In which the subject of the preceding chapter is continued; respecting what relates to the city of Cartago, and its foundation; and respecting the animal called chucha.

THESE cane brakes, of which I have already spoken, are so close and thick, that if a man is not well acquainted with the country, he would lose himself, and be unable to get out of them. Amongst the canes there are many tall ceybas, with many wide-spreading branches, and other trees of different sorts which, as I do not know their names, I am unable to give them here. In the depths of these cane brakes there are great caves or cavities where bees make their hives, and make honeycombs which are as good as those of Spain. There are some bees which are little bigger than mosquitos, and at the entrance of their hives, after they have been well closed, they insert a tube apparently of wax, and half a finger long, by which they enter to do their work, their little wings laden with what they have collected from the flowers. The honey of this kind of bees is a little sour, and they do not get more than a quartillo of honey from each hive. There is another species of bees, which are black and rather larger, those just mentioned being white. The opening which the black bees make to get into the tree, is of wax wrapped round with a mixture that becomes harder than stone. Their honey is, without comparison, better than that of the white bees, and each hive contains more than three azumbres.[231] There are other bees larger than those of Spain, but none of them sting. When, however, they take the hive, the bees surround the man who is cutting the tree down, and stick to his hair and beard. Of the large hives of the last-named bees, there are some weighing half an arroba,[232] and their honey is much the best of all. I got some of these, and I saw more taken by Pedro de Velasco, a settler at Cartago.

Besides the above products, there is a fruit in this province called Caymito,[233] as large as a nectarine. It is black inside, and has some very small pips, and a milk which sticks so closely to the beard and hands that it takes some time to get it off. There is another fruit like very savoury cherries, besides aguacates,[234] guavas,[235] and guayavas,[236] and some as sour as lemons, with a good smell and flavour.

The cane brakes, being very dense, become the haunts of many animals. There are great lions, and an animal like a small fox, with a long tail and short feet of a grey colour, and the head of a fox. I once saw one of these creatures which had seven young ones near it. Directly it was frightened, or heard a noise, it opened a bag which nature has placed on its belly, put its young inside, and fled so swiftly that I was astonished at its agility, being so small, and running so rapidly with such a weight. They call this creature chucha.[237] There are also small and very poisonous serpents, many deer, and some rabbits, besides guadaquinajes,[238] which are a little larger than hares, and whose flesh is very good and savoury. There are many other things to relate, but I desist because they would appear trifling.

The city of Cartago is situated on a smooth plain, between two small streams, seven leagues from the great river of Santa Martha, and near another small stream, the water of which is drunk by the Spaniards.

This river is always crossed by a bridge of those canes which I have already mentioned. The city has very difficult approaches on both sides, and bad roads, for in the winter time the mud is deep. It rains all the year round, and the lightning is great, thunderbolts sometimes falling. This city is so well guarded, that the inhabitants cannot easily be robbed.

The founder of the city was the same captain Don Jorge Robledo who peopled the others which we had passed, in the name of the majesty of the Emperor Don Carlos, our lord, the Adelantado Don Francisco Pizarro being governor of all these provinces, in the year of our Lord 1540. It is called Cartago, because all the settlers and conquerors who accompanied Robledo had set out from Carthagena, and this is the reason that this name was adopted.

Now that I have arrived at this city of Cartago, I will go on to give an account of the great and spacious valley where the city of Cali is seated, and that of Popayan, towards which we journeyed through the cane brakes until we reached a plain traversed by a great river called La Vieja. This river is crossed with much difficulty in the winter time; it is four leagues from the city. After crossing the river in balsas and canoes, the two roads unite, one coming from Cartago, and the other from Anzerma. From Anzerma to Cali the distance is fifty leagues, and from Cartago to Cali a little more than forty-five leagues.