ECUADOR 397 mean annual rate of 2 T V per cent., as com- puted by Villavicencio, and 200,000 savages in- habiting the province of Oriente ; making a to- tal population of 1,783,324 at the end of 1872. The chief towns are Quito, the capital (pop. about 70,000), Cuenca (32,000), Guayaquil (26,000), and Riobamba (20,000). The pop- ulation consists of six classes : whites, Indians, cholos or mestizos, negroes, mulattoes, and zambos. The whites, who are the ruling class although comparatively very few, are almost exclusively descended from the early Spanish colonists, and constitute a species of aristocracy. As a rule they have preserved their European blood in tolerable purity, al- though here and there coarse black hair, particularly among the females, reveals the In- dian element. They are shrewd, intelligent, generous, hospitable, and distinguished by extreme suavity of manner, but are averse to every species of manual labor. The few white Creoles engaged in commerce or in- dustrial pursuits are infected with a mutual distrust which damps or precludes all spirit of enterprise. The Indians are divded into 11 great families, each subdivided into numerous tribes. The Quitus, by far the most numerous, are the direct descendants of one of the most civilized aboriginal races of the continent. At the time of their subjugation by the Peruvian conqueror Huayna Oapac, they constituted a powerful kingdom, and had attained a con- siderable degree of proficiency in some of the fine arts, such as architecture and painting. The victorious inca divided the kingdom of Quitu into provinces, under the charge of mili- tary governors chosen from his own army. Many modern writers confound the Quitus with the Peruvians, deceived by the similarity between the two languages. The other fam- ilies are the Cayapos, Colorados, Jivaros, Za- paros, Anguteros, Encabellados, Orejones (or "Big Ears," so named from their habit of dis- tending the lobes of the ears by inserting large disks of wood), Avijiras, Santa Marias, and Cofanes. Each of these families has a lan- guage of its own, though some of them speak the lengiia general, or Quitu, and Spanish. A few of them have fixed habitations, profess Christianity, and have fairly entered upon the career of civilization, although little attention has been paid to their education. The so- called free Indians are mule drivers, guides, and the like, a very small number being en- gaged in industries on their own account. Yet they may be said to be the husbandmen, herds- men, miners, and even the manufacturers of Ecuador. They weave cotton and woollen stuffs, make the far-famed jipijapa or Panama hats, manufacture quilts and carpets esteemed for brilliancy and durability of color, and pro- duce the best earthenware on the southern continent. Their skill as engineers is attested by their rope bridges, spanning rivers and chasms; and as mariners they are noted for their rafts or balsas, on which they navigate the rivers, and not unfrequently perform long sea voyages. Their dwellings are hovels, made in the lowlands of a sort of wild cane, and covered with palm-leaf; and in the highlands, of mud thatched with rushes. Slavery no longer exists nominally ; but the planters hire the Indians at insufficient wages, and then grant them advances in order to have the right to retain them in virtual bondage. These In- dians are called concertados or gailanes. Some of the families are independent, roaming along the banks of the great rivers E. of the Andes, subsisting by hunting and fishing ; while others cultivate maize and other plants, which, with meat and a poison used on arrows, they barter for tools, ornaments, and other commodities. The cholos, from the union of white and In- dian, number about 900,000, and constitute the chief element of the population. Here, as elsewhere, they are more comely than the pure-blooded Indians. A large portion of the retail commerce is in their hands ; they are also shoemakers, tailors, carpenters, and black- smiths, and not a few of them acquire distinc- tion in the various liberal professions. The negroes, whose number is small, live for the most part in the seaports and along the coast ; their occupations are analogous to those of their class in other American countries. Al- most the entire population of Esmeraldas is composed of mulattoes. The zambos, a mixture of Indian and negro, are chiefly found in the small seaports of the north. The Ecuadorians are all fond of music and amusement. The chief pastime of the whites and cholos is bull fighting ; gambling is common to all classes, and drunkenness is the besetting vice of the Indians. The present constitution of Ecuador was framed in 1845, and has twice undergone modi- fications: once by the national assembly at Guayaquil in 1852, and again by the regular legislative body in 1853. The form of govern- ment is republican, and the supreme power is divided into executive, legislative, and judicial. The executive power is vested in a president, elected for four years ; the present executive, however, has been elected for six years. The legislature consists of a senate and a chamber of deputies, the first composed of 18 members and the second of 30, both elected by universal suffrage. The congress assembles annually on Sept. 15, at Quito. The nomination of the president takes place indirectly by 900 electors returned for that purpose by the people. At the same time the electors appoint a vice president, who in certain cases may be called upon by congress to take the place of the president before his term of office has expired. The president is assisted by three ministers (of the interior, of foreign affairs and finance, and of the army and navy), who, with the presi- dent and vic president, are responsible to the congress. The president has no power of veto, nor can he dissolve, shorten, or prorogue the ses- sions of congress. The judicial power rests in a supreme and superior courts, with parochial
