ECUADOR.                           393

                               NIo. 209.

                         Mr. Wing to Mr. Fish.

No. 356.1                          UNITED STATES LEGATION,
         Quito, Ecuador, December 28, 1873. (Received Feb. 5, 1874.)
  SIR: Herewith I have pleasure in forwarding a plan of the survey ot
a high-road from Quito over the Andean crests to the bay of Caraques,
on the Pacific coast, made by two young New York engineers, (Messrs.
Rogers and Millet.) The road thus far is a great success, and will be
supplemented by a railway at an early day. It will open one of the
richest and most productive sections of Ecuador to easy traffic, and will
soon establish a very important port upon the Pacific seaboard. It
will also do away with the long and dangerous journey over Chimbo-
razo so soon as it is completed, which will be within a few months.
  The railway in process of construction from Milagro to Sibambe, and
there connecting with the great highway to Quito, is being vigorously
pressed under the direction of Mr. Henry McClellan, of New York, as-
sisted by two young engineers, (Messrs. Curtis and Merrill) of the same
State.
  The high-road from Quito to Esmeraldas is also under the supervision
of Mr. Saltar, of New York.
  The material development of Ecuador promises well in the hands of
the present progressive and capable President.
  All this work has been done since my arrival in this country in June,
1870; and I am gratified that it will stand as a testimonial of educated
American skill, science, and persistent energy.
  This city has also been greatly improved in all respects within the
past three years, and is now, I judge, the cleanest and best paved and
watered capital in South America.
       I have, &c.,
                                                  RUMSEY WING.


                               No. 210.

                         Mr. Wing to Mr. Fish.

No. 359.]                           UNITED STATES LEGATION,
         Quito, Ecuador, December 30, 1873. (Received Feb. 5, 1874.)
  Sir: As evincing the intense Catholicism prevailing in this country,
I herewith forward original and translation (J and 2) of an enactment
of the late congress.
       I have, &c.,
                                                  RUMSEY WING.

                          [Inclosure 2.-Translation.]
      Decree of Congress placing Ecuador under the protection of the Sacred
Heart.
  The senate and house of deputies in Congress united, considering-
  1st. That the third provincial council of Quito has, by a special decree,
consecrated
the republic of Ecuador to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, placing it under its
protection ;
  2d. That it belongs to the legislature to co-operate, in the name of the
nation, la an
act which, being so in conformity with its sentimeats of eminent Catholicism,
is also
the most efficacious mode of preserving the faith and extending the progress
and tem-
tporal welfare of the state: