Q U O Q U O 189 two carriage roads have been constructed from Quito to Milagro on the Guayaquil river and to the province of Manabi respectively. The railway projected between the city of Guayaquil and Quito has as yet advanced inland only to Chimbo bridge at the foot of the Andes, so that the really difficult part of the enterprise remains un- touched ; a telegraph line, however, has been opened. The distance between these two leading cities of the republic is 200 miles by road, and the transit of goods takes fourteen days and costs from 10 to 14 dollars per cargo of 250 Ib. Though built on the eastern skirts of the magnificent volcano of Pichincha (15,827 feet) and within 5 miles of its crater, Quito is not within sight of the summit, a secondary eminence known to the Incas as Yavira, and now as Panecillo, rising between. The site is an irregular plain traversed by two ravines running down from the mountain, one of which is arched over so as not to inter- fere with the alignment of the streets. Though the streams flow east at first, they really belong to the system of the Perucho which discharges into the Pacific near Esmeraldas. The houses, mostly of sun-dried brick, are usually low and squat, and not a chimney is to be seen. The public buildings are also of a massive and heavy- looking Spanish type. In the principal square are the cathedral, with a fine marble porch, the Government house, with a colonnade running the whole length of the faqade, and the palace of the nuncio. But the finest building in Quito is the college of the Jesuits, part of which is occupied by the university, an institution long rendered interesting to Englishmen by the presence of the venerable botanist Dr William Jameson. There is a public library in the city of 20,000 volumes, and a polytechnic school was instituted in 1872. The local manufactures are confined to coarse cotton and woollen stuffs, thread, lace, hosiery, silk, and a certain amount of jewellery. About 1870 the population was estimated by Dr Jameson at between 30,000 and 40,000 ; the Almanack de Gotha for 1885 states it as 80,000. Quito (the city of the Quitus, a race akin to the Quichuas of Peru) was peacefully conquered by the Spanish captain Sebastian Benalcazar in 1533. It received the rank of a Spanish city in 1541 from Charles V., and became the capital of the province of Quito in the viceroyalty of New Granada. More than once it has suffered severely from earthquakes : in 1797, for example, 40,000 of its inhabitants were thus destroyed ; and in March 22, 1859, property was damaged to the value of $3,000,000. QUOITS. This pastime resembles the ancient discus- throwing which formed one of the five games of the Greek pentathlon (see Discus, vol. vii. p. 258). The modern quoit, however, is a far lighter missile, -and consists of a circular iron ring to be thrown or pitched in play at a fixed object. This ring is flattened, having a thick inner edge and thin outer one. The latter is slightly indented at a given spot to receive the tip of the player's forefinger with- out cutting it. There is no limit to the weight of a quoit, but this should be specified before commencing a match. The diameter is restricted to 8 inches over all. Two iron pins, called " hobs," are driven into the ground at a certain distance apart, generally 19 yards. There may be one or more players a side, and each has two quoits. These he may throw successively ; or else each player throws one only at a time and a second round follows in the same order, as may have been agreed on. " The throwing takes place the reverse way after each round. A player grasps the quoit with his forefinger along the outer edge and the tip in the dent, holding the two surfaces between the thumb and the other fingers. In pitching, a slight rotary motion is imparted by the wrist, in order that the quoit may pass smoothly and horizontally through the air, and alight flat. Each player attempts to make his quoit pitch on the hob or pin so that the head of the latter passes through the circular opening in the centre of the missile. Such a success is termed a "ringer," and two is scored. Quoits of opposite sides alighting equidistant from the pin do not score at all. If a player has both his quoits nearer the pin than any of his opponents he scores two ; while if only one be nearer he is entitled to count one to his credit. The game is popular in many country towns and villages of England and in the mining districts of the Midlands and Lancashire. The rules were drawn up as follows in 1 869 : 1. That the distance from pin to pin be 19 yards, and that the player stand level with the pin, and deliver his quoit with the first step. 2. That no quoit be allowed which measures more than 8 inches external diameter, but the weight may be unlimited. 3. That the pins be 1 inch above the clay. 4. That all measurements be taken from any visible part of the pin to the nearest visible part of the quoit. No clay or quoit to be disturbed. 5. That no quoit count unless fairly delivered in the clay free from the outer rim, and that no quoit on its back count unless it holds clay or is knocked out by another quoit. That no quoit rolling on the clay count unless it first strikes another quoit or the pin. 6. That each player deliver his quoits in succession, his opponent then following. 7. That an umpire be appointed, and in all cases of dispute his decision be final. QUO WARRANTO, in English law, is the name given to an ancient prerogative writ calling upon any person usurping any office, franchise, liberty, or privilege belonging to the crown to show " by what warrant " he maintained his claim. It lay also for non-user or misuser of an office, &c. If the crown succeeded, judgment of forfeiture or ouster was given against the defendant. The procedure was regulated by statute as early as 1278 (the statute of Quo Warranto, 6 Edw. I. c. 1). After a time the cumbrous- ness and inconvenience of the ancient practice led to its being superseded by the modern form of an information in the nature of a quo warranto, exhibited in the Queen's Bench Division either by the attorney general ex officio or by the queen's coroner and attorney at the instance of a private person called the relator. The information will not be issued except by leave of the court on proper cause being shown. It does not lie where there has been no user or where the office has determined. Nor does it lie for the usurpation of every kind of office. But it lies where the office is of a public nature and created by statute, even though it is not an encroachment upon the prerogative of the crown. Where the usurpation is of a municipal office the information is regulated by 9 Anne c. 20, under which the defendant may be fined and judgment of ouster given against him, and costs may be granted for or against the relator. Such an information must, in the case of boroughs within the Municipal Corporations Act, 1882, be brought within twelve months after disqualifi- cation (45 & 46 Viet. c. 50, 225) ; in the case of other boroughs, within six years after the defendant first took upon himself the office (32 Geo. III. c. 58, 2). The information in the nature of a quo warranto, though nomin- ally a criminal, has long been really a civil proceeding, and has recently been expressly declared to be so (47 & 48 Viet. c. 61, 15). In cases not falling within 9 Anne c. 20, judgment of ouster is not usually given. The most famous historical instance of quo warranto was the action taken against the corporation of London by Charles II. in 1684. The Queen's Bench adjudged the charter and franchises of the city of London to be forfeited to the crown (State Trials, vol. viii., 1039). This judgment was reversed by 2 Will. & Mary, sess. 1, c. 8; and it was further enacted, in limitation of the prerogative, that the franchises of the city should never be seized or forejudged on pretence of any forfeiture or misdemeanor. In the United States the right to a public office is tried by quo 'warranto or analogous procedure, regulated by the State laws. Proceedings by quo warranto lie in a United States court for the removal of persons holding office contrary to Art. xiv. 3 of the Amendments to the Constitution, Act of May 31, 1870, c. 14.
