Page 152
An. 1684
Guiaq. T. Cacao. Sarfaparilla. Quito-Cloth.
ride afloat; but the beft place for Ships is neareft to that part of the Land where the Town ftands; and this place is feldom without Ships. Guiaquil ftands facing the Ifland, clofe by the River, partly on the fide, and partly at the foot of a gentle Hill decli- ning towards the River, by which the lower part of it is often overflown. There are two Forts, one ftanding in the low ground, the other on the hill. This Town makes a very fine profpect, it being beautified with feveral Churches and other good Buildings. Here lives a Governor, who, as I have been informed, hath his Patent from the King of Spain. Guiaquil may be reckoned one of the chiefeft Sea-Ports in the South Seas: The Commodities which are exported from hence are Cacao, Hides, Tallow, Sarfaparilla and other Drugs, and Woollen Cloath, commonly called Cloath of Quito.
The Cacao grows on both fides of the River a- bove the Town. It is a fmall Nut, like the Campea- chy Nut, I think the fmalleit of the two; they pro- duce as much Cacao here as ferves all the Kingdom of Peru; and much of it is fent to Acapulco, and from thence to the Phillipine Iflands.
Sarfaparilla grows in the Water by the fides of the River, as I have been informed.
The Quito-cloath comes from a rich Town in the Country within land called Quito. There is a great deal made, both Serges and Broad-cloath. This Cloath is not very fine, but is worn by the common fort of people throughout the whole Kingdom of Peru. This, and all other commodities which come from Quito, are fhipt off at Guiaquil for other parts; and all imported goods for the City of Quito pafs by Guiaquil: by which it may appear that Guia- quil is a place of no mean trade.
Quito, as I have been informed, is a very popu- lous City, feated in the heart of the Country. It is inhabited partly by Spaniards; but the major part of its