There is a slight descent to Riobamba, altitude 9200, where the night is spent. On this healthful plateau wheat is cultivated, in increasing quantity since the coming of the railway. Beyond Riobamba, which is noted for its market, made picturesque by hundreds of Indians from the surrounding country, the highest point of the railway is reached, the Chimborazo Pass, 11,841 feet. A descent follows to Ambato, altitude 8550 feet. The climate is more equable than most of the other basins enjoy, and the “Fair” held here is the most famous in Ecuador. In the Latacunga Valley are good pasture lands with cattle, and irrigated fields where fruits and vegetables of the temperate zone are raised. At a height almost equal to that of the Chimborazo Pass, the road crosses the base of Cotopaxi, from whose crest the smoke is ever curling. The fertile valley of Machachi beyond, with its rows on right and left of famous volcanoes, often covered with green up to the eternal snows, presents a picture unique in all the world. The Chillo Valley near, contains cotton and woolen mills run by water power, manufacturing cheap cloth for the use of the natives. Quito has for some time been the terminus of the railway. Owing to engineering difficulties its cost was so great that it has not been a paying proposition; with settled conditions good returns are hoped for. Wood has been used as fuel but a change to oil is expected. =Additional railways= are planned, and construction work is going on at several points. The line is being prolonged from Quito to Ibarra, 105 miles, another link in the Pan American chain. Several other roads are expected to climb to Quito from the coast. The first of these to be completed is the Esmeraldas Railway from the port San Lorenzo 125 miles to Ibarra. Construction is well advanced. Another railroad of 186 miles planned from Bahia de Caráquez is now operated to Chone, 20 miles only. Its completion may follow that of Esmeraldas. One more is talked of from Ancon de Sardinas, all to extend to Quito. To the east connection is planned with the Amazon Basin by means of a railway from Ambato to San Antonio on the Curaray River, from which steam navigation would be made by the Curaray and the Napo to the Amazon. From Ambato 20 miles have been constructed. From Sibambe, a little below Alausi, a railway is begun to Cuenca, 125 miles. A railway 94 miles long from Guayaquil to Santa Elena is half finished, 1921. The Government of Ecuador is said to have authorized a concession for the construction of a railway from Puerto Bolívar on the Pacific to Borja, just below the Pongo de Manseriche on the Marañón. OTHER MEANS OF COMMUNICATION