Of the customs of the Caciques and Indians in the neighbourhood of the
town of Anzerma, of the founding of that town, and who its founder was.
The place on which the town of Anzerma is built is called by the natives
Umbra, and when the Adelantado Sebastian de Belalcazar entered this
province, as he had no interpreter, he could understand none of its
secrets. He heard the Indians, when they saw salt, call it _Anzer_, and
this is true, for among them it has no other name; and this is the
reason that from that time, in speaking of the place, they have called
it Anzerma, and have given this name to the town. Four leagues to the
westward, there is a village which, though not very large, is inhabited
by many Indians, as it has large houses and broad lands. In the road to
it there is a small river, and it is a league from the great and rich
river of Santa Martha. These Indians had for their captain and chief a
well-disposed man named Ciricha. He has, or had when I saw the place, a
very large house at the entrance of the village, and many others in
different parts. Near the large house there is a small court surrounded
by the canes I have already described as having seen in Caramanta, and
on the top of each was the head of an Indian who had been eaten. The
chief had many wives. These Indians have the same language and customs
as those of Caramanta, but are even greater butchers and eaters of human
flesh.
That the difficulties of the discovery of this country may be known, I
desire to relate what happened in this village, at the time when we
entered it with the licentiate Juan de Vadillo. As the stores of maize
had been carried off, we neither found that nor anything else to eat,
and it was more than a year since we had eaten meat, except that of the
horses that had died, and of a few dogs. We even had no salt, such was
the misery we endured. At this time twenty-five or thirty soldiers set
out to procure, or, to speak more plainly, to rob whatever they could
find, and, near the great river they came upon some people who fled, for
fear of being seen and taken prisoners by us. Here the soldiers found a
great pot full of cooked flesh, and they were so hungry that they
thought of nothing but eating it, supposing it was the flesh of
creatures called _cuis_,[211] because some came out of the pot. As soon
as they had well eaten, one of them took out of the pot a hand with its
fingers and nails, and they also found pieces of the feet and other
parts of a man. When the Spaniards saw these things, they were troubled
at having eaten of such meat, and the sight of the fingers and hands
caused them much sorrow; but they returned to the camp, from which they
had set out half dead with hunger.
Many small rivers rise in the mountains near this village, where much
very rich gold has been taken by these Indians and by Negroes. These
Indians are friends and allies of those of Caramanta, but they were
always at war with their other neighbours. There is a strong position in
the village, which they garrison in time of war. They go naked and
barefooted, and the women wear small mantles, and are good looking--some
of them beautiful. Further on is the district of Sopia, and between
these two places there flows a river rich in gold, where the Spaniards
have established some farms. The people of the last named district also
go naked. The houses are like those of other Indians, and within them
there are great sepulchres where they bury their dead. They have no
idols nor house of worship that we saw. They talk with the devil. They
marry their nieces, and sometimes their sisters, and the son of the
principal wife inherits the lordship; for all these Indians, if they are
chiefs, have many wives. If a chief has no son, the son of his sister
succeeds. This district borders on the province of Cartama, in going to
which the great river is crossed. On the other side is the province of
Pozo, of which we shall have to treat further on. To the east of Anzerma
there are other large villages, full of fruit gardens and cultivated
fields, whose chiefs are friendly. They are all allies, although at
times there is enmity and war amongst them. They are not such butchers
and eaters of human flesh as the others whom I have described. The
caciques are very rich, and before the Spaniards came, they went about
in hammocks and litters. They have many wives, who, considering that
they are Indians, are beautiful. They wear handsome coloured mantles of
cotton.
The men go naked, but the principal chiefs cover themselves with a large
mantle. The women are dressed as I have before said, they comb out their
hair, and wear very beautiful necklaces made of pieces of fine gold, and
ear-rings. They also slit their nostrils and insert pieces of gold in
the opening, some large and others small. The chiefs had many drinking
cups of gold, and mantles, both for themselves and their wives,
garnished with pieces of gold, some round and others in the shape of
stars. They call the devil Xixarama, and the Spaniards Tamaraca. Some of
them are great sorcerers and herb doctors. Their daughters are married
after they have ceased to be virgins, and they do not hold virginity to
be a thing of any estimation. When they marry they use no kind of
ceremony. When their chiefs die in a part of this province called Tauya,
they place their bodies in hammocks and light fires all round. Holes are
dug beneath, into which the melted fat drops, and when the body is half
burnt, the relations come and make great lamentations, drinking their
wine, and reciting their songs of praise to their gods according to
their custom, and as they have been taught by their elders. This being
done, they wrap the bodies in shrouds, and keep them for several years
uninterred. When they are thoroughly dried up, they put them into
sepulchres which they make in their houses. In the other provinces, when
a chief dies, they make a very deep sepulchre in the lofty parts of the
mountains, and, after much lamentation, they put the body in it, wrapped
in many rich cloths, with arms on one side and plenty of food on the
other, great jars of wine, plumes, and gold ornaments. At his feet they
bury some of his most beloved and beautiful women alive; holding it for
certain that he will come to life, and make use of what they have placed
round him.
These Indians use darts, lances, and clubs, some of black palm wood, and
others of a white wood which grows in those parts. We did not see any
house of worship in their country. When they talk with the devil, they
say that it becomes dark, and that one who is chosen from the rest
speaks for the others. The country, where these people have their
villages, consists of very lofty mountains without any trees. To the
westward there is a vast forest called Cima, and further on, towards the
South Sea, there are many Indians and large villages; and it seems
certain that the great river of Darien[212] rises there.
This town of Anzerma was founded by the captain Jorge Robledo in the
name of his Majesty, the Adelantado Don Francisco Pizarro being governor
and captain-general of all these provinces: although it is true that
Lorenzo de Aldana, the lieutenant-general for Don Francisco Pizarro in
the city of Cali, named the municipality, and appointed as alcaldes Suer
de Nava and Martin de Amoroto, and as alguazil-mayor Ruy Venegas, and
sent Robledo to people this city, now called a town, ordering him to
call it Santa Anna de los Caballeros. Thus some credit for the
foundation of Anzerma may, for these reasons, be given to Lorenzo de
Aldana.