ECUADOR
279
ECUADOR
half is allowed to the wild forest-tribes of the Eastern
section and the other half to the remnants of the di-
verse sedentary tribes which formerly occupied the
table-land and coast. The whole country is divided
into fifteen provinces besides the Eastern territory and
the Galapagos Islands.
History. — Of the pre-Columbian conditions and languages of the Indians of Ecuador little is known. The coast tribes have almost disappeared and those of the higher regions have adopted Spanish customs. That they differed from the Peruvian Quichua seems likely. The best-known were the Cafiaris, the Carangas, and the Puruaes or Puruays; a tribe known as the Scyri is mentioned in the neighliourhood of Quito. They were all seilentary: knew liow to work gold, silver, copper, and possilily bronze; and practised the fetichism com- mon to primitive Americans. The coast tribes built their houses of wood and cane, while those of the in- terior used stone. They were skilful navigators, some of their vessels being estimated at thirty tons, and propelled by oars and cotton sails.
The Spaniards, led by Francisco Pizarro, first saw the coast of Ecuador in 1525. From Tacamez, or Ata- cames, where they touched, Pizarro dispatched Ruiz, his pilot, to the south. In the account of Pizarro we have the earliest description of the Ecuadorian coast people. He sailed south beyond the present limits of Peru, verifying his pilot's reports, and in 1528 re- turned to Spain to prepare for the conquest of Peru. He returned in 1531, landing at Coaque, and, marching south along the shore, established himself, despite the hostility of the natives, on the Island of Puna. The permanent Spanish occupation of Ecuador, however, began in 1534, from Piura in Peru imder Sebastian de Belalcazar. He had a tedious campaign to Quito, in which he was assisted by the Cafiaris. In 1534 three towns were established: San Francisco de Quito (15 Aug.) at Riobaml i, thirteen days later transferred to its present site, Chimbo; and Guayaquil, akso origi- nally founded at a place distinct from the one it now occupies. Meanwhile Pedro de Ah'arado had landed on the coast with a considerable force from Guatemala. Reaching the central plateau he was confronted by Belalcazar and Diego de Almagro the elder. An amica- ble agreement was reached, and Gonzalo Pizarro pushed into the cinnamon country, but made little headway and had to turn back. His lieutenant, Orel- lana, however, floated down the Amazon and landed on the Isle of Trinidad, whence he carried to Spain the first information about south-eastern Ecuador.
The second epoch of civil wars in Peru, the uprising of Gonzalo Pizarro against the viceroy Nunez de la \'e\a, came to an end with the defeat and death of the viceroy near Quito, 16 Jan., 1546. Quito became the head-quarters of the Crown's representative, and with this as a basis the independence movement was put down. During the colonial period the Church founded institutions of learning such as the University of Quito and establislied a printing press at the same place in 17(i(). Political disturbances were few, but during the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries vol- canic and seismic phenomena were frequent and often disastrous. An attempt was made in 1809 to over- throw the Spanish power, and Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela, together with the rest of Spanish South America, then engaged in efforts towards independence. In 1S20 Guayaquil succeeded in throwing off Spanish control, and'the battle of Pichincha (22 May, 1822) finally put an end to the domination of the mother country. Ecuador, with Colombia and Venezuela, next formed an independent confederacy until 1S30, when the union was dissolved and the first Ecuadorian congress met. Since then Ecuador has been torn by internal dissensions and foreign complications, chiefly with ColoMil)ia. The opposing political parties are the Conservatives, or Clericals, and the Liberals. Since 1893 the latter have been in power and have to a great
extent adopted a policy of secularization in church
matters. From 1833 to 1908 Ecuador has had nine-
teen presidents.
Government, Education, etc. — Ecuador is a con- stitutional republic. From 1830 to 1883 it had no less than ten constitutions; the last was adopted in 1897. The executive head is the president, elected w ith the vice-president directly by the people for a term of four years. The senators (.30) and the deputies (41) are also elected bj' direct vote, the former for four, the latter for two, years. Congress meets biennially at Quito, the capital, on 10 August, and is in session for sixty days. The principal cities are: Quito (80,000), Guayaquil (51,000), Cuenca (30,000), Riobamba (18,- 000)', and five of 10,000 or more inhabitants. Guaya- cjuil is the chief .seaport. In 1904 Ecuador had 168 miles of railroad and 2565 miles of telegraph, both of which have since been added to. The monetary unit is the Sucre, about equal to the peso of other Spanish- American countries, but subject to fluctuation in value. The chief exports are cacao, vegetable ivory, india- rubber, and straw hats.
Educational statistics are scanty. There is a univer- sity at Quito with thirty-two professors and two hun- dred and sixteen students (1905). Institutions for higher education are found at Guayaquil and Cuenca. The number of secondary schools is 35; primary schools 1088 with 1498 teachers and 68,380 pupils; and 9 high schools and colleges.
Religion. — Soon after the discovery of the country missionaries began their labours in Ecuador, and in 1545 the Bishopric of Quito was erected. Work among the different Indian tribes on the tributaries of the Amazon was difficult, and the Dominican missions were destroyed in 1599 by the savage Jivaros. Later, how- ever, the Dominicans re-established themselves and were assisted by the Jesuits who had been in Quito since 1596. By the close of the seventeenth century Ecuador was well evangelized, but after the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1767, who on the Napo alone had thirty-three missions with 100,000 inhabitants, the Dominicans were unable to keep up the work and the natives fell back into paganism. The revolution de- stroyed all traces of two hundred years of untiring labours. Since 1848 Ecuador has formed an ecclesias- tical province. The population is Catholic e.xcept for a small number of foreigners and a few pagan Indians in the East.
Vp to 1861 the government was in the hands of the Liberal and largely anti-Catholic party. When Garcia Moreno (q. v.) was elected president (1861-65 and 1869-75), however, he reorganized civil and religious affairs. Under him a concordat (20 Nov., 1863) was concluded with Rome, new dioceses were erected, schools and missions given to the Jesuits (who had been recalled) and others, and in 1874, at the time of the spcliation of the Holy See, ten per cent of the State's income was guaranteed to the pope. Moreno was murdered 6 Aug., 1875, and his death not only put an end to the concordat, but under the new regime which succeeded him a series of persecutions occurred. In 1885, when Bishop Schumacher took charge, nearly all the native clergy were suspended and replaced by Europeans and practically a new hierarchy estab- lished. The religious and moral education of the peo- ple was likewise in bad condition. The revolution of Alfaro in 1895 was a severe blow to the Church. The orders, among them the Capuchins, Salesians, Mission- aries of Steyl, and the various sisterhocids, were all bani.shed and Bishop Schumacher obliged to lice.
The State religion is the Catholic, but other creeds are not interfered with. Since tithes were abolished the .State has provided for the maintenance of Catholic worship; it also supports religious educational insti- tutions, such as the three seminaries at (Juito and six el.sewhere, one in each of the six dioceses. Civil mar- riage was recognized in 1902, and two years later the
