Of the customs of the Indians of this land, and of the forests that must be traversed in order to reach the town of Anzerma.

THE people of this province are warlike, and their language is different from the others we had met with. The country is covered in all parts by dense forests, and a broad river flows through it, swelled by many streams and fountains where they make salt—a truly wonderful and prodigious fact: and of it, as well as of many other things in this province, I will speak presently, when the narrative affords a suitable place. There is a small lake in the valley where they make very white salt. The Lords or Caciques and their Captains have very large houses, and near the doors there are stout canes that grow in these parts, on the tops of which are placed many heads of their enemies. When they go to war, they take sharp knives made of reeds or flint, or of the bark of canes, which they can also make very sharp, and with these they cut off the heads of their captives. To others they give most terrible deaths, cutting off their limbs, eating them, and placing their heads on the tops of canes. Amongst these canes they place certain boards on which they carve the figure of a devil, very fierce, and in human form, with other idols and figures of cats which they worship. When they require water or sunshine for their crops, they seek aid from these idols. Those who are set apart for that purpose talk with the devil, and are great sorcerers and magicians. They believe in and watch for signs and prodigies, and preserve those superstitions which the devil suggests: such is the power he has over these Indians—God our Lord permitting it for their sins, or for some other reason known to himself. They said, when we first discovered the country with the Licentiate Juan de Vadillo, that their chief, named Cauroma, had many idols of very fine gold: and they say that there is such abundance of that metal, that the chief can get as much as he likes from a certain river.

These Indians are great butchers in the matter of eating human flesh. Near the doors of their houses there are small open spaces where they have their places of sepulture, according to the custom of their country, consisting of very deep vaults, with their openings facing the east. When a chief dies, they place him in one of these vaults with much mourning, putting his arms and clothes, the gold he possessed, and some food, with the body. From this circumstance we conjecture that the Indians certainly gave some credit to the thought that the soul leaves the body.

The country is well supplied with provisions, and fertile, yielding crops of maize and edible roots. There are scarcely any fruit trees.

To the eastward of this province there is another called Cartama, which is the limit of the discoveries of Sebastian de Belalcazar. The Indians are rich in gold, have small houses, and all go naked and barefooted, without anything more than a small band, with which they cover their shame. The women wear small mantles of cotton from the waist downwards, but are otherwise uncovered.

Beyond the province of Cartama there is a forest, extending more than seven leagues, and very dense; and here we suffered much from hunger and cold when we went with Vadillo; and I may truly affirm that in all my life I never suffered such hunger as during that journey, although I have served in some expeditions of discovery in which we underwent great hardships. We found ourselves in so sad a plight in these dense forests, where the sun could not penetrate, without roads, or guides, nor any one to tell us whether we were far from or near any inhabited part, that we were inclined to return to Carthagena. It was a great thing for us to find that wood which I described as growing in the mountains of Abibe, for with it we could make a fire, as it will always burn whenever it is required to do so. By the help of God, and with the aid of our own arms, with which we forced a way, we got through these forests, in which we left several Spaniards dead from hunger, and many horses. Beyond, there is a small valley clear of trees, and a little farther on we came to a large and beautiful valley, very populous, with the houses all new, and close to each other. Some of them were very large, and the fields were full of maize crops and edible roots. Afterwards, the inhabitants of this valley left their old home, fleeing from the cruelties of the Spaniards, and took refuge in some wild and lofty mountains, which overhang the valley called Cima. Two leagues and a half beyond this valley, there is another small one, formed by a spur which runs out from the Cordillera; and here the town of Anzerma is founded, which was first called the city of Santa Ana de los Cavalleros. It is built between two small rivers, on a rising ground, which is covered with beautiful trees, and fruit trees both of Europe and of the country, and excellent crops of beans. The city overlooks all the district, being the highest part of the rising ground, and no people can approach without being first seen from the town. On all sides it is surrounded by great villages, ruled over by many caciques or lords, who are all friendly to each other. The villages are close together, and the houses are divided from each other by short spaces.