"There is probably little resemblance between the Quito of to-day and that of Atahualpa and the Spanish conquest. The city had suffered much from earthquakes, and was partially destroyed by fire; the Spanish conquerors founded a new Quito in 1534, and laid out the streets on lines of their own, and, since their advent, the earthquakes have again shaken it to its foundations. There were severe and destructive shocks in 1797 and 1859, and another in 1868. In the one last mentioned many lives were lost, numerous buildings were thrown down, and, according to the official report, every house in the city was so shaken and weakened that not one was fit to live in. Half a dozen churches, the government buildings, and the archbishop's palace were wholly or partially demolished, such of them as were not thrown down being so weakened as to render their removal necessary. "In almost every street there are piles of ruins, and it is a wonder people will continue to live here with the effects of the earthquake so constantly before them. Nearly all the houses are of but a single story, and the most ambitious of the edifices rarely exceeds two stories. Most of the streets are narrow and have channels in the centre, through which streams of water flow during and after a rain. We observed a great variety in the costumes of the people, and were told that every district had its distinct way of coloring its garments, so that its inhabitants could be distinguished from others. Occasionally we saw people with hardly any clothing whatever; but the absence of wardrobe was made up by a free use of paint. The natives thus decorated were from the eastern slopes of the Andes, but they did not appear to be numerous. "The common houses have no fireplaces or chimneys; fires are built almost anywhere on the earthern floor, and the smoke is allowed to get out the best way it can. Even in our hotel the kitchen is little more than a dark hole, where the pots and kettles are so indiscriminately assembled that the cooks are liable to mix things up fearfully, while preparing a meal. Neatness is not fashionable, and there is no country in the world where the appetite would suffer more discouragement than here by a revelation of the culinary mysteries.