From Panama the steamers of the Pacific mail start on their voyage down the long Pacific coast. That they should carry a curious medley of passengers is only natural, seeing that they stop at the ports of four republics. So numerous are these ports that some of the steamers have to miss many of them, and smaller coastal vessels serve the needs of the few voyagers who visit the smaller and more insignificant places; but still there are enough stoppages to enable the voyager to see something of the curious coast towns, even if he has no time to penetrate into the interior of all the republics. The changes in the character of the coast from the tropical mountain-slopes of the north to the dry-aired coast of the mid-continent are the distinguishing features of the voyage. Travellers from Valparaiso are filled with admiration and delight when their eyes rest upon the sea-board of Ecuador and Colombia, for after the arid monotony of the Chilian and Peruvian coast-lines, where scarcely ever a drop of rain falls to freshen the verdure, the change is to a tropical paradise. The expanse of glorious greenery refreshes the vision--an exhilarating exchange from the dun-coloured vistas which have been left behind. Guayaquil, the principal port of Ecuador, is one of the best situated on the whole of the Pacific littoral, but, unfortunately, is perhaps the most unhealthy. It lies on the bank of the Guayas River, nearly thirty miles from the bar. The city is large for a South American port, and has a population of over sixty thousand, and a railway connects it with the capital of the republic, Quito. The city of Guayaquil is badly drained, insanitary, and swarms with the germs of disease. Its authorities do little or nothing to improve the health conditions, and the recent decision of the United States Government to insist upon drastic improvements being carried out will be hailed by all who have traffic with this port. When the Panama Canal is opened, it is only natural that Guayaquil will assume a new maritime importance, and it is obviously impossible for such a pestilential hole to continue so near to the great connecting link between the Atlantic and the Pacific.