At the distance of three leagues from the Embarcadero de Maldonado a most enchanting prospect suddenly burst on our sight. We had almost insensibly glided along the unrippled surface of the river Piti, a distance of about four leagues, during which the view was limited on each side by the lofty and almost impenetrable woods, and before us by the windings of the river--where not a sound was heard save the occasional chattering of the parrots and monkeys on the trees, or the shout of my palanqueros to the inmates of some solitary houses scattered along the banks. Our sphere of existence seemed solitary, and as silent as a dungeon, and I lolled in the canoe as if oppressed with uninterrupted solemnity, such as might be congenial to the pious musings of a holy anchorite; but I was suddenly roused from my reverie by the loud roaring of the river Blanco, and in a moment the scene was changed; at once our narrow river formed part of another, three hundred yards wide; on our left the whole range of the country as far as the coast was extended in the prospect. The Blanco, which rises in the neighbourhood of Tacunga, after collecting part of the waters of el Corason and Pichincha, and receiving those of several tributary streams, becomes navigable at its junction with the Piti. The country on the western side of the river is to a considerable extent very level, the soil good, but the trees neither so numerous nor so lofty as in other parts, owing perhaps to a scanty depth of soil, which seems extremely well calculated for a rice country; indeed the natives assured me, that the small patches sometimes cultivated here multiplied the seed six hundred fold.
After passing the mouths of several minor rivers we arrived at that of Guallabamba, equal in size to the river Blanco. The union of the two is called Esmeraldas. We continued our course, and reached the city of Esmeraldas in the evening. The distance from Piti to this place is about eighteen leagues, which notwithstanding our delays we completed in nine hours.
During our passage down the river I was very much delighted with the sight of a full grown tiger, which lay basking in the sun on a sand-bank that projected from the side of the river almost across it. The noble brute was stretched close to the edge of the bank, frequently dipping his tail into the water, and sprinkling it over him, while his muzzle and feet touched the stream. After watching the animal for a quarter of an hour, my palanqueros became impatient, and at last taking their lances they jumped ashore from the canoe, but at the same moment the tiger sprang on his feet, yawned, stretched himself, and trotted into the woods, leaving the two young fellows to lament the effects of their less nimble feet.
