Of the province of Quinbaya, and of the customs of the chiefs. Also
concerning the foundation of the city of Cartago, and who was its
founder.
The province of Quinbaya is fifteen leagues long by ten broad, from the
Rio Grande to the snowy mountains of the Andes. It is populous
throughout its whole extent, and the country is not so rugged as that
through which we had passed. It contains extensive and dense cane
brakes, which cannot be penetrated without great labour, and this
province, with its rivers, is full of these cane brakes. In no part of
the Indies have I seen or heard of any place where there are so many
canes as in this province, but it pleased God, our Lord, that this
country should have a superabundance of canes, that the people might not
have much trouble in making their houses. The snowy mountains, which
are a part of the great chain of the Andes, are seven leagues from the
villages of this province. In the highest parts of them there is a
volcano which, on a clear day, may be seen to send forth great
quantities of smoke, and many rivers rise in these mountains, which
irrigate the land. The chief rivers are the Tacurumbi, the Cegue, which
passes close to the city, and there are many others which cannot be
counted for number. When the freshes come down in the winter season, the
Indians have bridges of canes fastened together with reeds, and strongly
secured to trees on either side. All the rivers are very full of gold.
When I was there in the year 1547 they got more than fifteen thousand
_pesos_ worth in three months, and the largest gang of labourers
consists of three or four Negroes and some Indians. Valleys are formed
along the courses of the rivers, and though the banks are densely lined
with canes, there are many fruit trees of the country, and large
plantations of _Pixiuare_ palms.
In these rivers there are fountains of healing water, and it is a
marvellous thing to see their manner of rising in the midst of the
rivers, for which thanks be to God our Lord. Further on I will devote a
chapter to these fountains, for it is a matter well worthy of note. The
men of this province are well disposed, and of good countenances; the
women the same, and very amorous. Their houses are small, and roofed
with the leaves of canes. There are now many fruit trees and other
plants which the Spaniards cultivate, both from Spain, and of the
country. The chiefs are very liberal; they have many wives, and are all
friendly, and in alliance with each other. They do not eat human flesh,
except on very great occasions, and the chiefs alone were very rich in
gold. Of all the things that were to be seen, the most notable were
their jewels of gold and great vases out of which they drink their wine.
I saw one, which a cacique named Tacurumbi gave to the captain Don Jorge
Robledo, which would contain two _azumbres_,[228] of water. The same
cacique gave another to Miguel Muñoz which was still larger and more
valuable. The arms of these Indians are lances and darts, and certain
_estolicas_,[229] which they throw with great force, a mischievous
weapon. They are intelligent and observant, and some of them are great
magicians. They assemble to make feasts for their pleasure, and when
they have drunk, a squadron of women is placed on one side, and another
on the other; the men are placed in the same way, and they pass
backwards and forwards, chanting the word _Batatabati, Batatabati_,
which means “we play.” Thus, with darts and wands, the game begins,
which ends in the wounding of many, and the death of some. They twist
their hair into great wheels, and thus they wear it when they go to war.
They have been a fierce and encroaching people, until justice was
executed upon the old chiefs. When they assembled for their feasts and
games in an open space, all the Indians gathered together, and two of
them made a noise with drums. One then began to dance, and all the rest
followed, each with his cup of wine in his hand, for they drank, danced,
and sang all at the same time. Their songs consisted of a recitation of
their deeds, and of the deeds of their ancestors. They have no creed,
and they converse with the devil, like all the rest of the Indians.
When they are ill they bathe many times, at which times they themselves
relate that they see awful visions. And, in treating of this subject, I
will here relate what happened in this province of Quinbaya in the year
1547. At the time when the viceroy, Blasco Nuñez Vela, was embarrassed
by the movements of Gonzalo Pizarro and his followers, a great
pestilence spread over the whole kingdom of Peru, which began on the
other side of Cuzco, and pervaded the whole country. People without
number died. The illness consisted of a headache accompanied by raging
fever, and presently the pain passed from the head to the left ear, when
it became so great that the patient did not last more than two or three
days. The pestilence reached this province. Now there is a river, about
half a league from the city of Cartago, called Consota, and near it
there is a small lake where they make salt from the water of a spring.
Many Indian women were one day assembled there, making salt for the
households of their lords, when they saw a tall man with his belly open
and bowels hanging out, holding two boys by the hand. When he came to
the women, he said, “I promise you that I have to kill all the women of
the Christians, and all those of your people, and it shall be done
presently.” As it was day time the Indian women showed no fear, but
related the occurrence in a laughing way when they went to their homes.
In another village of the neighbourhood, called Giraldo Gilestopiña,
they saw the same figure on horseback, galloping over all the hills and
mountains like the wind. In a few days the pestilence and ear-ache came
on in such a manner, that most of the people died, the Spaniards losing
their Indians bound to service, so that few or none were left; in
addition to which such terror prevailed that the very Spaniards seemed
to be fearful and afraid. Many women and boys affirmed that they saw the
dead with their own eyes walking again. These people well understand
that there is something in man besides the mortal body, though they do
not hold that it is a soul, but rather some kind of transfiguration.
They also think that all bodies will rise again; but the devil has given
them to understand that it will be in a place where there will be great
ease and pleasure, and this is the reason that they place great
quantities of wine and maize, fish, and other things in their
sepulchres, together with the arms of the deceased, as if these could
free him from the pains of hell. The custom among them is that the son
succeeds the father, and, failing sons, the nephew being the son of a
sister. In ancient times these Indians were not natives of Quinbaya, but
they invaded the country many times, killing the inhabitants, who could
not have been few, judging from the remains of their works, for all the
dense cane brakes seem once to have been peopled and tilled, as well as
the mountainous parts, where there are trees as big round as two
bullocks. From these facts I conjecture that a very long period of time
has elapsed since these Indians first peopled the Indies.[230] The
climate of the province is very salubrious, so that the Spaniards, who
have settled in it, neither suffer from heat nor from cold.