Untitled - The Alfred Russel Wallace Website

IN THE CINCHONA FORESTS 303
cause fearful ravages. A few days ago we had
within twenty-four hours two fires and a smart
earthquake. The latter did slight damage here,
but half destroyed the town of Tumbez, which lies
farther south and is the first port in the Republic
of Peru. In the month of October we had several
earthquakes, in one day no fewer than four. So
you
see that what with commotions below and
above ground earthquakes, revolutions, fires, etc.,
-people live here in continual alarm. Guayaquil
is, in fact, a town purely commercial, and the people
work as if at the bottom of a mine, seeking gold,
and in the hope of one day emerging to the light
in some place where they may live in peace and
comfort.
Since I came to Guayaquil, I have been a day's
journey up one of the numerous rivers that empty
themselves into the Gulf, to visit a large village
called Daule, where I had been recommended to
pass the winter. The river Daule is exceedingly
pleasant at least now in the dry season and
almost Chinese in its character. At every turn,
groups of Coco palms, Orange trees, Plantains, etc.,
come in sight, with their accompanying cottage of
bamboo-cane or perhaps a more substantial edifice
with a tiled roof, on some sugar plantation. The
object of my journey was to inspect a house which
is offered me by a gentleman, Dr. Aguirre, who has
travelled much in Europe and speaks English,
French, and Italian. The house is new- neat
and commodious but I can see that in winter the
whole surrounding country will be inundated, which
means abundance of mud and stagnant pools at
the beginning of the dry season. My present