Of the customs of the Caciques and Indians in the neighbourhood of the town of Anzerma, of the founding of that town, and who its founder was.

THE place on which the town of Anzerma is built is called by the natives Umbra, and when the Adelantado Sebastian de Belalcazar entered this province, as he had no interpreter, he could understand none of its secrets. He heard the Indians, when they saw salt, call it Anzer, and this is true, for among them it has no other name; and this is the reason that from that time, in speaking of the place, they have called it Anzerma, and have given this name to the town. Four leagues to the westward, there is a village which, though not very large, is inhabited by many Indians, as it has large houses and broad lands. In the road to it there is a small river, and it is a league from the great and rich river of Santa Martha. These Indians had for their captain and chief a well-disposed man named Ciricha. He has, or had when I saw the place, a very large house at the entrance of the village, and many others in different parts. Near the large house there is a small court surrounded by the canes I have already described as having seen in Caramanta, and on the top of each was the head of an Indian who had been eaten. The chief had many wives. These Indians have the same language and customs as those of Caramanta, but are even greater butchers and eaters of human flesh.

That the difficulties of the discovery of this country may be known, I desire to relate what happened in this village, at the time when we entered it with the licentiate Juan de Vadillo. As the stores of maize had been carried off, we neither found that nor anything else to eat, and it was more than a year since we had eaten meat, except that of the horses that had died, and of a few dogs. We even had no salt, such was the misery we endured. At this time twenty-five or thirty soldiers set out to procure, or, to speak more plainly, to rob whatever they could find, and, near the great river they came upon some people who fled, for fear of being seen and taken prisoners by us. Here the soldiers found a great pot full of cooked flesh, and they were so hungry that they thought of nothing but eating it, supposing it was the flesh of creatures called cuis,[211] because some came out of the pot. As soon as they had well eaten, one of them took out of the pot a hand with its fingers and nails, and they also found pieces of the feet and other parts of a man. When the Spaniards saw these things, they were troubled at having eaten of such meat, and the sight of the fingers and hands caused them much sorrow; but they returned to the camp, from which they had set out half dead with hunger.

Many small rivers rise in the mountains near this village, where much very rich gold has been taken by these Indians and by Negroes. These Indians are friends and allies of those of Caramanta, but they were always at war with their other neighbours. There is a strong position in the village, which they garrison in time of war. They go naked and barefooted, and the women wear small mantles, and are good looking—some of them beautiful. Further on is the district of Sopia, and between these two places there flows a river rich in gold, where the Spaniards have established some farms. The people of the last named district also go naked. The houses are like those of other Indians, and within them there are great sepulchres where they bury their dead. They have no idols nor house of worship that we saw. They talk with the devil. They marry their nieces, and sometimes their sisters, and the son of the principal wife inherits the lordship; for all these Indians, if they are chiefs, have many wives. If a chief has no son, the son of his sister succeeds. This district borders on the province of Cartama, in going to which the great river is crossed. On the other side is the province of Pozo, of which we shall have to treat further on. To the east of Anzerma there are other large villages, full of fruit gardens and cultivated fields, whose chiefs are friendly. They are all allies, although at times there is enmity and war amongst them. They are not such butchers and eaters of human flesh as the others whom I have described. The caciques are very rich, and before the Spaniards came, they went about in hammocks and litters. They have many wives, who, considering that they are Indians, are beautiful. They wear handsome coloured mantles of cotton.

The men go naked, but the principal chiefs cover themselves with a large mantle. The women are dressed as I have before said, they comb out their hair, and wear very beautiful necklaces made of pieces of fine gold, and ear-rings. They also slit their nostrils and insert pieces of gold in the opening, some large and others small. The chiefs had many drinking cups of gold, and mantles, both for themselves and their wives, garnished with pieces of gold, some round and others in the shape of stars. They call the devil Xixarama, and the Spaniards Tamaraca. Some of them are great sorcerers and herb doctors. Their daughters are married after they have ceased to be virgins, and they do not hold virginity to be a thing of any estimation. When they marry they use no kind of ceremony. When their chiefs die in a part of this province called Tauya, they place their bodies in hammocks and light fires all round. Holes are dug beneath, into which the melted fat drops, and when the body is half burnt, the relations come and make great lamentations, drinking their wine, and reciting their songs of praise to their gods according to their custom, and as they have been taught by their elders. This being done, they wrap the bodies in shrouds, and keep them for several years uninterred. When they are thoroughly dried up, they put them into sepulchres which they make in their houses. In the other provinces, when a chief dies, they make a very deep sepulchre in the lofty parts of the mountains, and, after much lamentation, they put the body in it, wrapped in many rich cloths, with arms on one side and plenty of food on the other, great jars of wine, plumes, and gold ornaments. At his feet they bury some of his most beloved and beautiful women alive; holding it for certain that he will come to life, and make use of what they have placed round him.

These Indians use darts, lances, and clubs, some of black palm wood, and others of a white wood which grows in those parts. We did not see any house of worship in their country. When they talk with the devil, they say that it becomes dark, and that one who is chosen from the rest speaks for the others. The country, where these people have their villages, consists of very lofty mountains without any trees. To the westward there is a vast forest called Cima, and further on, towards the South Sea, there are many Indians and large villages; and it seems certain that the great river of Darien[212] rises there.

This town of Anzerma was founded by the captain Jorge Robledo in the name of his Majesty, the Adelantado Don Francisco Pizarro being governor and captain-general of all these provinces: although it is true that Lorenzo de Aldana, the lieutenant-general for Don Francisco Pizarro in the city of Cali, named the municipality, and appointed as alcaldes Suer de Nava and Martin de Amoroto, and as alguazil-mayor Ruy Venegas, and sent Robledo to people this city, now called a town, ordering him to call it Santa Anna de los Caballeros. Thus some credit for the foundation of Anzerma may, for these reasons, be given to Lorenzo de Aldana.