Primary education is free and obligatory, but the number of schools is insufficient, and a large part of the people are indifferent. Eighty thousand pupils are in attendance, and 4500 more in the secondary schools. There are universities at Quito, Guayaquil, and Cuenca; six Schools of Arts and Trades, also Schools of Agriculture, and other institutions of a technical or professional character. The machinery of education is equal to that of its neighbors if not in advance, but too many professional men are found in all the countries. PRESS, RELIGION, ETC. =Press.= Excellent newspapers exist, notably in Guayaquil and Quito, influencing civic progress. =Religion.= In 1904 the Church was placed under the control of the State, and all religions were made equal before the law. The women are devoted to the Catholic Church, as in all the South American countries, but the educated men are largely materialists. Civil marriage and divorce were established in 1904. =Telegraph.= There are several thousand telephones, mostly in Guayaquil, and about 6000 miles of telegraph wire. The rates are 10 cents for 10 words, and 5 cents for 10 words additional. Cable connection is made at Santa Elena on the Pacific, which has also a wireless station. =Money.= A condor is a gold coin equal to an English pound, and to 10 sucres. A sucre is therefore 48.6 cents. The sucre equals 100 centavos. The sucres and some smaller coins are silver. The coinage of Peru is similar. It is easy to remember that a sucre or a Peruvian sol is about half a dollar, a centavo half a cent. The =Metric System= is legal, but the old Spanish weights and measures, as in Colombia, are much used. CHAPTER XV ECUADOR: PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS Ecuador, like Peru, has three longitudinal sections: the Coastal zone, the Inter Andine region, including the mountain ranges with the plateau or valleys between, and the Trans Andine, a part of the Amazon basin. THE COASTAL ZONE