The murderers were executed and the vice-president succeeded to the vacancy. However, no one appeared big enough to fill Moreno's shoes, and his death made civil war inevitable. After a few months the vice-president was deposed; then one of Moreno's ministers remained at the head of affairs for a short time; but finally Antonio Borrero was selected president in constitutional form. He proved not to possess the resolution requisite to cope with the situation. General Veintemilla, commander of the troops in Guayaquil, revolted in the name of the liberal party, defeated Borrero, and went through the usual form of summoning a convention, adopting a new Constitution, and having himself named president. He held power insecurely and by the aid of a personal party from 1878 to 1883, but neither conservatives nor liberals were satisfied. The radicals attacked him furiously for not putting in practice anti-clerical principles, and the conservatives never trusted him. When his constitutional term expired, the army proclaimed him dictator, but he soon fell before the combined forces of his enemies. During the fighting Jose Camano came to the front, and now seized the presidency. Alfaro, the principal liberal leader who had co-operated with Camano in overthrowing Veintemilla, made war against his late ally, but was defeated. The new president, once securely in his seat, formed close relations with the clergy and the old partisans of Moreno, and though the liberal chiefs kept up a guerilla warfare in the forests and swamps, he finished out his term. In 1888 he was succeeded by Antonio Flores, who followed his predecessor's policy in the main, and was in his turn succeeded by another friend of Camano's--Luis Cordero. It was not until 1895 that the liberals were able to gather their forces for a formidable rebellion. Camano was then governor of Guayaquil, and the immediate occasion of the outbreak was the charge that he had taken part in the sale of the Chilean iron-clad, _Esmeralda_, to Japan, then at war with China. It was claimed that Ecuador had acted as a go-between and committed a wilful breach of the rules governing the conduct of neutral nations. President Cordero's prestige was seriously compromised by this incident. His forces were defeated in several actions and he resigned. Alfaro, who had been in exile since 1883, returned, took possession of Guayaquil, was proclaimed dictator, and finally completely overthrew the conservatives in the battle of Gatajo. His election to the presidency followed in 1897, and he was succeeded four years later by the present incumbent, General Leonidas Plaza. [Illustration: PRINCIPAL STREET IN GUAYAQUIL.]