Of the Indians of Pozo, and how valiant they are, and how dreaded by the
neighbouring tribes.
There were three chiefs in this province when we entered it with the
Captain Jorge Robledo. These, with their followers, were and are the
most valiant and bold Indians in all these provinces. Their territory is
bounded on one side by the great river, on another by the provinces of
Carapa and Picara, concerning which I will speak presently, and on a
third by Paucura, of which I have already treated. These Indians of Pozo
are not on friendly terms with any of their neighbours. Their origin is
derived, according to their own account, from certain Indians who in
ancient times came from the province of Arma, and, seeing how fertile
the soil of this country of Pozo was, settled there. Their language and
customs are the same as those of Arma. The chiefs have very large and
lofty circular houses, and ten or fifteen persons live in them,
according to the number of the family. At the doors of the houses there
are great pallisades and other defences, made of stout canes, between
which there are large boards covered with reeds, so that none of the
mounted Spaniards could pass them. From the summit of the table land
these Indians watched all the roads to see who was coming. The men are
better disposed than those of Arma, and the women are large and ugly,
although there are some who are pretty. But in truth I saw very few
such. Within the houses of the chiefs, near the entrances, there was a
row of idols, about fifteen or twenty in number, and each the size of a
man. Their faces were made of wax, and moulded into the form and shape
of that of the devil. They say that sometimes, when they called him, the
devil entered into the bodies of these wooden idols, and answered them
from within. The heads are like the skulls of corpses. When the chiefs
die they bury them within the houses, in great sepulchres, and place by
the bodies great vases of wine made from maize, with their arms and
gold, and the ornaments they valued most. They also bury many women
alive with them, according to the manner of those tribes whose countries
we had already passed through. I remember that, in the province of Arma,
the second time that Captain Jorge Robledo passed through it, we went,
by his order--one Antonio Pimentel and myself--to examine a burial place
in the village of a chief named Yayo, in which we found more than two
hundred small pieces of gold, which in that country they call
_chagnaletas_, but as a horrible smell came from the bodies, we went
away without getting all that was there.
If all the gold that is buried in Peru, and in these countries, was
collected, it would be impossible to count it, so great would be the
quantity, and the Spaniards have yet got little compared with what
remains. When I was in Cuzco, receiving an account of the Yncas from the
principal natives, I heard it said by Paullu Ynca and others, that if
all the treasure in the _huacas_, which are their burial places, was
collected together, that which the Spaniards had already taken would
look very small, and they compared it to a drop taken out of a great
vase of water. In order to make the comparison more striking, they took
a large measure of maize, and, dropping one grain out of it, they said,
“The Christians have found that; the rest is so concealed, that we
ourselves do not know the place of it.” So vast are the treasures that
are lost in these parts. If the Spaniards had not come, all the gold in
the country would certainly have been offered to the devil, or buried
with the dead, for the Indians neither want it, nor seek it for any
other purpose. They do not pay any wages with it to their men of war,
nor do they want it except as ornaments when alive, and to be placed by
their sides when dead. Therefore, it seems to me that we are bound to
bring them to a knowledge of our holy Catholic faith, without showing
them that our only wish is to fill our pockets.[223]
These Indians and their women go naked like all the rest. They are very
laborious, and when they sow or dig the land, they hold the club for
hoeing in one hand, and the lance for fighting in the other. The chiefs
are more respected by the Indians than in other parts. The sons inherit
the chieftainship, and in their default the nephews.
The province of Picara is distant two leagues, that of Paucura a league
and a half, and that of Carrapa about the same. All these provinces had
three times as many Indians, yet the Indians of Pozo waged cruel war
upon them one after the other, and all feared them and desired their
friendship. A large body went forth from their villages, leaving
sufficient for their defence, and carried many musical instruments, such
as drums and flutes. Thus they marched against their enemies, taking
cords with them to bind their prisoners. Arriving at the place where the
enemy awaited them, they set up loud shouts, and closed upon them,
killing, taking prisoners, and burning houses. In all these wars the
Indians of Pozo were always the most valiant, and so their neighbours
confess. But they are as great butchers in eating human food as those of
Arma, for one day I saw them eat more than a hundred men and women whom
they had taken in war. They marched with us, when the adelantado Don
Sebastian de Belalcazar was subduing the provinces of Picara and
Paucura, which had rebelled, and at that time the name of the chief of
this town of Pozo was Perequito. In the inroads which we made, these
Indians of Pozo killed the other Indians as if they were rabbits, and
hunted out those who were concealed near the banks of the river, without
letting one escape.
One Rodrigo Alonzo, I, and two other Christians, being in the province
of Paucura, went in chase of certain Indians, and on entering a village
there came out the freshest and prettiest Indian girl I have ever seen
in all these provinces. When we saw her we called her, but as soon as
she heard us, she shrieked as if she had seen the devil, and ran towards
the Indians of Pozo, thinking it better to be killed and eaten by them
than to fall into our hands. And so it was that one of those Indians,
who were our allies, before we could prevent him, gave her a cruel blow
on her head, while another came up and beheaded her with a stone knife.
The girl, when they approached her, knelt down and awaited her doom,
which they gave her. They then drank her blood, and ate her heart and
entrails raw, carrying off the head and limbs to eat on the following
night.
I saw two other Indians, who killed those of Paucura, and the victims
laughed pleasantly, just as if they had not been the men who were to
die. In fine, all the Indians of these parts have the custom of eating
human flesh. The Indians of Pozo are very rich in gold, and near their
village there are mines on the banks of the great river which passes
near.
In this place the adelantado Don Sebastian de Belalcazar and his captain
and lieutenant-general Francisco Hernandez Giron[224] captured the
marshal Don Jorge Robledo, and cut off his head, besides putting others
to death. And that they might not have to carry the bodies of the
marshal and the others to Arma, the Indians ate them. Nevertheless they
burnt a house over the remains of the bodies.[225]