Of the customs of the Indians of this land, and of the forests that must
be traversed in order to reach the town of Anzerma.
The people of this province are warlike, and their language is different
from the others we had met with. The country is covered in all parts by
dense forests, and a broad river flows through it, swelled by many
streams and fountains where they make salt--a truly wonderful and
prodigious fact: and of it, as well as of many other things in this
province, I will speak presently, when the narrative affords a suitable
place. There is a small lake in the valley where they make very white
salt. The Lords or Caciques and their Captains have very large houses,
and near the doors there are stout canes that grow in these parts, on
the tops of which are placed many heads of their enemies. When they go
to war, they take sharp knives made of reeds or flint, or of the bark of
canes, which they can also make very sharp, and with these they cut off
the heads of their captives. To others they give most terrible deaths,
cutting off their limbs, eating them, and placing their heads on the
tops of canes. Amongst these canes they place certain boards on which
they carve the figure of a devil, very fierce, and in human form, with
other idols and figures of cats which they worship. When they require
water or sunshine for their crops, they seek aid from these idols. Those
who are set apart for that purpose talk with the devil, and are great
sorcerers and magicians. They believe in and watch for signs and
prodigies, and preserve those superstitions which the devil suggests:
such is the power he has over these Indians--God our Lord permitting it
for their sins, or for some other reason known to himself. They said,
when we first discovered the country with the Licentiate Juan de
Vadillo, that their chief, named Cauroma, had many idols of very fine
gold: and they say that there is such abundance of that metal, that the
chief can get as much as he likes from a certain river.
These Indians are great butchers in the matter of eating human flesh.
Near the doors of their houses there are small open spaces where they
have their places of sepulture, according to the custom of their
country, consisting of very deep vaults, with their openings facing the
east. When a chief dies, they place him in one of these vaults with much
mourning, putting his arms and clothes, the gold he possessed, and some
food, with the body. From this circumstance we conjecture that the
Indians certainly gave some credit to the thought that the soul leaves
the body.
The country is well supplied with provisions, and fertile, yielding
crops of maize and edible roots. There are scarcely any fruit trees.
To the eastward of this province there is another called Cartama, which
is the limit of the discoveries of Sebastian de Belalcazar. The Indians
are rich in gold, have small houses, and all go naked and barefooted,
without anything more than a small band, with which they cover their
shame. The women wear small mantles of cotton from the waist downwards,
but are otherwise uncovered.
Beyond the province of Cartama there is a forest, extending more than
seven leagues, and very dense; and here we suffered much from hunger and
cold when we went with Vadillo; and I may truly affirm that in all my
life I never suffered such hunger as during that journey, although I
have served in some expeditions of discovery in which we underwent great
hardships. We found ourselves in so sad a plight in these dense forests,
where the sun could not penetrate, without roads, or guides, nor any one
to tell us whether we were far from or near any inhabited part, that we
were inclined to return to Carthagena. It was a great thing for us to
find that wood which I described as growing in the mountains of Abibe,
for with it we could make a fire, as it will always burn whenever it is
required to do so. By the help of God, and with the aid of our own arms,
with which we forced a way, we got through these forests, in which we
left several Spaniards dead from hunger, and many horses. Beyond, there
is a small valley clear of trees, and a little farther on we came to a
large and beautiful valley, very populous, with the houses all new, and
close to each other. Some of them were very large, and the fields were
full of maize crops and edible roots. Afterwards, the inhabitants of
this valley left their old home, fleeing from the cruelties of the
Spaniards, and took refuge in some wild and lofty mountains, which
overhang the valley called Cima. Two leagues and a half beyond this
valley, there is another small one, formed by a spur which runs out from
the Cordillera; and here the town of Anzerma is founded, which was first
called the city of Santa Ana de los Cavalleros. It is built between two
small rivers, on a rising ground, which is covered with beautiful trees,
and fruit trees both of Europe and of the country, and excellent crops
of beans. The city overlooks all the district, being the highest part of
the rising ground, and no people can approach without being first seen
from the town. On all sides it is surrounded by great villages, ruled
over by many caciques or lords, who are all friendly to each other. The
villages are close together, and the houses are divided from each other
by short spaces.