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 Ell