How the city of Santiago de Guayaquil was founded and settled, of some
Indian villages which are subject to it, and concerning other things
until its boundary is passed.
That it may be known how the city of Santiago de Guayaquil was founded,
it will be necessary to say something concerning it, although, in the
third part of my work, I shall treat more fully on the subject, in the
place where the discovery of Quito and conquest of these provinces by
the captain Don Sebastian Belalcazar is narrated. This officer, having
full powers from the Adelantado Don Francisco Pizarro, and hearing of
the province of Guayaquil, determined to found a city within its limits.
He, therefore, started from San Miguel with a party of Spaniards, and,
entering the province, induced the natives to come to terms, giving them
to understand that their natural lord and king was his Majesty. As the
Indians already knew that San Miguel, Puerto Viejo, and Quito itself,
were peopled by Christians, many of them came forward to make peace; so
the captain Sebastian de Belalcazar chose a place which seemed to him
proper for the site of a city, but he remained there only a few days,
because it was necessary for him to return to Quito. He left one Diego
Dasa as captain and alcalde, and it was not long before the Indians
began to understand the exacting spirit and avarice of the Spaniards,
their greed for gold and silver, and their desire after pretty women. As
the Spaniards were also divided amongst themselves, the Indians
conspired to kill them, and as they determined so they acted, the
Spaniards being very incautious. All were killed except five or six
soldiers and their chief, Diego Dasa. These, amidst great dangers and
difficulties, escaped to Quito, but the captain Belalcazar had already
set out to discover the provinces further to the north, leaving as his
lieutenant a captain of good lineage, named Juan Diaz. When the news was
heard in Quito, several Christians returned with the same Diego Dasa and
the captain Tapia, and had several fights with the Indians, who had
encouraged and animated each other to defend their persons and property.
The Spaniards made proposals of peace, but without avail, for the
natives were full of hatred and animosity. They showed these feelings by
killing several Christians and horses, and the rest retreated to Quito.
These events having occurred, the governor Don Francisco Pizarro sent
the captain Saera to form this settlement. He entered the province
afresh, with the intention of dividing the villages amongst the
Spaniards who accompanied him on this conquest, but the governor
recalled him in great haste to relieve the City of the Kings, which was
besieged by the Indians. The new city was therefore again abandoned,
owing to this order of the governor. Some time afterwards the captain
Francisco de Orellana[314] entered the province, by order of the
Adelantado Don Francisco Pizarro, with a larger force of Spaniards and
horses. He founded the city of Santiago de Guayaquil in a better
position, in the name of his Majesty, Don Francisco Pizarro being
governor and captain-general of Peru, in the year 1537. Many of the
Guancavilcas Indians serve the Spanish citizens of this city of Santiago
de Guayaquil; and, besides the city, the towns of Yaquel, Colonche,
Chanduy, Chongon, Daule, Chonana, and many others are within the limits
and jurisdiction of the province. All these places have fertile lands
well supplied with provisions and abundance of fruit, and in the hollows
of the trees there is much excellent honey. Near the city there are wide
open plains, forests, and thickets of tall trees. Rivers of good water
flow down from the mountains.
The Indians, both men and women, dress in shirts, with cloths between
their legs. On their heads they wear crowns of very small gold beads,
called _chaquira_, and some of silver. The women wear one mantle from
the waist downwards, and another over their shoulders, and their hair is
worn very long. In some of these villages the caciques or chiefs fasten
bits of gold on their teeth. It is said by some of them that when they
sowed their fields, they sacrificed human blood and the hearts of men to
him whom they reverenced as god; and that in every village there were
old Indians who conversed with the devil. When the chiefs were sick, to
appease the wrath of their gods, and pray for health, they made other
sacrifices of a superstitious nature, killing men (as I was told), and
believing that human blood was a grateful offering. In doing these
things they sounded drums and bells before certain idols shaped like
lions or tigers, which they worshipped. When any of the chiefs died,
they made a round tomb with a vaulted roof, and the door towards the
rising sun. The body was buried with live women, his arms, and other
things, in the same way as was done by the Indians already described.
The arms with which these Indians fight are wands, and clubs called
_macanas_.[315] Most of these Indians have died out and come to an end.
Those that remain are, by the will of God, becoming Christians, and
little by little forgetting their evil customs as they embrace our holy
faith. It now appears to me that I have said enough concerning the
cities of Puerto Viejo and Guayaquil, so I will return to the royal road
of the Yncas, which I left after reaching the buildings of Tumebamba.