QUITO

QUITO, formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital of Ecuador, situated at an elevation of nearly 9000 ft. above the sea-level, and cut up with ravines; stands in a region of perpetual spring and amid picturesque surroundings, the air clear and the sky a dark deep blue. The chief buildings are of stone.

It is in the heart of a volcanic region, and is subject to frequent earthquakes, in one of which, in 1797, 40,000 of the inhabitants perished. The population consists chiefly of Indians.