An indispensable part of the furniture of a house is the _hamaca_, hammock; and I have frequently seen five or six in one room; they are made of pita, agave thread, or a kind of straw, dyed of various colours; they are so woven or matted, that they extend to a great width, and hold two, three, or four persons. They are stretched across the rooms, and along the sides and ends, and the inhabitants prefer them to any other seat: indeed, they possess peculiar advantages, for, by being put in motion, the current of air which is thus produced is refreshing; and the motion prevents the possibility of the person being bitten by the mosquitos, as the least draft or motion in the air obliges these blood-suckers to seek for safety in some quiet corner.
The population of Guayaquil amounts to about twenty thousand souls; the inhabitants are composed of all the different classes which are found in the various towns of South America, but there is an excess of mulattos. A phenomenon presents itself here which greatly surprises all foreigners; the complexion of some of the white natives is extremely delicate, the lily and the rose are blended as enchantingly as on the cheek of any European beauty, accompanied also with blue eyes and light coloured hair; yet the climate is extremely hot, and the town is surrounded with low swampy grounds. The ladies are not only remarkably fair, but they have also very delicate regularly formed features; they are tall genteel figures, have an elegant gait, walk well, and dance gracefully; they are also very lively and witty in their conversation, and on the whole the female society of Guayaquil exceeds that of any other town in South America that I visited;--their private characters being as free from levity as their public demeanour is from prudery. The men are more enterprising in their commercial concerns, and the lower classes are more industrious than the people generally are in the other colonies; indeed every thing here bears the marks of exertion and activity.
The favourite amusements are bull fights, excursions on the water in _balsas_, and dancing; of the latter all ranks appear passionately fond, and in the evening the harp, the guitar, or the violin may be heard in almost every street, and, contrary to what might be expected in a country lying between the tropics, the reel, the waltz, and the country dance are preferred to any other.