On the Banks of the Amazon | Page 2

was, though really a Protestant--I am sorry to have to make the
confession-- nominally a Roman Catholic; for he, being a Spanish
subject, could not otherwise at that time have resided in any part of the
territories of Spain and carried on his business with freedom: but I feel
now that no person has a right to conceal their true faith, and to pretend
to believe what is false, for the sake of any worldly advantage. My
mother, however, had stipulated that all her children should be brought
up as Protestants. To this he had agreed, though he found when he had
sons that he was in consequence subjected to considerable annoyance
from the priests, who threatened to denounce him as a heretic. To avoid
this, he had to send his children to England at an early age for their
education; indeed, had we remained at Quito we could only have
obtained a very poor one at any public school or college. It will be
understood from what I have said, that though we were really English,
and I have always felt like an Englishman, we had both Spanish and
native connections, which will account for some of the circumstances
which afterwards occurred to us.
My father, though he himself resided at Quito, had also a house of
business at Guayaquil, which imported European manufactured goods,
and exported in return Peruvian bark and other articles, of which I shall
by-and-by have to speak. He was greatly respected by his
fellow-citizens, although they might have been somewhat jealous of
him for succeeding in his business through his energy and perseverance,
while they themselves, sitting idle all the day smoking their cigarettes
without attempting to exert their minds, were left behind. My dear
mother lived very much alone, for the society of the ladies of Quito,
though they are very charming in manner, afforded her but little
satisfaction, from their utter want of education.
I remember the joy which the arrival of my eldest sister, Fanny--or

Dona Francisca, as the Spaniards called her--who had gone to school in
England, and Aunt Martha, who brought her back, caused in the family.
I had another sister, Ellen, much younger; a sweet, dear little girl, of
whom I was very fond. She was indeed the pet of the family. My elder
brother, John, was at school in England. I remember thinking Aunt
Martha, who was my mother's elder sister, very stiff and formal; and I
was not at all pleased when she expressed her intention of teaching me
and keeping me in order. My mother's health had been delicate, and I
had been left very much to the care of old Domingos, a negro servant of
my father's, who had been with him since his boyhood, and with my
grandfather before him. He was the butler, or major-domo, the head
over all the other servants, and, I believe, deservedly trusted. Among
them I remember best little Maria, a young negro slave girl who
attended especially on Ellen; and Antonio, a Gallego from the north of
Spain, a worthy, honest fellow, who had been in the family from his
boyhood, and was much attached to us all. I soon learned to like Aunt
Martha better than I had expected, for though I thought her looks very
terrible at first--and she was certainly firm--she was really kind and
gentle. Under her instruction I gained the first knowledge of the letters
of the alphabet, of which I was before profoundly ignorant. Of course
she was very gentle with Ellen, as everybody was, and Fanny seemed
to be very fond of her. She was courageous, too, as I before long had
evidence. I remember one night being suddenly lifted in her arms, and
carried out by her into the patio of courtyard. There was a strange
rumbling noise underneath our feet, and I could see the stout walls of
our house rocking to and fro; and yet, though the earth was tumbling
about, she did not tremble in the least, but I heard her telling the
servants not to shriek out or to pray to the saints, who could not help
them, but to put their trust in God, who made the world, and who
would save them from danger if it was his good will. It was a very
fearful night, however, and though I believe the earthquake did not last
long, it tumbled down, during the few minutes of its duration, a number
of buildings, and many of the inhabitants were buried beneath the ruins.
Our house, however, which was on the outskirts of the city, and had no
upper story, although some of the walls were cracked, escaped without
further injury; and before morning we were in our beds again, and I, for
my part, was sleeping