundred miles long, 
 
 ness. 
 
 and though it looks like a tiny thread on your map, 
 it is a broad and rapid stream. Emerging from 
 the wilderness, we feel, when we reach this place, 
 
166 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 that we have touched the verge of the civilized 
 world again. 
 
 w Here, on the left bank of the river, is the 
 village of Napo, containing eighty or ninety fami- 
 lies, mostly Indians. We must look out for 
 the plantation of Mr. George Edwards, who has 
 been living here several years.” 
 
 " Pray, mamma,” cried Laura, ” who is Mr. 
 George Edwards, and what kind of a plantation 
 has he here ? ” 
 
 " Mr. Edwards is a native of Connecticut, who 
 has chosen to make a home here. Five or six 
 years ago, the government gave him a large 
 tract of land, two miles west of the village, where 
 lie commenced the cultivation of vanilla, and we 
 may hope that, by this time, he begins to reap 
 the reward of his industry. His plantation must 
 be a pretty place, for the vanilla is a graceful vine 
 of the orchis family. The aromatic seeds, from 
 which our perfumes and flavors are distilled, grow 
 in pods like beans. 
 
The River JVapo. 
 
 167 
 
 "This region, under proper cultivation, might 
 be made like a garden, yielding the most valua- 
 ble productions of either hemisphere in profusion, 
 but agriculture is unknown.” 
 
 "How do the people live? ” inquired Henry. 
 "They live in bamboo huts, thatched with 
 palm leaves, and secure a scanty and uncertain 
 supply of food by hunting and fishing, and by 
 the use of a few vegetables which grow almost 
 spontaneously. Bread is entirely unknown, and 
 its place is supplied by the yuca.” 
 
 " And what is the yuca? I never heard of it be- 
 fore,” said Laura. 
 
 " It is the beet - like root of a little tree which 
 grows to the hight of ten feet. The warm and 
 fertile soil yields an abundant crop with very 
 little labor, and it forms the staple article of food. 
 It is usually roasted in the ashes, as people used 
 to roast potatoes, but it is sometimes ground and 
 made into cakes somewhat resembling bread. 
 From this root the natives make a kind of fer- 
 
168 JEvenings with the Children . 
 
 merited liquor, whieh serves them instead of lager 
 beer. They call it chicha, and manage, by 
 drinking great quantities of it, to make them- 
 selves drunk.” 
 
 "You said that the Indians hunt. Is there 
 game here ? ” inquired Henry. 
 
 " Animal life is much more abundant near the 
 Napo than in the great forest. Monkeys abound, 
 and jaguars, peccaries and deer are not uncom- 
 mon. But the monkey is the principal game of 
 the Indians. They have no fire - arms, but they 
 have contrived a gun of their own which answers 
 their purpose very well. They make a blow’ - pipe 
 of a small palm having a pith, which, being re- 
 moved j leaves a smooth bore. Through these 
 tubes, which are about ten feet long, they blow 
 slender arrows, cut from the leaf stalk of a palm 
 and winged with a tuft of silk cotton. The nee- 
 dle - like points of these arrows are dipped in a 
 deadly poison called ' urari.’ The Indians will 
 blow these arrows one hundred and fifty feet, and 
 
The River JVapo. 
 
 169 
 
 an. ox, struck by one of them, will die in twenty 
 minutes, and a monkey in ten.” 
 
 " And do they eat these poisoned animals ? ” 
 said Laura, with a look of disgust. 
 
 " Certainly they do ; and they do not seem to 
 be injured in the least. Indeed, it is said that this 
 poison, so fatal to wild animals, is harmless to 
 man.” 
 
 "I prefer not to try it,” said Henry; " and 
 hope we shall not be obliged to eat their poisoned 
 monkey - meat.” 
 
 " You will have as little appetite for their fish, 
 when I tell you how they catch them,” replied 
 the mother, laughing. 
 
 " I am quite sure they do not kill them with 
 poisoned arrows,” said Laura. 
 
 " No, but this is the way they do : — they gather 
 the roots of a poisonous plant, which they call 
 barbosco, and having mashed them, they throw 
 them into the quiet coves of the river. Very 
 soon the fish rise to the surface and are taken 
 
170 Evenings with the Children. 
 
 without difficulty. It is a style of fishing that is 
 usually adopted elsewhere. 
 
 " From this point to the Amazon, the Napo 
 flows through the dense forest, broken now and 
 then by little Indian villages. If we were to 
 make the journey by land, we should find it dan- 
 gerous and toilsome, but we can hire the Indians 
 to take us in their canoes. They are strong and 
 expert boatmen, and will paddle down to the 
 great river in fifteen or twenty days. The swarms 
 of insects which cover the water will annoy us, 
 and the heat will be uncomfortable ; but while we 
 glide down the stream by day and camp on the 
 shore at night, we shall have a fine opportunity to 
 observe the strange animals and the wonderful 
 vegetable productions of this region. kSometimes 
 the river flows for miles through a sea of bamboo. 
 This singular plant, sometimes called the king of 
 grasses, grows to the hight of eighty feet, or 
 rather it grows to that length, for the stalks curve 
 downward. With all the airy grace of a field of 
 
The River JVapo* 
 
 171 
 
 wheat or tali grass, it has the hight of our forests, 
 and as the wind sweeps over it, there is an in- 
 describable beauty in the swaying mass. Here 
 we begin to see the palms in their perfection and 
 glory. South America excels all the rest of the 
 world in this kingly growth, to which the prize of 
 beauty has been awarded by the concurrent voice 
 of all ages. The peculiar majesty of the palms is 
 due not only to the straight and lofty stems, but 
 also, in a high degree, to the form and arrange- 
 ment of their graceful leaves, which always spring 
 from the top of the trunk. The plumes of the 
 jupati palm, so common here, are forty feet in 
 length, and form a canopy so dense as to be 
 scarcely penetrated by the rays of a vertical sun. 
 Here, also, is the silk -cotton tree, with' its white 
 bark and lofty flat crown, rivaling even the palm 
 in majesty, and the beautiful mimosa, so deli- 
 cately sensitive that we remember the ancient 
 fable of the maiden that was changed to a tree, 
 and wonder if there is not a soul in the plant. 
 
172 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 " Day after day, as our Indian boatmen paddle 
 us down the stream, we dream of the time when 
 steamboats will stir these waters and the wealth of 
 these magnificent forests will be opened to the 
 world.” 
 
 " But what is there in these forests that the 
 world cares for ? ” said Henry. 
 
 " A great deal, my dear. Here are mahog- 
 any, ebony, balsam, cedar, ivory - palm, cinna- 
 mon, Brazil wood, and several valuble dye - 
 woods. Here, also, is the tree from which copal, 
 the gum so valuable in varnish, is obtained, and 
 swamps of Napo tea.” 
 
 "Pray, what is Napo tea, mamma?” cried 
 Laura. 
 
 " Napo tea is the leaf of a tall shrub which 
 grows wild here in great abundance. The na- 
 tives call it ' guayusa.’ Its properties resemble 
 those of the tea we use, and it is said to be so 
 refreshing that it will supply the place of food for 
 a long time. I can not begin to tell you of the 
 
The River Napo. 
 
 173 
 
 wealth of these great, unexplored forests ; but, 
 doubtless, before many years it will be opened to 
 the world. 
 
 " Animal life becomes more abundant as we ap- 
 proach the great river. Monkeys chatter and 
 gambol in the lofty trees. Parrots and macaws 
 flutter and scream among the flower - laden vines. 
 Gay toucons, rivaling in their plumage the most 
 brilliant flowers, wag their heads and yelp at 
 us. Ducks, cormorants and white cranes float 
 on the water. Clouds of butterflies flutter about 
 
 u.s, — such beautiful butterflies as we never see in 
 
 * 
 
 the North. Their wings of splendid metallic blue, 
 violet, orange and yellow, look like gold studded 
 with precious stones. Turtles and alligators 
 bask on the little sandy islands, and frightful ana- 
 condas, sometimes twenty -five feet long, startle 
 us with their presence. 
 
 " Our eyes are satisfied with beauty, but there 
 are no pleasant or joyous sounds either by night 
 or day. There is not a song-bird in all the for- 
 
174 
 
 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 est that equals our own robin. The concert 
 which hails the daw T n is composed of hoots, and 
 chatters, and screams, and the evening is vocal 
 with the croak of frogs and the unearthly wails 
 of the night - birds. Bats flit silently about us in 
 the night, monstrous, hideous creatures, whose 
 expanded wings frequently measure two feet.” 
 
 " Ah, mamma,” cried Laura, " are they the ter- 
 rible bats which suck the blood of people while 
 they sleep ? ” 
 
 " I think we have nothing to fear from them. 
 Mr. Bates, who was well acquainted with this 
 region, assures us they are harmless, and hints 
 that the blood-thirsty vampire, of which you 
 have heard, exists only in imagination. 
 
 " With this hasty view of this great and luxu- 
 riant region, we will imagine that we have reached 
 Pebas, a small village near the junction of the 
 Napo and the Amazon, where we will rest for the 
 night.” 
 
SIXTEENTH EVENING. 
 
 THE AMAZON. 
 
 KfERE we are on the Amazon,” said 
 Henry, examining his map as he fre- 
 quently did ; " and here is the town or 
 village of Pebas, where we have had 
 the pleasure of passing the night. I think we 
 ought to have breakfast before we start.” 
 
 " Certainly,” said Mrs. White, laughing ; " we 
 will have Napo tea, turtle steaks, and roasted 
 yucas and plantains. Do you think you can en- 
 joy such a breakfast ? ” 
 
 Do they eat turtles here ? ” inquired Laura. 
 
 1 es, my dear ; in the valley of the Amazon 
 the turtle and its eggs are staple articles of food. 
 
176 
 
 Evenings with the Children. 
 
 There are several species, but the most common 
 is the tortaruga, which measures, when full - 
 grown, three feet in length and two in breadth. 
 Every part of the creature is turned to account. 
 Steaks are cut from the breast, which are very 
 tender and palatable ; sausages are made of the 
 stomach, and the rest is roasted in the shell. 
 Perhaps you will laugh when you learn that the 
 people have little ponds in their back -yards 
 where they keep a stock of turtles for family use, 
 just as we keep our pigs and poultry. And these 
 
 turtles beat our hens for eggs.” 
 
 "Now, mamma, you are surely joking,” cried 
 
 Laura. 
 
 « Very far from it, my child ; I am only tell- 
 ing you the plain truth. Turtles of this species, 
 when the season comes for them to lay their eggs, 
 dig holes in the ground with their feet. They do 
 this in the evening, each one making a pit about 
 two feet deep, in which, between midnight and 
 morning, she deposits from one to two hundred 
 
The Amazon . 
 
 177 
 
 egsrs, and covers them with sand. The natives 
 eat these eggs, which are about as large as hens’ 
 eggs, and regard them as excellent food. They 
 not only eat them raw, and cooked in various 
 ways, but they make butter of them.” 
 
 "Then it seems,” said Henry, "that these 
 famous turtles answer not only instead of hens 
 and pigs, but instead of cows also. I would like 
 to know how they make butter from eggs.” 
 
 "The turtles deposit their eggs on the little 
 islands, and on the sandy banks of the river. 
 The natives collect great quantities of them, and, 
 having placed them in a canoe or other large ves- 
 sel, they stamp them with their feet. Water is 
 then poured on, and the whole is exposed to the 
 rays of the sun. The heat brings the oil to the 
 surface. It is skimmed off and purified over the 
 fire in a copper kettle, when it has the appearance 
 of melted butter. It is much prized as a season- 
 ing by the Indians, but to us it tastes too much 
 like fish oil, and we shall prefer to burn it in our 
 
178 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 lamps, as the people do in Para, rather than to 
 eat it. The poor turtles have a hard time of it, 
 and though they lay so many eggs, it is said they 
 are rapidly decreasing. Alligators and large 
 fishes devour great numbers of the young ones ; 
 but man is their most formidable foe. It is cal- 
 culated that fifty millions of eggs are annually 
 destroyed to make this butter or oil, and Mr. 
 Kidder thinks that five times that number were 
 consumed fifty years ago for that purpose. 
 
 Here, at Pebas, we find a steamboat ready to 
 convey us down the Amazon. It seems very 
 strange to find this triumph of civilized life here 
 in the wilderness. The Indians have not become 
 familiar witli it, though it has been several years 
 on the river. They call it the devil’s canoe. 
 This boat, though small, is not crowded, either 
 with cargo or passengers. It carries down sarsa- 
 parilla, copal and bees - wax, and accommodates 
 any one who happens to be traveling ; but the 
 number is usually very small. 
 
- The Amazon . 
 
 179 
 
 " Even here, more than three thousand miles 
 from its mouth, the great river is sublime in its 
 power, and as we glide down the turbid, yellow 
 stream, the forests on either hand dwindle to low, 
 black lines, and we see that we shall be obliged 
 to go ashore in order to make observations. 
 However, there is very little to observe for the 
 first seven hundred miles except the boundless 
 forests, which resemble those on the Napo. There 
 are no busy towns, only here and there little In- 
 dian villages of palm huts half hidden in the wil- 
 derness, where our boat stops to take supplies of 
 wood, and such articles of commerce as the peo- 
 ple have to dispose of. But here, at the mouth of 
 the Teffe, is the pretty town of Ega, one of the 
 oldest on the river, having been founded nearly 
 two centuries ago. We shall find something 
 worth seeing here. 
 
 " This town is beautifully situated on a grassy 
 slope stretching out into the water, with a har- 
 bor on each side of it. Nature has neglected 
 
180 Evenings with the Children, 
 
 nothing which is necessary to make it a charming 
 abode for man. The climate is delightful and 
 healthy. The soil is of marvelous fertility, 
 clothed with perpetual verdure, and almost free 
 from insect pests. Even the palm - thatched cot- 
 tages of the Indians look inviting, surrounded 
 as they are with orchards of orange, lemon, ba- 
 nana and guava trees. The inhabitants, number- 
 ing about twelve hundred, are made up of In- 
 dians, negroes, mulattoes and whites. 
 
 " These rivers teem with fish and turtles. 
 Agassiz spent six months fishing here, and when 
 you have time to read his work, you will find a 
 learned description of cetaceans, crustaceans, 
 batrachians, &c., of which he found eighty thou- 
 sand specimens-. If we walk down to the shore, 
 we may observe some of the strange forms of 
 animal life which abound here. You have be- 
 come so familiar with turtles and alligators that 
 I suppose they no longer interest you, but they 
 are as plenty here as frogs are in little swampy 
 
The Amazon . 
 
 181 
 
 ponds in New England. They appear everywhere, 
 "Here is a canoe approaching the shore. The 
 Indians have been fishing, and we will observe 
 them. The men are copper-colored, lazy-looldng 
 animals, dressed in short pants and shirt, made 
 of coarse cotton, and the women wear a petti- 
 coat of the same material. Like all Indians, 
 they are taciturn and apathetic. They have 
 caught a manati, and are smiling grimly over 
 their prize. This animal differs slightly from 
 those found in the West Indies and Central 
 America, of which I told you. The Portuguese 
 call it peixe boi , or fish ox, though it has no re- 
 semblance to an ox except in its size. It feeds 
 on the water plants which grow on the borders of 
 the streams, and is caught in strong nets made of 
 the fibers of a kind of palm. The flesh and fat 
 resemble those of the hog, and as they weigh from 
 eight to fifteen hundred pounds, and are plenty, 
 you see the natives easily supply themselves with 
 ail they wish. 
 
182 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 "Here is another fish peculiar to this region, a 
 powerful creature, eight feet in length, covered 
 with an ornamental coat - of - mail, its large scales 
 being margined with bright red.” 
 
 "Ah, what a pretty fish ! ” said Laura. 
 
 "Yes, my dear, pretty and very useful, as its 
 flesh, salted and dried, forms a staple article of 
 food and export. The natives call it pirarucu, 
 and this, with the turtle and manati, is as impor- 
 tant to them as our domestic animals are to us. 
 
 " Now let us turn from the river to the great 
 forest which surrounds the town, — the pathless 
 forest, save here and there a hunter’s trail leading 
 away into the unknown interior. Oh, what a 
 bewildering diversity of trees, — what a wild un- 
 conquered race of vegetable giants, draped, fes- 
 tooned, corded, matted, and ribboned with climb- 
 ing plants that cover their trunks with flowers 
 and hang like strings of jewels from their branches, 
 which form a dense dome a hundred feet above 
 our heads ! 
 
The Amazon . 
 
 133 
 
 Thirty species of palms are found here, all of 
 them beautiful, and apparently adapted to some 
 specific service to the human race. Prominent 
 among them are the pupunha, or peach palm, 
 with drooping green leaves and abundance of de- 
 licious and wholesome fruit ; and the cocoa palm, 
 which literally furnishes the people with food, 
 drink, fuel, houses and commerce.” 
 
 " I should like to know how it can do all that,” 
 said Henry, rather incredulously. 
 
 " The nuts are used as food, and you know 
 how sweet and nutritious is the water, or milk as 
 it is sometimes called. The shells are made into 
 dippers and cups, the fibrous bark into cordage. 
 The leaf furnishes thatch for the houses, materials 
 for baskets and fences, and fuel for the fires. 
 The terminal bud is a delicate article of food, and 
 the juice of the flower and stem contains sugar, 
 and may be fermented into wfine or distilled into 
 spirits. The trunk is used in the construction 
 of houses, and for many other purposes. Besides 
 
184 
 
 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 all this, the nuts are sold for export, and a 
 great quantity of oil is made from them for the 
 same purposes. This is the cocoa-nut oil so 
 much used in manufacturing toilet soaps and hair 
 pomades.” 
 
 " I do not see that the people need the thirty 
 other kinds of palms, and all the other trees,” 
 said Laura. "I am sure they would do very 
 well with this alone.” 
 
 " God is very bountiful to his creatures in this 
 tropical region, and he doubtless designs that all 
 the world shall partake of the riches which he 
 pours into this great valley. In our next talk, I 
 will tell you of another tree that grows here, 
 from which an article is produced that has be- 
 come essential to our health and comfort. I 
 leave you to guess what it is.” 
 
SEVENTEENTH EVENING. 
 
 THE CAOUTCHOUC. 
 
 ELL,” said Mrs. White, " have 
 you thought about the tree of which 
 
 I spoke to you last evening? ” for the 
 
 * 
 
 children reminded her that they were 
 waiting for the evening talk. 
 
 " Yes,” said Henry, ” we have thought about 
 it, and talked about it, too. You said a tree 
 grows here which produces an article essential to 
 our health and comfort ; we can’t think what it 
 
 is. 
 
 ?? 
 
 " I almost think it is coffee,” said Laura ; " but 
 I do not know as that is essential to our health.” 
 "How did it happen, my dear, that you came 
 
186 Evenings with the Children. 
 
 home from school 59 last Friday with wet feet, and 
 have had a cold ever since?” asked the mother, 
 smiling. 
 
 " Oh, I know now,” cried Laura. "I forgot 
 my rubber shoes. India rubber ! Is that it, 
 mamma?” 
 
 "Yesj the caoutchouc, or India rubber tree 
 grows here, and yields an article of greater value 
 than anything else in the great valley. This is a 
 beautiful as well as a useful tree, growing from 
 eighty to one hundred feet high, with spreading 
 top and thick, glossy foliage. If we follow one 
 of these paths into the forest, we may find a par- 
 ty of Indians collecting and preparing the gum, 
 for this is the season of the year when it flows in 
 greatest abundance. They make little incisions 
 in the smooth, gray bark of the trees in the 
 morning, and under each one they place a little 
 cup of clay. 
 
 " The gum flows out, about a gill to each in- 
 cision, looking like thick, yellow cream. It is 
 
The Caoutchouc . 
 
 187 
 
 collected into large jars, and removed to the fire 
 where it is to be hardened. ” 
 
 " Do they boil it down as we do sap ? ” said 
 Henry. 
 
 "No, my child ; they pour this cream over 
 forms of clay, and these they hang in a dense 
 smoke made by burning palm nuts, till it hardens 
 and assumes a dark color ; then another coat is 
 added, and the smoking repeated. 
 
 " The use of this valuable gum was learned 
 from the Omaguas, a tribe of Brazilian Indians, 
 who used to make bottles ; and as they had nei- 
 ther glass nor earthen - ware, they must have 
 found it of much service to them.” 
 
 " How did they make bottles of it?” inquired 
 Henry. " I should not think that was so 
 easy.” 
 
 "They did it in this way, — they made the form 
 of the bottle of clay. This form they coated with 
 the liquid gum, drying it in the smoke, as I de- 
 scribed to you, and when they had obtained the 
 
188 
 
 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 necessary thickness, they crushed the clay so that 
 it could be removed through the neck of the bot- 
 tle. Twenty - five years ago, our rubber shoes 
 were made in the same way here in the forest, and 
 imported in the form in which we wore them. 
 Since that time, great improvements have been 
 made in manufacturing this gum, and its uses 
 have been vastly increased, so that if these trees 
 were destroyed, the whole civilized world would 
 feel their loss.” 
 
 " I am glad to know where rubber comes from,” 
 said Laura ; ” and when I put on my over - shoes 
 I shall think of the Indians gathering the gum 
 from these tall, beautiful trees here in the great 
 forest.” 
 
 " But here is another tree which will interest 
 you, the massaranduba, or cow - tree.” 
 
 " The cow - tree?” cried Henry. " They make 
 butter out of turtle’s eggs ; do they get milk from 
 trees ? ” 
 
 " Yes,, my dear ; these splendid trees, often 
 
The Caoutchouc, 
 
 189 
 
 growing one hundred and fifty feet high, yield a 
 rich milk which may be used for tea, coffee, and 
 custards.” 
 
 " Do they make cheese of it? 99 said Laura. 
 
 Mrs. White laughed. ”1 think not; this 
 milk hardens by exposure, so as to resemble gut- 
 ta - percha, and would defy the teeth of a dog to 
 eat it. 
 
 " And here is a beautiful little tree, covered 
 with clusters of red and white flowers, which pro- 
 duces the urucu, or annato, so much used to color 
 cheese. The preparation which you have proba- 
 bly seen is the oily pulp of the seed. It is al- 
 lowed to ferment, and is then made into cakes 
 weighing two or three pounds, in which form it 
 is exported. The Indians use great quantities of 
 this annato. They not only color the -scanty 
 clothes they wear with it, but they paint their 
 persons, sometimes besmearing the whole sur- 
 face of their bodies with it, and sometimes put- 
 ting it on in fanciful stripes and patches. 
 
190 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 "Now look up into the top of this gigantic 
 tree. The lofty branches, a hundred feet above 
 your heads, seem to be loaded with cannon balls 
 which hang on them like apples. Here one has 
 fallen at your feet and burst in falling. Examine 
 it, and you discover it contains twenty or thirty 
 of the triangular Brazil nuts of which you are so 
 fond.” 
 
 "Ah, mamma,” cried Henry, "is n’t it a nice 
 place to go a - nutting ? ” 
 
 " Certainly ; it must be a paradise for boys and 
 girls ; for here, besides the Brazil nuts, grow the 
 delicious chicken nuts.” 
 
 " I never heard of chicken nuts before,” said 
 Henry, with a look of surprise. 
 
 " He thinks he ought to know about all the 
 nuts,” said his sister, laughing. 
 
 " These chicken nuts do not reach our north- 
 ern markets, because the monkeys and peccaries, 
 which know that they are the best of nuts, stand 
 ready to devour them. 
 
The Caoutchouc . 
 
 191 
 
 " Here, also, we find the cacao growing wild. 
 This, you remember, is the nut from which choc- 
 olate is made. The generic title, theobroma, — 
 or food for the gods, — is not undeserved. The 
 valley of the Amazon is, no doubt, destined to 
 supply the world with this valuable article. Here 
 
 are swamps of sarsaparilla, and the trees from 
 ■» 
 
 which the balsam copaiba is obtained. 
 
 " There are some strange forms of animal life 
 which we must not fail to observe. Crossing our 
 trail we notice a curious, well beaten path, evi- 
 dently not made by man or beast. Watching it 
 a while, we perceive that it is one of the many 
 paths of the dreaded Sauba ants, and following it 
 we find the formicarium, or ant hill, which is two 
 
 j- 
 
 or three feet in hight, and perhaps forty in diam- 
 eter. This is the dome which covers the en- 
 trances to the vast subterranean galleries, which 
 astonish us no less by their magnitude than by 
 the skill with which they are arranged and fin- 
 ished. No city can be laid out with more regu- 
 
192 
 
 Evenings with the Children. 
 
 larity, or with a wiser reference to the wants of 
 its inhabitants ; and the beautiful domes, arches 
 and colonnades amaze and bewilder us. The in- 
 stinct of these little insects is wonderful, and 
 should fill us with adoration for Him who is able 
 to endow the meanest of his creatures with such 
 wisdom. 
 
 ” These ants are vegetable eaters, and unfor- 
 tunately prefer the leaves of cultivated trees, es- 
 pecially the orange and coffee, and they are in 
 such immense numbers that the farmer frequently 
 wakes in the morning to find his orange orchard 
 or his coffee plantation ruined by them in a single 
 night. 
 
 w This is only one of the many kinds of ants 
 found here. Mr. Bates noticed ten species of 
 the foraging ants. They choose the thickest parts 
 of the forests* and hunt for their prey in large, 
 organized armies, every species having its own 
 special manner of marching and hunting. 
 
 " Here, by the shady brooks, we find dragon 
 
The Caoutchouc . 
 
 193 
 
 flies of wonderful size and beauty. Their green 
 and crimson bodies are sometimes seven inches 
 long, and their elegant, lace - like wings are tipped 
 with white and yellow. As they dart over the 
 water with airy and graceful motions, we forget 
 their ugly name in admiration of their beauty. 
 Here, also, as everywhere in the valley, there are 
 immense numbers of the most beautiful butterflies. 
 Mr. Bates found five hundred and fifty species 
 within an hour’s walk of this town of Ega, while 
 the whole of Europe has. but three hundred and 
 ninety. The different species live together, and 
 the beauty of their many colored wings is inde- 
 scribable, and harmonizes wonderfully with the 
 rich, tropical landscapes. 
 
 "I think you are getting weary with this long 
 ramble, and we will return to the steamboat and 
 float down the river during the night.” 
 
 O o 
 
EIGHTEENTH EVENING. 
 
 THE EIO NEGEO. 
 
 f )^LEASE tell us, mamma, how far 
 we have got down the river,” said 
 Henry. " I want to see what there is 
 worth seeing, so do n’t let us go too 
 
 fast.” 
 
 "Well, my dear, I think we are just opposite 
 the mouth of the Rio Negro. The Amazon be- 
 gins to look like a lake more than a river, having 
 a width of four or five miles. The line separat- 
 ing the black* waters of the tributary from the 
 yellow, turbid waters of the great stream, is 
 sharply drawn, and we can see for a long way 
 where they float side by side before they mingle. 
 
The Rio Negro . 
 
 195 
 
 Look on your map, and just above the junction 
 of the rivers you will see the town of Manaos. 
 The steamboats stop here, so we may look about 
 a little. 
 
 "The commercial advantages of this town, 
 having water communication with two - thirds of 
 the continent and also with the Atlantic, are 
 hardly surpassed by those of any other city in the 
 world. The country around is beautiful, and the 
 vegetation marvelously rich and diversified.” 
 
 " Do oranges and nuts grow here ? ” inquired 
 Laura. 
 
 "Yes, in the greatest abundance; so also do 
 plantains, bananas, guavas, papayas, and the 
 delicious atta, which some person has called a 
 spiritualized strawberry.” 
 
 " Does it resemble a strawberry ? 99 said Henry. 
 " I should like to taste it before I believe it is 
 better.' ” 
 
 " This is a large fruit, weighing several pounds, 
 which grows on a tree ; very unlike a strawberry 
 
196 Evenings with the Children. 
 
 in size and manner of growth, you see. It lias a 
 thick, scaly rind, which incloses a white pulp, 
 rich as custard, and delicious as strawberries with 
 sugar and cream.” 
 
 " What delightful fruit ! ” cried Laura. " I 
 almost think I should like to live here.” 
 
 w Nature has done everything to make this 
 region delightful, and the means of life easy. 
 Indeed, her gifts are so profuse that they become 
 a curse rather than a blessing. The stern voice 
 of necessity, ' work or die/ is not heard here, and 
 without this salutary stimulus, social life seems to 
 stagnate, and men become so idle and thriftless 
 that they are miserable in the midst of abundance, 
 and poor with inexhaustible wealth around them. 
 
 " This * town contains about two thousand in- 
 habitants, a mongrel set of Indians, Negroes, Por- 
 tuguese, and various shades of mixed blood. Be- 
 sides these, there are a few American and Euro- 
 pean traders, who infuse a little life among them, 
 and, from the immense natural resources, gather 
 
The Rio Negro . 197 
 
 a few articles for commerce. The coffee which 
 grows here on the Eio Negro is the best that is 
 produced in South America, and with the necessa- 
 ry labor, might be almost unlimited in quantity. 
 Here, also, the Brazilian nutmegs grow on tall 
 trees, and the aromatic tonka beans.” 
 
 " Pray what are tonka beans good for ? ” in- 
 quired Henry. 
 
 " Did you ever see a brown , flat bean in an old 
 lady’s snuff-box?” asked Mrs. White, with a 
 smile. 
 
 w I have,” said ' Laura. " Old Mrs. Conover 
 has one, and it smells very sweet, too.” 
 
 " Well, my dear, that is probably a tonka bean 
 which she keeps to flavor her snuff. Perhaps it 
 grew here on one of these lofty trees by the Eio 
 Negro. When you see another, you will remem- 
 ber where it came from.” 
 
 " I am sure I shall, mamma.” 
 
 ” You almost thought you would like to live 
 here. I am sure you would enjoy the abundant 
 
198 
 
 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 fruits , but I am afraid you would miss your bread 
 and butter.” 
 
 " Can’t we have bread and butter here ? ” ex- 
 claimed Henry. 
 
 "Neither bread nor butter is produced here, 
 and the poorer classes are entirely unacquainted 
 with their use. Instead of wheat fields, you see 
 plantations of mandioca. From the root of this 
 plant, which resembles the yuca of which I told 
 you, the people prepare a tolerable substitute for 
 bread. The roots are ground into a pulp, which, 
 when pressed and baked, is farina, the bread of 
 Brazil. Life and death are strangely blended in 
 this plant. The juice which is pressed out of 
 the pulp is a deadly poison. Thirty - five drops 
 of it will kill a man in six minutes ; and yet it 
 deposits a fine sediment of pure starch which is 
 the nutritious tapioca. This valley abounds in 
 the most valuable dye - woods and timber. Prof. 
 Agassiz counted one hundred and seventeen 
 different kinds of wood within an area of half a 
 
The Rio Negro • 
 
 199 
 
 mile square, many of them eminently fitted for 
 the finest cabinet work. The beautiful mahog- 
 any, rosewood and Brazil wood are found in 
 great abundance, and are put to the commonest 
 uses. Here, perhaps, a negro has cut down a 
 splendid rose - wood, and has made with it a rude 
 fence around his turtle pond, and there a lazy 
 Indian is roasting his plantains in a fire made of 
 mahogany. On the upper Xiio Negro grows the 
 tortoise shell wood, considered by many the most 
 beautiful wood in the world. A recent traveler 
 remarks that ' enough of these precious woods are 
 wasted annually to veneer all the palaces of 
 Europe.’ ” 
 
 " What a fine place to establish a cabinet - 
 factory,” remarked Henry. " When I am a man, 
 I think X will go into the business. Just think 
 of the fine furniture, — all solid rose -wood or 
 tortoise - shell wood ; no need of veneering there.” 
 
 Mrs. White laughed. "I think,” she said, 
 " your greatest difficulty would be the want of a 
 
200 
 
 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 market. The taste of the people here does not 
 demand fine furniture. If you should manufac- 
 ture fish - nets and hammocks you would meet a 
 want and make money.” 
 
 " What do they want of hammocks ? ” asked 
 Laura. " I thought they used hammocks in 
 ships for sailors to sleep in.” 
 
 " So they do, and here everybody sleeps in 
 them. You will scarcely find a bed in the 
 great valley. In the houses, you wfill see 
 hooks in the walls on which the hammocks are 
 suspended at night; and in the warm, sunny 
 days, you will see hundreds of the lazy people 
 swinging in hammocks which are hung between 
 the shady trees. 
 
 " We must not forget that the magnificent 
 water lily, the Victoria Regia, is found in this 
 region. It inhabits the tranquil waters of the 
 shallow lakes which border the Amazon, and is 
 probably the largest flower in the world. The 
 leaves are from fifteen to twenty feet in circumfer- 
 
The IUo Negro, 
 
 201 
 
 ence, and one of them will bear you up on the 
 water if you stand in the middle of it. The 
 upper side of these leaves is a dark, glossy 
 green, the under side violet or crimson. The 
 flowers are a foot in diameter, at first pure ^hite ; 
 they pass, in twenty - four hours, through succes- 
 sive hues from pink to bright red.” 
 
 " O mamma,” said Laura, ” it is worth a long 
 journey to see that flower ! ” 
 
 "We will proceed on our journey down the 
 river, which grows wider and deeper as it receives 
 its great tributaries from the north and south. 
 The towns on its shores are few and far between, 
 resembling, in their general character, those 
 which we have observed. One thousand miles 
 from Manaos, we reach the city of Para, which 
 is seventy -five miles from the Atlantic. This 
 city stands on the Para river, one of the mouths 
 of the Amazon, which is, at this place, twenty 
 miles wide. It is regularly laid out, and has 
 some fine buildings and magnificent avenues of 
 
202 
 
 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 cocoa palms and almond trees. Although this 
 city is little more than one degree from the 
 equator, it enjoys a salubrious and delightful 
 climate. The heat is nearly uniform throughout 
 the year, but is never so oppressive as in our 
 northern summers.” 
 
 " That seems strange to me,” said Henry. w I 
 have always supposed that the heat increased as 
 we approached the equator.” 
 
 " You will learn that climate is affected by 
 many circumstances besides latitude.” 
 
 ” We have learned many things about this in- 
 teresting region for which we thank you,” he 
 replied. 
 
 " If you remember what you have learned, and 
 are inspired with a desire for further information, 
 J shall be well repaid. You must recollect that 
 you have had only a hasty and imperfect view of 
 a very small part of this great and interesting 
 continent.” 
 
 " I think I shall see it sometime,” he said, 
 
The Rio Negro . 
 
 203 
 
 earnestly. " I dream about the glorious mount- 
 ains, and the vast, untrodden forests. They 
 interest me more than towns or cities. I do n’t 
 want to die before I see them.” 
 
 "I, too, would like to see them,” said Laura; 
 " but I suppose I never shall. Women never do 
 travel in such places.” 
 
 " Your case is not quite hopeless, my dear,” 
 replied the mother. A German lady, Madam 
 Ida Pfeiffer, has shown us that it is not impossible 
 for a woman to travel. If you have the strength 
 and courage which she possessed, you may fol- 
 low her example, climb the Andes, and behold the 
 grandest of the terrestrial works of God.” 
 
 " I do believe,” she answered, blushing, "that 
 I want to see the humming birds and butter- 
 flies, the flowers and the trees, more than the 
 great, cold mountains with their tops in the 
 clouds.” 
 
 Henry looked as if he were about to exclaim, 
 ■' How can you be so silly ? ” but the mother 
 
204 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 replied, with a smile,—” The smallest of God’s 
 works are no less worthy of admiration than the 
 mightiest. We may see the infinite wisdom of 
 the Creator no less in an insect’s win" 1 than in the 
 
 O 
 
 terrible volcano. My child perceives and rejoic- 
 es in the beauty of birds and flowers ; when she 
 is older, she will comprehend the grandeur of the 
 mountains.” 
 
 ” Pray* mamma, where shall we go next? ” said 
 Henry. 
 
 ” I am only your guide,” replied the mother, 
 laughing. ” You may determine our course. 
 Shall we embark on one of the steam-ships which 
 call at this port the seventh of each month, 
 and return to New York? The voyage will 
 occupy but fourteen days. Or shall we look about 
 here in the great empire of Brazil ? ” 
 
 ” I am not ready to leave South America yet,” 
 he said, decidedly. " If there are no great mount- 
 ains here on the eastern coast, I am sure there 
 must be something to interest us.” 
 
 O 
 
The Iiio Negro. 
 
 205 
 
 " Oh, yes,” cried Laura; " let us remain by 
 all means. I have been looking at the map, 
 and here is a vast country of which I know 
 just nothing at all. I want, at least, a little peep 
 at it.” 
 
 " I am quite satisfied with your decision,” 
 replied Mrs. White ; " but now we must rest.” 
 
NINETEENTH EVENING. 
 
 EXTENT OP BRAZIL. 
 
 AURA,” said Henry, opening 
 his atlas, "we must decide where we 
 will go next. I suppose we shall not 
 be able to examine every part of 
 
 Brazil.” 
 
 "I fear, my children,” the mother said, "that 
 you have a very imperfect idea of the extent of 
 this great empire. These small maps are apt to 
 give you wrong impressions if you do not reflect. 
 Look here at Brazil. You can cover it with your 
 small hand, and yet it has an area of nearly three 
 millions of square miles.” 
 
 "Ah, mamma ! ” Laura exclaimed, "you were 
 
Extent of Brazil . 
 
 207 
 
 quite right, I did not comprehend its greatness.” 
 " Perhaps you do not now,” replied Mrs. 
 White. " Let us examine the map, and calcu- 
 late the distances you must travel in order to 
 visit its different provinces. Here, in the center 
 of the continent, lies the province of Matto 
 Grosso. The name means ' dense forest , 5 and 
 is very properly applied to a large part of the 
 vast territory which contains over five hundred 
 thousand square miles. The distance from Para 
 to Villa Bella, one of the principal towns of this 
 province, is one thousand miles in a direct line ; 
 but, in order to visit that place, we should be 
 obliged to travel two thousand five hundred miles, 
 and eight or ten months might be consumed in 
 the journey.” 
 
 " We might go round the world in that time , 55 
 said Henry. 
 
 "Very true, and suffer much less than to make 
 this journey.” 
 
 " And does anybody go there ? ” asked Laura. 
 
208 
 
 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 Gh , yes , my ‘ dear. Mattb: Gxbssq, and the 
 adjoining province, of Go.yaz , are- the Jgold and dia- 
 mond lands of Brazil ; and you may sure that, 
 wherever gold and diamonds are founds men will 
 go. It was the lure of these coveted treasures 
 <that; led; to the early exploration and settlement of 
 these remote and mountainous . provinces. - Beck- 
 less adventurers \ .accompanied by their negro /and 
 Indian slaves, plunged fearlessly into these bar- 
 ren mountains, and interminable : fores ts , and . found 
 the; El Dorado which ' Gojizalo Pizarro sought in 
 vain . Fabulous. stories are told of their _ success . 
 Gold, it is said, lay on the very surface:. of the 
 ground, and for the first year, each slave was ex- 
 pected to return three or four ounces, a day.” 
 
 " That was a jolly place for mining,” exclaimed 
 Henry. "They must. have got rich 'fast.”,". , 
 
 " You have not heard the whole story, my child. 
 These adventurers’ seem. to. have forgotten that 
 men can not live on gold, however much of it 
 they may ' have. The time when gold was the 
 

 A Brazilian Forest. I’agc 20S. 
 

 
 
Extent of Brazil . 
 
 209 
 
 most plentiful, was a time of pestilence and fam- 
 ine. A pound of gold was gladly given for a 
 bushel of wheat ; an ounce and a half of gold for 
 a pound of beef ; and many, unable to find food 
 at any price, died of starvation in the midst of 
 their treasures. The discoverer of this rich field, 
 who counted his gold by hundreds of pounds, 
 died of leprosy.” 
 
 w Is gold so plentiful there now ? ” inquired 
 Laura. 
 
 " Not so plentiful, yet there are rich mines in 
 these provinces as well as in Minas Geraes. The 
 mineral wealth of the empire seems inexhaustible, 
 but the march of improvement is slow, and th£- 
 day does not appear to be very near when this 
 great region will be either populous or highly en- 
 lightened. 
 
 ” There is much fertile soil in this region, &nd 
 all the fruits and productions of a warm climate 
 might abound, but there is very little cultivation. 
 The cattle proprietors are the highest class here. 
 
210 
 
 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 These men own large tracts of land and vast 
 herds of cattle. They understand the use of the 
 lasso and the knife, but their moral and intel- 
 lectual condition is very low. A traveler re- 
 marks, that ' people who become domesticated in 
 these vast wilds, lose the very elements of civili- 
 zation, and fall, in some cases, even below the 
 Indians.’ 
 
 " Gold, precious stones, and ipecacuanha are 
 the principal articles of export from these interior 
 provinces, and they are carried on the backs of 
 mules over the mountains to Rio de Janeiro, or 
 they are brought down the Madeira, the Tapajos, 
 or the Tocontius, and find a market at Para.” 
 
 "I suppose we shall not go to Matto Grosso,” 
 said Laura. "If it is such a terrible journey, we 
 must content ourselves with what mamma tells us 
 about it.” 
 
 " And is there nothing in this great country but 
 the forests, the mines, and the cattle?” inquired 
 Henry. 
 
Extent of Brazil. 
 
 211 
 
 " There are a great many things of which I 
 have not time to tell you, but I must not forget 
 to mention that there are some wonderful cata- 
 racts, and some very deep and curious caverns. 
 One of these caverns is called Gruta das Oncas, 
 or the cavern of wild beasts, from the great num- 
 ber of beasts which are accustomed to find shel- 
 ter in it ; and another is called Gruta da Inferno, 
 or grotto of hell, because it is such a strange and 
 wicked looking place. The American ostrich, 
 which is much smaller than the African species, 
 is found upon the grassy pampas ; macaws, par- 
 rots and parroquets swarm in the dense forests ; 
 and the scarlet ibis and the American flamingo 
 inhabit the borders of lakes and streams. Here 
 is a vast territory of Unoccupied soil, waiting for 
 the hand of man to develop its inexhaustible re- 
 sources ; but here in Brazil, as everywhere in 
 South America, we see the blight which the 
 Catholic religion brings upon a nation. With a 
 free pible, free schools, and a free, strong gov-. 
 
212 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 eminent, this country would be one of the great- 
 est and fairest on the earth ; but ignorance, big- 
 otry and sin would make men wretched even in 
 the very bowers of Eden. Brazil is, however, the 
 best governed and the most flourishing state in 
 South America, and has, within a few years, made 
 rapid progress in civilization.” 
 
 " Now, mamma,” said Henry, intently study- 
 ing his map, " as we are not going to explore the 
 forests and mountains of the interior, I think we 
 had better proceed along the coast, and observe 
 the cities and villages.” 
 
 "Very well; we can avail ourselves of the 
 steamboats which ply between this city and Rio de 
 Janeiro, and which will accommodate us, as they 
 stop at the principal sea - ports along the coast. 
 Leaving our hotel, we pass down the street, which 
 is beautifully shaded with the magnificent silk 
 cotton trees. We have to make our way through 
 a motley and strange crowd. Here are Spaniards, 
 Portuguese, Indians, Negroes, and every shade of 
 
Extent of Brazil . 
 
 213 
 
 mixed blood, with a few English, Germans, 
 French and North Americans, and we hear the 
 mingled dialects of the Amazon and Europe. 
 The Negro girls who go about the streets with 
 trays of sweetmeats on their heads, look pretty 
 in their clean, white dresses and gay ornaments. 
 
 " The steamboat in which we have taken passage 
 pushes off into the great river, and we have a 
 magnificent view of the city as we leave it. The 
 towering spires and cupolas, the palatial govern- 
 ment buildings, and the pretty white villas, half 
 concealed in the verdure of evergreen trees, make 
 a pleasant picture, which we shall not forget. If 
 our voyage happens at the time of spring -tide, 
 we shall have the opportunity of observing a very 
 singular phenomenon . 55 
 
 " Pray, mamma, what is spring - tide ? 55 said 
 Laura. 
 
 " It is the tide which happens at, or very soon 
 after, the change or full of the moon. These 
 tides are everywhere higher than usual tides, and 
 
214 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 at the mouth of the Amazon,* the ocean throws 
 itself upon the river with terrific force. You 
 hear the noise of the coming flood when it is 
 miles away ; but it approaches with such fearful 
 rapidity that in a few moments you see the great 
 waves, twelve or fifteen feet high, extending 
 across the whole channel, sweeping one after 
 another up the stream.” 
 
 "I should not like to meet such waves,” said 
 Laura. " I think they must be dangerous.” 
 
 "So they are to small vessels, but those who 
 navigate the river know when to expect them, 
 and lay to in the little bays where the water is 
 quiet, till they pass.” 
 
 " While we go down the river,” said Henry, 
 " please tell us something of the early history of 
 this region.” 
 
 " I hope you remember who discovered the 
 Amazon ? ” 
 
 " Oh, yes, we have not forgotten the treacher- 
 ous Orellana,” exclaimed Laura. "I do hope 
 
Extent of Brazil . 
 
 215 
 
 that the men who discovered and explored this 
 eastern coast were not so wicked as Pizarro and 
 his associates. 5 ’ 
 
 " I am not sure that they were any better, my 
 dear. Their exploits were not so extraordinary, 
 and they do not occupy so conspicuous a place in 
 history, but their record is stained with the same 
 treacherous cruelty. 
 
 " You must remember that Columbus, in his third 
 voyage to America, discovered this continent near 
 the mouth of the river Oronoco. This occurred 
 in the year 1498. Two years later, Vincent 
 Yanez Pinzon, an associate of Columbus, who 
 commanded the Nina in his first voyage of dis- 
 covery, obtained permission of the Spanish govern- 
 ment to go in search of new lands, fitted out four 
 small ships, and, sailing south - west, crossed the 
 equator, and made a point of land which they 
 named Cape Consolation, but which you will find 
 on the map as Cape St. Augustine. Following 
 the coast to the north - west, they landed on the 
 
216 Evenings with the Children. 
 
 island of Maranham, where the city of that name 
 now stands. The unsuspicious natives received 
 them with the utmost kindness, and they, in re- 
 turn for their hospitality, seized thirty of these 
 unoffending people, and carried them away and 
 sold them as slaves. Pinzon took possession of 
 the county for the crown of Castile, but some 
 Portuguese had discovered it about the same time, 
 and the Pope, who assumed the right of giving 
 away this new world, decided that it should be- 
 long to Portugal. In 1530, a great expedition 
 was fitted out to take possession of the coast and 
 establish a colony at Maranham. Ten ships, car- 
 rying nine hundred men, one hundred and thirty 
 of whom were horsemen, arrived off the mouth 
 of the river ; but the elements avenged the out- 
 raged natives. A great storm arose, and the 
 whole fleet was * wrecked. A few escaped the 
 waves to suffer a more cruel death, for the In- 
 dians, remembering the treachery of Pinzon, 
 showed them no mercy. Two other expeditions, 
 
Extent of Brazil . 
 
 217 
 
 fitted out for the same purpose, perished in the 
 same way on this fatal coast. The first settle- 
 ment was made by the French in 1612, but a few 
 years later they were driven out by the Portu- 
 guese. 
 
 "In 1616, Francisco Caldeira laid the founda- 
 tion of the city of Para. It would not interest 
 you to hear of the seditions, massacres, and rev- 
 olutions which make up the history of this region, 
 with the exception of the last thirty years. There 
 was only one thing in which all parties seems to 
 have agreed, and that was in oppresing the poor 
 natives, who found no escape from their cruelties 
 except ii^ death. The Indians were not enough 
 to satisfy the avarice of these people, and great 
 numbers of African slaves were brought into the 
 country. This fair land has been the scene of 
 such atrocious crimes that we wonder at the long- 
 suffering and patience of God.” 
 
TWENTIETH EVENING. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 
 
 HE city of Mar anh am is four hun- 
 dred miles from Para by water, and as 
 the steamboat stops here to take passen- 
 gers and freight, we may look around a 
 few minutes. This city is second only to the 
 capital in wealth and population, though it has 
 been several times almost destroyed in the fierce 
 and bloody revolutions which have swept over the 
 country. It is surrounded by a region of unsur- 
 passed fertility. Rice, cotton, coffee and sugar- 
 cane grow luxuriantly, and the fruits are rich and 
 abundant. The forests, like those of the Amazon, 
 abound in precious woods and valuable medi- 
 
Miscellaneous Information . 219 
 
 cines. The mineral wealth seems inexhaustible. 
 Fish abound in the waters, and domestic animals 
 multiply rapidly on the plantations. The city 
 contains some fine buildings and handsome, 
 shaded streets, where it would be pleasant to 
 linger, but the boat will not wait for us, and we 
 will go on to Pernambuco. 
 
 " The appearance of this city, when seen from 
 the water, is peculiar. The site is so low and 
 flat that the tall white buildings seem to rise out 
 of the sea, and lift their heads so high as to pre- 
 vent an extended view of the town ; while to the 
 north, the beautiful town of Olinda, located on a 
 bold and picturesque hill, and half hidden in its 
 groves of lofty palms, appears in full view. This 
 city, like Para andMaranham, has been the scene 
 of cruel oppression, and bloody civil strife. 
 Sometimes the oppressed Negroes and Indians 
 have, in their despair, made desperate struggles 
 for freedom, and inflicted terrible calamities on 
 their oppressors. I must tell you of the romantic 
 
220 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 little republic of Palmares, which was located in 
 this region, and connected with the history of this 
 city. The story will perhaps remind you of 
 events which have occurred in our own. country. 
 
 ” As early as 1640, some African slaves, 
 escaping from their masters at Pernambuco, 
 plunged into the pathless forest, and, after wan- 
 dering sixty or seventy miles, found a spot blessed 
 with every natural advantage for subsistence and 
 defense, where they made their homes. This 
 refuge soon became known to the slaves of the 
 surrounding regions, and a great many, escaping 
 from servitude, flocked to it, so that, in 1690, the 
 little republic numbered more than twenty thou- 
 sand persons. The only history which we have 
 of this singular community comes to us from 
 the people who exterminated them, but it is such 
 that we can not peruse it without respect for 
 their character and pity for their fate. 
 
 " They were under the government of an elec- 
 tive chief, who was chosen for his wisdom and 
 
Miscellaneous In formation . 
 
 221 
 
 valor 5 and to whom they rendered the most 
 perfect loyalty. It is said that no conspiracies or 
 struggles for power were ever known among 
 them.” 
 
 " I think they showed more wisdom than their 
 white neighbors, who were always fighting among 
 themselves,” said Henry. 
 
 " So they did ; and they were an industrious 
 and provident people. They cultivated the fruit- 
 ful soil with great diligence, and food was always 
 abundant among them. They enclosed an area 
 of four or five square miles with a double palisade 
 made of heavy timber. This fortification, which 
 was strengthened with many bulwarks, had three 
 gates placed at equal distances from each other. 
 These gates were defended by towers and always 
 guarded by vigilant soldiers. Within this wall 
 was a small lake and a stream of running water, 
 and here they built their houses and cultivated 
 their beautiful gardens. The place received the 
 name of Palmares, from the number of palm 
 
222 
 
 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 groves which they had planted, and which were 
 still flourishing.” 
 
 " It must have been a very nice place,” said 
 Laura. 
 
 "Yes, my dear, and they seem to have been a 
 very happy people. Twice in the year they 
 gathered their corn, and celebrated the harvest 
 with a week’s festivity. But you must remember 
 that they lived in a state of constant war with the 
 white Colonists, whose slaves they had been. For 
 a long time they had the better in this war. 
 Their enemies hunted them with little success in 
 the deep forest in which they were hidden, while 
 they were able to sally forth and plunder the 
 colonists with little danger to themselves. The 
 memory of their wrongs made them merciless, 
 and, as they increased in number and audacity, 
 they became the terror of the country. 
 
 "The Portuguese, after suffering sorely from 
 their depredations, resolved in 1695, to exterminate 
 them at whatever cost. For this purpose they 
 
Miscellaneous Information . 
 
 223 
 
 raised an army of no less than ten thousand 
 men, who made their way through the intricate 
 forests and encamped before the negro fortifica- 
 tions. Then commenced a war as desperate as 
 has ever been waged. The Negroes, who ex- 
 pected no mercy, fought with the energy of de- 
 spair and successfully resisted the attacks of their 
 enemies. But famine is a foe which the bravest 
 can not resist. In a few weeks their food, as 
 well as their ammunition, was exhausted, and the 
 Portuguese, assisted by artillery which had been 
 sent to them* forced their way into their town. 
 Zombi, the chief, and the most determined of his 
 followers retired to the summit of a great rock 
 which had been used by them as a watch - tower, 
 and, preferring death to slavery, threw themselves 
 from the precipice. The town was utterly de- 
 stroyed, and the unhappy survivors were seized as- 
 slaves. The women and children were kept at 
 Pernambuco, and the men were scattered abroad 
 so that they might never be able to unite in any 
 
224 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 plan for the recovery of their freedom and a return 
 to their old home.” 
 
 " Oh, what a sad story ! ” said Laura, with 
 tears of pity moistening her eyes. 
 
 " It is a sad story, and still touches our hearts, 
 though this little republic in the wilderness passed 
 away so many years ago, and is almost forgotten 
 in the very spot where it existed. It teaches us 
 how strong the love of freedom is in the heart of 
 man. We sympathize with these poor fugitives 
 in their love of their forest home, and in their 
 brave but ineffectual struggle to retain their 
 liberty. 
 
 "We will now return to Pernambuco. We 
 shall get the best view of the city and surround- 
 ing country by ascending the hights of Olinda. 
 From this point, as from a watch - tower, we may 
 look out on the wide ocean and observe the 
 crested waves which break on the reef that en- 
 circles the harbor, or dash on the sandy beach. 
 How lovely the city looks half buried in its groves 
 
Miscellaneous Information . 
 
 225 
 
 of palm and cashew trees ? These wonderful trees 
 never weary us with their beauty . 5 5 
 
 " I think we have not met with the cashew tree 
 before / 5 said Henry. 
 
 " The soil here and on the islands along the 
 coast is sandy, and is peculiarly adapted to the 
 growth of this tree, which a popular writer of this 
 country has pronounced the finest of American 
 trees. The size is majestic, its leaves have an 
 aromatic odor, its white and rosy tinted blossoms 
 are beautiful as well as exquisitely fragrant, and 
 its shade is deep and delightful. A gum exudes 
 from its trunk equal in value to the Senegal, and 
 in such abundance as to have the appearance of 
 rain -drops. The fruit, somewhat resembling a 
 pear in shape, is full of delicious juice.” 
 
 " I can not help wishing , 55 said Laura, " that 
 these beautiful South American trees would grow 
 in our own country . 55 
 
 " You must not forget, my dear, that God has 
 distributed his abundant gifts with infinite wis- 
 
226 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 dom and goodness. In every part of the earth, 
 he makes those fruits grow which are best 
 adapted to man in that particular climate. While 
 you observe how much he bestows on this trop- 
 ical region, remember also his good gifts to us. 
 If we do not have the cashew, the cocoa-nut, 
 and the pine -apple, we have the apple, the 
 peach and strawberry. Let us be thankful and 
 contented. 
 
 "From Pernambuco our steamboat steers south- 
 west, sometimes touching at the small but beau- 
 tiful towns on the coast,- — I say beautiful towns, 
 but they owe their beauty to nature more than to 
 man. Viewed from a distance, the vegetable 
 growth covers all defects, and even the little 
 palm - thatched cottages look inviting amid their 
 leafy bowers. Look on your map. You see 
 we must pass the mouth of the San Francisco, 
 the largest river emptying into the Atlantic, be- 
 tween the Amazon and Rio de la Plata. I will 
 tell you something of this river if you will try to 
 
Miscellaneous Information . 227 
 
 *• 
 
 remember. It is an item of which a geographer 
 and tourist should not be ignorant.” 
 
 " Oh, yes, mamma, please do,” cried Henry. 
 
 " Seventy miles above the mouth of the San 
 Francisco there is a cataract, called the Falls of 
 Paulo Affonso, which is described as one of the 
 most wonderful in the world. The vapor arising 
 from the falls is seen at a great distance, and 
 looks like the smoke of a great conflagration in 
 the midst of the forest. From this point to the 
 ocean, the stream dashes over a succession of rap- 
 ids which prevent all navigation. Above the 
 cataract the river is navigable a thousand miles, 
 and the country is so flat that it often overflows 
 its banks for leagues on either side.” 
 
 " I shall remember this,” Henry said, intently 
 examining his map, "and sometime I will visit 
 the Falls of Paulo Affonso, and bring you back a 
 description of its wonders. Oh, would n’t it be 
 jolly, mamma? ” 
 
 " Indeed it will,” she replied, laughing, " and I 
 
228 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 *■ 
 
 shall be proud of my son when he is a famous 
 traveler. You see we are approaching the city 
 of Bahia, and we must take a look at it. The Bay 
 of All Saints, on which the city stands, was dis- 
 covered in 1503, by Americus Yespucius, who 
 was sailing under the patronage of the King of 
 Portugal. He carried home a cargo of dye-wood, 
 which, when cut in pieces, from its flaming red 
 color, the Portuguese call brazas , meaning coals 
 of fire. The wood was called Brazil wood, and 
 finally the country from whence it came was 
 named Brazil. The story of the first European 
 who settled here is so romantic that I must tell 
 it to you. In 1510, a vessel was wrecked at the 
 entrance of this bay. The savage Indians who 
 inhabited the coast fell on those who escaped to 
 the shore and destroyed all except the captain, 
 whose name was Diogo Alvares Correa. He had 
 the good fortune to recover a musket, and some- 
 powder and balls, from the wreck, and, displaying 
 the power of that little weapon, he awed the sav- 
 
Miscellaneous Information . 229 
 
 ages, who called him Caramura , the man of fire. 
 By assuring them of his friendly and peaceful in- 
 tentions he soon acquired a perfect ascendency 
 over them. He married Paraguassa, the daugh- 
 ter of the great chief, Itaparica. The large 
 island of Itaparica, opposite the city, perpetuates 
 the name of this chief, and a small river emptying 
 into the bay bears the name of his daughter. 
 
 " Diogo formed a settlement where the city now 
 stands, and lived very happily with his savage 
 friends. After the lapse of several years, a French 
 vessel anchored in front of his town, and he, 
 having loaded the ship with Brazil wood and na- 
 tive fruits, embarked with his wife for Dieppe. 
 From that port they went to Paris, where the 
 people made a great parade over them, and Para- 
 guassa was baptized, the king, Henry II., offici- 
 ating as god-father. 
 
 " After a short period they returned to their 
 home in this place, and here Diogo lived to old 
 age, beloved by the natives and respected by his 
 
230 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 own countrymen. But here we are in the bay, 
 where, three hundred and sixty years ago, the 
 brave captain was thrown ashore, and the beau- 
 tiful city is before us. The city, rising from the 
 shore on a succession of hills, sits like a queen 
 amid her palm and orange bowers. Nothing can 
 be more lovely than* the view, either from the 
 water or from the hights above the town ; but if 
 we enter it, we shall miss the thrift and enter- 
 prise of our own cities, and sigh at the idleness, 
 ignorance and superstition of the people who are 
 nearly all Catholics. The distinguished mission- 
 ary, Henry Martyn, touched at this port on his 
 way to India, seventy years ago, and wrote of 
 it, — ' Crosses there are in abundance, but when 
 shall the doctrine of the Cross be held up ? 9 
 
 " Now examine your map. Here is the city of 
 Rio de Janeiro, which is eight hundred miles from 
 Bahia. Fifty years ago, Prince Maximilian 
 made the journey between these cities by land. 
 It is difficult to form an idea of the dangers of 
 
Miscellaneous Information . 
 
 231 
 
 the journey at that time, from the dense and 
 thorny vegetation, the wild beasts, the insects and 
 reptiles, and the unbridged streams. He wrote 
 the first description of the scenery and people of 
 this region, and says of his journey, ' although 
 scratched and maimed by thorns, soaked by rains, 
 and exhausted by the heat, yet nevertheless the 
 traveler is transported in view of the magnifi- 
 cent vegetation. 5 ” 
 
 " I suppose it is better now,” said Henry. 
 w Fifty years is long enough to make great im- 
 provements in a new country.” 
 
 "True, my child, and fifty years is long enough 
 to do a great deal ; but here it takes several cen- 
 turies to accomplish as much as we do in that 
 time in our own land. You must remember, 
 settlements were made here by the Portuguese 
 nearly a hundred years before the Pilgrims 
 landed in Massachusetts, and yet there is not a 
 large town in all this eight hundred miles be- 
 tween Bahia and Rio de Janeiro. During the 
 
232 Evenings with the Children . 
 
 last thirty years, however, Brazil has been free 
 from those fierce and bloody revolutions* which are 
 the ruin of the South American republics, and 
 her progress in all that makes a nation great, has 
 been much more rapid than in any previous pe- 
 riod of her history. 
 
 " We make the voyage from Bahia to Rio de 
 Janeiro in four or five days, and now here we are 
 in the beautiful capital of this great and magnifi- 
 cent empire. Since we entered Brazil at Tahatinga 
 on the Amazon, we have -traveled about five thou- 
 sand miles, and yet we have not compassed two 
 sides of the great triangular territory. 
 
 M Rio de Janeiro is the largest city in South 
 America, and one of the most beautiful in the 
 world, as it is seen by the approaching traveler. 
 As the steamboat nears the town, we lift our eyes 
 towards the north, and behold the magnificent 
 bay, dotted with verdant islands and hemmed in 
 by lofty mountain peaks, and the city, — 'beauti- 
 ful for situation,’ — beautiful with its royal palace 
 
Miscellaneous Information. 233 
 
 and splendid government buildings, and most of 
 all beautiful with its evergreen groves, — lies be- 
 fore us. The land breeze brings the fragrance of 
 orange blossoms and the delicious aroma of lime 
 trees, and we feel that this must be the fairy land 
 of which we have dreamed. We land, and the 
 illusion vanishes. Here, as in every city, are the 
 good and evil ; here are the rich who dwell at ease, 
 and the poor and vile who stretch out their 
 hands to us for charity. 
 
 " If we have time to look about, we shall find 
 some American and English missionaries who are 
 laboring zealously, and with some success, to in- 
 troduce the Bible among the Catholic population. 
 If the time ever comes when the Word of God 
 shall be disseminated throughout this land, and 
 its holy truths shall have vitalized and reformed 
 the stagnant and corrupt masses, Brazil will be a 
 most inviting and prosperous realm. 
 
 "Here, my dear children, our journey must 
 terminate, but I hope you have learned enough 
 
.234 Evenings with the Children. 
 
 about this great continent to awaken your interest 
 and make you anxious to know more. So we 
 will bid adieu to South America, keeping in our 
 hearts pleasant memories of its mighty mountains 
 and rivers, its evergreen forests and palmy 
 
 towns. 
 
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