Of the villages and chiefs of Indians who are within the jurisdiction of
this city of Cali.
On the western side of this city, towards the mountains, there are many
villages of Indians, who are very docile, a simple people void of
malice. Amongst these villages there is a small valley closed in by
mountains. The valley is level, and is always sown with maize and yucas,
besides having plantations of fruit trees, and of the palms called
_pixinares_. The houses in this valley are very large, round, lofty, and
supported on straight poles. There were six chiefs when I entered this
valley, who were held in small estimation by the Indians, many of whom
are always in the houses of Spaniards. Through the centre of this
valley, which is called Lile, a river flows, and is fed by many streams
coming from the mountains. The banks of this river are well covered with
fruit trees, amongst which there is one which is very delicious and
fragrant called _granadilla_.[246]
Near this valley there was a village, the chief of which was the most
powerful and respected of all the chiefs of the neighbourhood. His name
was Petecuy. In the centre of his village there was a great and lofty
round wooden house, with a door in the centre. The light was admitted by
four windows in the upper part, and the roof was of straw. As one
entered through the door, there was a long board stretching from one end
of the house to the other, on which many human bodies were placed in
rows, being those of men who had been defeated and taken in war. They
were all cut open, and this is done with stone knives, after which they
eat the flesh, stuff the skins with ashes, and place them on the board
in such sort as to appear like living men. In the hands of some they
placed lances, and in those of others darts or clubs. Besides these
bodies, there is a great abundance of arms and legs collected together
in the great house, insomuch that it was fearful to see them, thus
contemplating so sad a spectacle, and reflecting that all had been
killed and eaten by their neighbours as if they had been beasts of the
field. But these Indians gloried in the sight, saying that their fathers
and ancestors taught them to act thus. Not content with natural food,
they turned their bellies into the tombs of their neighbours. But now
they do not eat human flesh as they used to do; the Spirit of heaven has
shone upon them; they have come to a knowledge of their blindness, and
many of them have become Christians. There is hope that more will turn
to our holy faith day by day, with the help and mediation of God our
Redeemer and Lord.
An Indian, native of a village called Veache (in this province),
formerly in the _repartimiento_ of the captain Don Jorge Robledo, when I
asked him why they had such a number of dead bodies in this house,
replied that it was to show the grandeur of the lord of the valley, and
that not only was it the custom to preserve the bodies, but also to
collect the arms of enemies, and hang them to the beams of the house as
memorials. He also said that when the people were asleep the devil often
entered into the bodies which were stuffed with ashes, and assumed so
fearful and terrible a form that some persons died of mere terror.
The dead Indians, whose bodies this lord preserved as trophies, in the
manner already described, were mostly natives of the wide valley of
Cali, for, as I have stated before, there were villages containing
thousands of Indians in that valley, who never ceased to wage war with
those of the mountains, nor, during most of their time, did they ever
think of anything else.
These Indians have no other arms than those which are used by their
neighbours. They generally go naked, though now most of them have shirts
and mantles of cotton, and their women also wear cotton clothes. Both
men and women have their noses pierced, and wear a sort of twisted nails
in them of gold, about the thickness of a finger, called _caricuris_.
They also wear necklaces of fine gold, rarely worked, and ear-rings of
twisted gold. Their former dress consisted of a small cloth in front,
and another over the shoulders, the women covering themselves from the
waist downwards with a cotton mantle. When their chiefs die, they make
large and deep tombs inside their houses, into which they put a good
supply of food, arms, and gold, with the bodies. They have no religion
whatever, so far as we could understand, nor did we see any house of
worship. When any of them fell sick, they bathed, and for some
illnesses they used certain herbs, the virtue whereof cures them. It is
a public and well-known fact that those who are chosen by the devil
converse with him. I have not heard that either these Indians, or those
we have left behind, practise the abominable crime, but if, by the
advice of the devil, any Indian commits this crime, it is thought little
of, and they call him a woman. They marry their nieces, and some chiefs
marry their sisters. The son of the principal wife inherits the
chiefship and property of the father. Some of them are magicians, and
above all they are very dirty.
Beyond this village, of which Petecuy was chief, there are many others,
the natives of which are all friends and allies. These villages are
short distances from each other. The houses are large and round, with
roofs of straw. Their customs are the same as those of the Indians I
have already described. At first they entered into a war with the
Spaniards, and underwent severe punishment, insomuch that they have
never rebelled since. They have now taken more to Christianity than any
of the other tribes; go dressed in shirts, and serve those who have
become their masters with good will.
Beyond this province, towards the south, there is another called Timbas,
in which there are three or four chiefs. It is situated amongst rugged
mountains containing some valleys where they have their villages, and
the land is well covered with crops, fruit trees, palms, and other
things. Their arms are darts and lances. They have been much addicted to
the invasion and subjection of their neighbours, and they are not yet
entirely tamed, being established in a very inaccessible country. Being
warlike and valiant, they have killed many Spaniards, and done much
harm. Their customs and language differ but slightly from the others.
Further on there are other tribes which extend as far as the sea, all
having the same language and customs.