I would now request the judicious reader to reflect on and wonder at what countries were discovered and settled between the year 1526 and the present year 1547: and, thinking upon this, he will see how great are the deserts of the discoverers and conquerors who have laboured so greatly in this work; and what reason his Majesty has to give thanks to those who passed through those labours, and served loyally without butchering the Indians. Those, however, who have been butchers are deserving of punishment, in my opinion. When this province was discovered they bought a horse for 300 or 400 pesos, and even now there are those who have not yet paid their old debts, and who, covered with wounds received in the service, are shut up in prison until they can pay the debts demanded by their creditors.
On the other side of the Cordillera is the other valley which I have already mentioned, where the town of Neyva was founded. Towards the west there are still more villages and Indians in the mountains, but I have already given the reason why those in the plains nearly all died. The villages of the mountains extend to the shores of the South Sea, and stretch away far to the south. Their houses, like those I described in Tatabe, are built on trees like granaries; they are large, and contain many inhabitants. The land of these Indians is very fertile and prolific, and well supplied with swine and tapirs, and other game, such as turkeys, parrots, pheasants, and abundance of fish. The rivers are not poor in gold, indeed we can affirm that they are very rich in that metal. Near these villages flows the great river of Darien,[240]
very famous on account of the city which was founded near it. All these Indians also eat human flesh. Some of them use bows and arrows, and others staves, clubs, darts, and long lances. Towards the north of Cali there is another province, bordering on that of Anzerma, the natives of which are called Chancos. They are so big that they look like small giants, with broad shoulders, robust frames, and great strength. Their faces are large and heads narrow; for in this province, in that of Quinbaya, and in other parts of the Indies, when a baby is born, they force the head into the shape they may choose; thus some grow up without an occiput, others with a raised forehead, and others with a very long head. This is done when the child is just born, by means of certain small boards fastened with ligatures. The women are treated in the same way. The Chancos, both men and women, go naked and barefooted, with only a cloth between the legs, made, not of cotton, but of bark, taken from a tree and made very fine and soft, about a yard long, and two palmos broad. They fight with great lances and darts; and occasionally they leave their province to wage war with their neighbours of Anzerma. When the Marshal Robledo entered Cartago for the last time (which he ought not to have done), that he might be received as the lieutenant of the Judge Miguel Diaz Armendariz, certain Spaniards were sent to guard the road between Anzerma and the city of Cali. These men encountered certain of these Chancos, who had come down to kill a Christian who was going to take some goats to Cali, and one or two of the Indians were killed. The Spaniards were astonished at their great size.
In the hills and valleys which sweep down from the Cordillera to the westward, there are many Indian villages, extending to the vicinity of the city of Cali, and bordering on the district of the Barbacoas. The natives have their villages scattered over the hills, the houses being grouped in tens and fifteens, sometimes more, sometimes less. They call these Indians Gorrones, because, when the city of Cali was founded in the valley, they called the fish gorron, and these Indians came in laden with them, calling out, “gorron! gorron!” Not knowing their correct name, the Spaniards named them after the fish they carried, Gorrones: just in the same way as they named the Indians of Anzerma after the salt, which in their language is anzer. The houses of these Indians are large and round, and roofed with straw. They have few fruit trees, but plenty of gold of four or five quilates, though little of the finer sort. Some rivers of fresh water flow near their villages. Near the doors of their houses they keep, from motives of pride, many feet of the Indians whom they have killed, and many hands. They preserve the insides, that they may lose nothing, and hang them up in rows like sausages in great quantities, and the heads and entire quarters are also kept. When we came to these villages with the Licentiate Juan de Vadillo, a negro belonging to Juan de Cespedes, seeing these bowels, and thinking they were really sausages, would have eaten them if they had not been hard and dry from time and smoke. Outside the houses they have many heads placed in rows, entire legs, arms, and other parts of bodies, in such abundance as to be hardly credible. If I had not myself seen what I write, and did not know that there are now many people in Spain who have also seen it, I would not venture to state that these men are such butchers of other men for the sole purpose of eating them; but we know for certain that these Gorrones are great butchers in the matter of eating human flesh. They have no idols, nor did I see any house of worship, but it is publicly known that some of them converse with the devil. Neither priests nor friars have gone amongst them, as they have in Peru and other parts of the Indies, for fear of being killed.
These Indians are separated from the valley of the great river by a distance of two or three leagues, but they go down to fish in the great river and in the lagoons, returning with great store of fish. They are of middling stature, and fit for little work. I only saw the men wearing cloths, but the women are dressed in large cotton mantles. Their dead are wrapped in many of these mantles, which are about three yards long and two broad, and fastened by cords. Between the mantles they put golden ornaments, and then bury the bodies in deep tombs. This province is within the jurisdiction of the city of Cali. In the ravine of the river there is a village, which is not very large, owing to the wars which have destroyed the population. Near it there is a great lake formed by the overflow of the river, but which is drained when the river is low. In this lake the Indians kill a vast quantity of very savoury fish, which they give to travellers, and with which they trade in the cities of Cartago and Cali, and in other parts. Besides the quantity they thus dispose of, or eat themselves, they have great deposits for sale to the Indians of the mountains, and great jars of grease taken from the fish. When we were engaged in exploring with the licentiate Juan de Vadillo, we arrived at this village very short of food, and found some fish. Afterwards, when we came to found the town of Anzerma with captain Robledo, we found enough fish here to load two ships.
This province of the Gorrones is very fertile, and yields plenty of maize and other things. There are many deer, guadaquinajes, other wild beasts, and birds in the woods. But the great valley of Cali, once so fertile, is now a desert of grassy land, yielding no profit to any but the deer and other animals who graze in it, for the Christians are not in sufficient numbers to occupy such extensive tracts.
CHAPTER XXVII.
Of the situation of the city of Cali, of the Indians in its vicinity, and concerning the founder.
TO reach the city of Cali it is necessary to cross a small river called the Rio Frio, which is full of weeds and flags. This river is very cold, because it comes down from the mountains, and, flowing through a part of the valley, loses itself in the great river. Beyond this river the road leads over extensive plains, where there are many small and very fleet deer. The Spaniards have their grazing farms in the plains, where their servants live, and look after the estates. The Indians come from their villages in the mountains to sow and reap the maize in the plains. Near the farms many very pretty water-courses flow through and irrigate the fields, besides some small rivers of good water. Many orange, lime, lemon, pomegranate and banana trees have been planted along these rivers and water-courses, besides excellent sugar-canes. There are also pine-apples, guayavas,[241] guavas,[242] guanavanas,[243] paltas,[244] and other fruits in great abundance. There are Spanish melons and legumes, but wheat has not yet been introduced, though I am told they have it in the valley of Lile, which is five leagues from the city; neither have they planted vines as yet, though the land is as well adapted for them as that of Spain.
The city of Cali is situated a league from the great river, near a small river of particularly good water, which rises in the overhanging mountains. Its banks are bordered with pleasant gardens, where there are plenty of the fruits and vegetables just mentioned. The city is built on a level platform; and, if it was not for the heat, it would be one of the best sites I have seen in any part of the Indies, for it wants nothing to make it excellent. The Indians and caciques who serve the Spaniards holding encomiendas,[245] live in the mountains. When I left the place there were twenty-three citizens who had Indians, and there are never wanting Spaniards who are travelling from one part to the other, looking after their affairs. This city of Cali was founded by captain Miguel Muñoz in the name of his Majesty, the Adelantado Don Francisco Pizarro being governor of Peru, in the year 1537; though, as I said before, it was first founded by the captain Sebastian de Belalcazar in the country of the Gorrones. And some say that the municipality of the city obliged Miguel Muñoz to remove the settlement to its present site, whence it appears that the honour of founding the city is in dispute between Belalcazar and the municipality, for the conquerors, who composed the citizens, declare that it was not known whether Miguel Muñoz acted of his own accord or not.