No. 122.
Mr. Wing to Mr. Fish.
Quito, Ecuador, August 8, 1872. (Received September 16.)
Sir: I am gratified to be able to report that the favorable consideration with which our countrymen are regarded by this government still continues, and that quite a large party of American artisans, mechanics, &c, &c, together with several families, are expected here within a day or two. These persons are employed directly by the government.
I regret to hear a rumor this morning that one of the number has died in the passage of the mountains, and trust that it may prove to be nothing more than a rumor.
The recent works and reports of the American engineers have also given great satisfaction.
A brief report of Mr. Rogers, of New York, concerning a long and arduous exploring trip on foot, from this city to Marabi, (which is destined to become one of the chief sea-ports on this coast,) is interesting, and will be supplemented by a report in full at an early day, I hear. There seems also to be an increasing desire to seek the American markets; and I am aware that several classes of contracts that have heretofore been monopolized by. Europeans will hereafter be turned into American channels. Comparatively speaking, our countrymen are still but few in Ecuador. They are assuming a strong popular hold, however, and are, I think, destined, with discretion and proper management, eventually to exert the same influence, pecuniary and personal, here, that they now do in Peru and Chili.
The tendency in that direction has been marked within the past two years.
I am, &c,