Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 7.djvu/669

647 ECUADOR G47 of the towns and villages of the central plateaux from Ibarra to Cuenca lie between 8500 and 9500 feet; many of the huts of the cattlemen are at a height of from 11,500 to 12,800; and the loftiest of these, at Cunayaco, on the north side of Chimborazo, in 1 28 S. lat., stands no less than 13,396 above the sea. The temperature of these upland districts is of course comparatively low. &quot; At Quito,&quot; says Professor Orton, &quot;it is never either spring, summer, or autumn, but each day is a combination of all three.&quot; The thermometric mean is 58 C 8; the range in the 24 hours about 10, the annual maximum 70, and the annual minimum 45. In the lower coast-region the tropical position of the country is the main factor, and accordingly at Guayaquil we find the thermometric mean is 83, and during the rainy season the oppressive and pestiferous air &quot; reminds the geologist of the steam ing atmosphere of the Carboniferous period.&quot; The rainy season, or invierno, in Ecuador continues from December to May, with a short period of dry weather called the veranillo shortly after the December solstice. The rest of the year forms the verano, or summer, which, however, is in like manner interrupted by a little rainy season called the inviernillo, or Cordonazo de San Francisco, after the September equinox. The mean annual rainfall at Quito is 70 inches. In the coast region the two seasons are not very distinctly marked : in the invierno the sky is some times perfectly cloudless, while during the verano there occasionally falls a continuous drizzle called garila. Accord ing to Villavicencio, a gradual diminution of rain has been observed in this district of irregular seasons, and he predicts the assimilation of its climate to that of the rainless coasts of Peru. On the eastern side of the Andes, on the other hand, rain occurs almost at any time of the year, and almost every morning the woods are watered with the gentle showers of the rocio. During the verano the Cordilleras and mesas are visited by violent hail-storms, and winds of almost in credible force sweep across the wintry scene. In its relation to human health the climate of the upland region is inter esting. Goitre is common; and it is found necessary to maintain three large hospitals for lepers. Tubercular disease of the lungs, on the contrary, is said to be com pletely unknown 8000 feet above the sea, while it is one of the most frequent of diseases in the coast districts of Tropical America. The effects on the human organism of the ascension of the loftier summits are very variously described, owing doubtless to individual differences of constitution. One thing seems established, that the pugnacious instincts both of men and the lower animals are greatly weakened. Botany. The flora of the Quitonian plateau has been well explored by various European botanists, and more especially by Dr Jameson of the university of Quito; 1 that of the western slopes and lowlands is less perfectly ascer tained; and that of the richly-wooded country stretching eastward from the Andes is still in great part undescribed. From the coast of the Pacific upwards to a height of aboirt 3000 or 4000 feet, the vegetation is distinctively tropical, including among its ecomonical species the banana, the sweet potato, rice, maize, the bread-fruit tree, indigo, cotton, cocoa, the yam, the mandioc, and the sugar cane. Most of these become rare above 3000 feet, but a few, like the sugar cane, are cultivated as high as 8000. Few parts of the world can vie in richness of vegetation with the alluvial valley of Guayaquil, which in the matter of fruit trees alone produces cocoa-nuts, pine-apples, pome granates, shaddocks, oranges, lemons, apricots, chirimoyas, pultas, granadillas, tunas, mangos, pacays, and many others of less importance. Between 6000 and 10,000 feet above the sea the European cereals are successfully cultivated, 1 See his Synopsis Plantarum ^Equator icnsium, 2 vols, along with the chick-pea, the broad-bean, the cabbage, the quinoa (C/ ienopodium Quinoa), potatoes, Oxalis, Basella, and Tropceolum. Wheat will not form the ear lower than at 4500 feet, or ripen higher than at 10,500; but barley and rye can be grown at a still greater elevation. The oak, the elm, the ash, and the beech never descend lower than to 5500 feet, and are seldom found higher than 9200. Further up, the larger forest trees, except the pine, begin to disapoear; but the Escallonia myrtalloides is met with at an elevation of 13,000; and the shrubby Bef arias ascend 400 or 500 feet higher. In the treeless region that lies between 11,600 and 13,800, or in other places between 12,000 and 14,000 feet, the similarity of the vegetation to that of the corresponding European region is, according to Wagner, especially striking. In the paramos of Chimborazo, Pichincha, Iliniza, &c., the relation of characteristic genera to those identical with genera in the Alpine flora of Europe is as 5 to 4; and the botanist might almost suppose him self in the Upper Engadine. As the region of cryptogams does not properly begin till about 17, 000 feet on Cayambi and Chimborazo, most of the summits of the Cordilleras, failing, as they do, to reach this elevation, yield a consider able harvest of phanerogamous plants. Boussingault discovered a species of saxifrage (Saxifraga Boussinyaulti) at a height of nearly 16,000 feet on Chimborazo, and Wagner found the trachytic rocks of Pichincha, Iliniza, and other peaks, far above the snow line, covered in many places with the gonda-plant, or Gulcitium nivale, H. The species in these upper regions are frequently very remarkable, and a large number of strangely-modified forms have been col lected from the craters of the volcanoes. In its forest- lands alone Ecuador possesses almost inesti mable resources. Seven different species of cinchona are known to exist within its borders; the Ceroxylon andi- colis and many lesser species of palm abound on both sides of the Cordilleras; and redwood, Brazilwood, palo de cruz, guaiacum or holy wood, ebony, cedar, and aguana are a few of the more usual timber trees. In the dripping forests of the west grows the sindi-caspi, which forms excellent fuel even in its moistest condition. Copal, dragon s blood, india-rubber, storax, and several valuable dye-stuffs are obtained from indigenous plants. The cabaya or agave, the chambiri palm, &c., yield textile fibres; and the leaves of the toquilla (Carludovica palmata) and the mocora, a cocoa-nut-like tree, furnish material for the well-known hats. Zoology. The fauna of Ecuador does not present a great variety among the mammalia; but the birds, and still more the insects, are very numerous. The jaguar, the puma, the ounce, arid the ocelot are the chief representatives of the cat tribe; monkeys of various species are common; the four characteristic animals of the Andean range, the llama, the guanaco, the vicuna, and the alpaca, are fairly abundant; large herds and flocks of European cattle and sheep are found in the rich pasture of the paramos; and horses, asses, and mules are reared in sufficient numbers to be articles of export. Few rivers are more densely peopled with alligators than the Guayaquil and Esmeraldas; and several of the largest species of snakes are natives of the warmer regions of the country, though in the Cordilleras and plateaus the reptilia are very rare. The condor, the turkey-buzzard, the gallinazo, the crane, and the pelican are among the larger birds; and ducks, pheasants, and partridges are not uncommon. Of the lesser birds perhaps none appears in such number and such striking variety of form and colour as the humming bird, which is found fre quently at a great height on the mountains. The flautero or flute-bird is especially noticeable for the artistic character of his song. That the entomologist finds a rich harvest of coleopterous insects in the low countries is in keeping