The Columbia finally arrived in port. In his autobiography, Paul Boyton didn't provide details, but based on the stories of other travellers, we can imagine that:
Tenders and lighters lurched alongside the wharf tossed by the swell of waves. Boyton and Kiefer hustled their luggage on board in the utter confusion of a heavy downpour. They squeezed into a small hot cabin, not big enough for all the passengers, dodging the cargo that slid from side to side. They watched anxiously as their luggage was loaded, looking for serious onlookers, and then took shelter in their cabin until evening. Near dusk the sun finally came out, and they emerged from the cabin to purchase fruit from vendors that came alongside in small boats.
On October 24, in his autobiography, Paul reports that the Columbia arrived on the coast of Ecuador and steamed 60 miles upriver to Guayaquil. A multitude of parrots and parakeets circled overhead, and alligators rested on the banks among the mangrove trees. Quayaquil stood on the right bank, a hot and filthy town, fever flags flying from every third or fourth house. Rafts of balsawood clustered along the water's edge laden with pigs, fowls, parrots, macaws, bananas, platano, oranges, and pineapples.
The steamer remained in the middle of the river while lighters discharged the cargo. The slow unloading provided an opportunity for the passengers to explore the town. Paul and George went ashore. Crowds of young boys besieged them, offering monkeys for sale. They also offered what Boyton called alligators (probably caiman) from six inches to three feet long, strapped on boards to keep them from biting. Boyton compared them to American alligators and found them more agile and savage.
Research Note:
On October 25, the Wachusett, an American warship, arrived off Guayaquil on its way to Panama.
Resource:
Boyton, Paul. 1892. The story of Paul Boyton: voyages on all the great rivers of the world, paddling over twenty-five thousand miles in a rubber dress. Milwaukee: Riverside. 358 pp.
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