Chapter CXXI (2)

[89] The aboriginal people of Quito, or at least the dominant race which was found there when the first Ynca army invaded the country, is said to have spoken the Quichua language; and it has been mentioned, as a very curious fact, that the same language should have been spoken at Cuzco and Quito, at a time when those places held no intercourse with each other; whilst the inhabitants of the intervening country spoke totally distinct languages. As one explanation of this, it has been suggested that the Caras were a Quichua colony which, at some remote period, had come in _balsas_ from the Peruvian coast, landed at Esmeraldas, and eventually marched up to Quito. But there is no probability that any large body of Quichuas ever reached the coast before they came as conquerors, and the Yuncas did not speak Quichua. In my opinion there is no sufficient evidence that the people of Quito did speak Quichua previous to the Ynca conquest. They were forced to adopt it afterwards by their conquerors, and it completely superseded their own more barbarous tongue: but in Cieza de Leon’s time, though Quichua was the official language, the Puruaes and other tribes of the Quitenian Andes still spoke their own language in private. (See p. 161.) There is a tradition that the giants, who are said to have landed at Point Santa Elena (see chap. lii), forced the Caras to abandon the coast, and retire into the mountainous district round Quito.

[90] See chapters xxxix to xliv.

[91] The traditions of the origin of the first Ynca, given by Garcilasso de la Vega, Herrera, and Montesinos, are entirely unworthy of credit. They are mere foolish stories obtained from the Indians, by credulous inquirers who probably put leading questions, and who mixed everything up with Noah’s flood, and other ideas of their own.

Garcilasso de la Vega gives three stories, one, told him by his mother’s uncle, that two children of the sun mysteriously appeared on the banks of lake Titicaca, marched north to Cuzco, and taught the savage people to sow, reap, and weave: another, that a mighty personage appeared at Tiahuanaco and divided the land amongst four kings, one of whom was Manco Ccapac: and a third, that four men and four women came out of a hole in a rock near Paccari-tampu, of whom the eldest was Manco Ccapac, the first Ynca. _G. de la Vega_, i, lib. i, cap. xv-xviii.

Herrera also gives three accounts. The first, obtained from the Huancas and Aymaras, that there was a great deluge, during which some people were preserved by hiding in caves on the highest mountains, after which a, mighty civiliser arose in the Collao. The second, that the sun, after a long absence, rose out of lake Titicaca{a} in company with a white man of large stature, who gave men rules to live by. He eventually spread his mantle on the sea and disappeared. The third story is the same as Garcilasso’s, about the people coming out of a hole in the rock. _Herrera_, dec. iii, lib. ix, cap. 1.

Montesinos says that, five hundred years after Noah’s deluge, four brothers led the first inhabitants to Peru, of whom the youngest killed his brothers and left the empire to his son Manco Ccapac. Montesinos then gives a list of one hundred Yncas who succeeded Manco; the inventions of his own imagination, or at best the results of affirmative answers from Indians who only half understood him: for, as Cieza de Leon shrewdly remarks, “these Indians are intelligent, but they answer _Yes!_ to everything that is asked of them.”{b}

Cieza de Leon, whose testimony I consider to be worth more than that of all the other chroniclers put together, says that Manco Ccapac was believed to have been the first Ynca, and that the Indians relate great marvels respecting him.{c} Indeed, all that Cieza de Leon has recorded concerning the traditions of the people goes to prove that they had no idea of their ancestors having had a foreign origin, but, on the contrary, that they believed them to have sprung from their native rocks or lakes. Thus the Huancas thought that their first parents came forth from the fountain of Huarivilca.{d} The Chancas sought the origin of their race in the lake of Soclo-cocha.{e} The Aymaras were divided in opinion as to whether their first parents came out of a fountain, a lake, or a rock, but believed that once there was a great deluge. In short, “no sense can be learned from these Indians concerning their origin.”{f} All that we know for certain is, that they had dwelt for generation after generation in the valleys and on the mountains where the Spaniards found them in the middle of the sixteenth century. “A very long period has elapsed,” says our author, “since these Indians first peopled the Indies.”{g}

The series of Ynca sovereigns according to Garcilasso de la Vega, the last ten of whom are historical personages, is as follows:--

_Circa_ 1021 Manco Ccapac.
“ 1062 Sinchi Rocca.
“ 1091 Lloque Yupanqui.
“ 1126 Mayta Ccapac.
“ 1156 Ccapac Yupanqui.
“ 1197 Ynca Rocca.
“ 1249 Yahuar-huaccac.
“ 1289 Huira-ccocha.
“ 1340 Pachacutec.
“ 1400 Ynca Yupanqui.
“ 1439 Tupac Ynca Yupanqui.
“ 1475 Huayna Ccapac.
“ 1526 Huascar.
“ 1532 Atahualpa.
“ 1533 Ynca Manco.
“ 1553 Sayri Tupac.
“ 1560 Cusi Titu Yupanqui.
“ 1562 Tupac Amaru (_beheaded_ 1571).

For the signification of these names, see note at page 231.

{a} See p. 372.

{b} See p. 285.

{c} See pp. 136, 329.

{d} See p. 298.

{e} See p. 316.

{f} See p. 363.

{g} See p. 89.

[92] See pages 332, 338, 355, etc.

[93] See note at p. 226.

[94] See note at page 280.

[95] See note at p. 269.

[96] See p. 261.

[97] See p. 337 and note.

[98] The last aggressive enterprise of the Yncas seems to have been the invasion of the island of Puná, in the gulf of Guayaquil. Cieza de Leon gives a detailed account of the transactions connected with this invasion. See chapters xlvii, xlviii, and liv.

[99] The battle-axe was called _champi_, the club, _macana_, and the spear, _chuqui_. They also had a terrible weapon of copper, in the shape of a star; a two-handed axe; and bows and arrows, _huachi_.

[100] Cieza do Leon says that “the Yncas were very astute and artful in turning enemies into friends, without having resort to war” (p. 137).

[101] See page 133 and note, and page 137.

[102] See page 369.

[103] See chapter xcvi.

[104] See chapters xcii and xciii; and notes at pages 322 and 327.

[105] See pages 145 and note, and 167 and note.

[106] See the second note at p. 322.

[107] See page 328 and note.

[108] See pages 153 with note, and 217 and 218 with note.

[109] See pages 149, 150, 361, and 362.

[110] See page 146.

[111] Toleration is the last, as it is the greatest virtue that a ruler learns. It is a virtue that has yet to be learnt by the nations of Europe. An eminent divine of the present day (_Spectator_, July 30th, 1864, p. 877) declares that it is well he has not the power to persecute his theological opponents, for that he would not trust his will. The brightest European examples of tolerant princes are Marcus Aurelius and Oliver Cromwell, yet one permitted the persecution of Christians, and the other hunted down papists and malignants. For perfect toleration we must look beyond Europe, and contemplate the policy of the illustrious Akbar in India, and of the Yncas in South America.

[112] See page 136.

[113] See page 220.

[114] See pages 17, 93, 108, 119, 203, 213, 220, etc.

[115] See note at p. 218.

[116] See page 263.

[117] See chapter cxix.

[118] See page 40.

[119] When Columbus returned from his first voyage, he brought home several Indians, who were baptised at Barcelona, and one of them died shortly afterwards. Herrera tells us that this Indian was the first native of the new world who went to heaven. (Dec. i, lib. ii, cap. 5.) The countless millions of his countrymen who had died unbaptised, are of course suffering eternal torments in hell!

[120] This is the part which is now translated, the only one which was ever published, and, indeed, the only one which is suited to form a volume for the HAKLUYT SOCIETY. It is a narrative of travel in the strictest sense, while the other parts would have been purely historical.

[121] Old Panama was founded in 1520, in 8° 57´ N. latitude and 79° 31´ W. longitude; on the shores of a bay discovered by Tello de Guzman, one of the companions of Columbus. In 1521 the city was granted a royal charter by Charles V, with the title of “_Very noble and very loyal city of Panama_.”

[122] _Inga spectabilis_ Wild: the _paccay_ of Peru; a pod with black seeds in sweet juicy cotton.

[123] _Chrysophyllum Caimito_ Lin.: or star apple.

[124] Alligator pear, called _palta_ in Peru. (_Persea gratissima R. P._) The Aztec name _ahuacahuitl_ was corrupted by the Spaniards into _aguacate_, and by the English West Indians into _avogada_ (_alligator_) pears. It is a most refreshing fruit, eaten with pepper and salt.

[125] _Panama_ is an Indian word, signifying a place abounding with fish.

[126] 8° 59´ N.

[127] About a mile outside the present city of Panama there is a hill, now laid out as a garden with a summer house on the top. This is the “Cerro de Buccaneros,” whence Morgan, with his ruffians, got the first view of the rich city of old Panama; and a most magnificent view it is. Undulating hills clad in bright foliage, green savannahs, the blue bay with its islands, and the modern city of Panama on a long promontory almost surrounded by the sea. Far away to the left, rising out of a dense forest, is the solitary tower which alone remains of the once flourishing old Panama, the town founded by Pedrarias, and described above by our author. So complete is the desolation of this once splendid city, the centre of trade between Peru and Spain, that it is difficult to reach the site. The way leads through a trackless forest of tall trees and tangled undergrowth, and over a swampy creek of deep black mud, which opens on the sea-shore, the port described by Cieza de Leon. The tall tower of San Geronimo covered with creepers, with decayed and falling walls rising up around it, out of the dense jungle, amidst thick brushwood and tall forest trees, alone marks the site of the old city. When we reached the beach it was low water, and the wide sands were covered with pelicans, cranes, sandpipers, and other water fowl, which made the place look still more melancholy and deserted. Old Panama was one of the richest cities in Spanish America. It had eight monasteries, two splendid churches and a cathedral, a fine hospital, two hundred richly furnished houses, near five thousand houses of a humble kind, a Genoese chamber of commerce, two hundred warehouses, and delicious gardens and country houses in the environs. All is now covered by a dense and impervious forest.

The buccaneers marched to the attack of this doomed city under the command of the notorious Morgan, and, after three weeks of rapine and murder, left it on February 24th, 1671, with one hundred and seventy-five laden mules and over six hundred prisoners. The houses were built of cedar, so that when Morgan set fire to them, the destruction was complete.

After this fearful calamity the governor of Panama, Don Juan Perez de Guzman, was recalled and sent prisoner to Lima by order of the Viceroy of Peru, and in 1673 Don Alonzo Mercado de Villacorta was ordered to found a new town on the present site, some miles from the ruins of old Panama.

A paved road led from old Panama to Porto Bello, on the opposite side of the isthmus.

[128] The prevailing winds along the shores of Peru blow from S.S.E. to S.W., seldom stronger than a fresh breeze.

[129] 8° 20´ to 8° 40´ N.

[130] 8° 5´ N.

[131] 7° 24´ N.

[132] 3° 48´ N.

[133] 2° 55´ N.

[134] Quite correct.

[135] Near the port of Tumaco.

[136] 0° 38´ N.

[137] 0° 20´ S.

[138] Bajos de Cojimies.

[139] 1° 2´ S.

[140] Or Salango, where good water may be got from a rivulet, and also very fine timber.

[141] This is quite correct, there is good anchorage, but no fresh water to be had.

[142] See chapter lii.

[143] The island of Santa Clara is also called the _Isla del Muerto_; Pizarro landed on it during his first voyage to Tumbez, and his people found a few pieces of gold there. The man who attends the lighthouse on the island, recently opened a _huaca_, and found in it a quantity of gold ornaments, which he sold to the Prussian Consul at Guayaquil. Mr. Spruce tells me that they are the most interesting and perfect specimens of Peruvian art he has seen. One of the objects was a small statue, six to eight inches high, of very creditable sculpture. More curious still were several thin plates, almost like a lady’s muslin collar in size and shape, covered with figures. One of them has perhaps a hundred figures of pelicans (the sacred bird of the people of Puna). Every figure represents the bird in a different attitude, and as they have been stamped, not engraved, a separate die must have been used for each figure.

[144] _Mama_ (Mother) and _cuna_ (the plural particle) in Quichua. They were Matrons who had charge of the virgins of the Sun.

[145] The town of Tumbez, about two leagues up the river, now consists of a few huts. Whalers come here for fresh water. It is in 3° 30´ S.

[146] Cape Blanco is high and bold.

[147] Twenty-two leagues.

[148] The island of Lobos de Tierra is two leagues long and two miles wide, ten miles from the main land.

[149] A bluff about eighty feet high, with a reef running out to a distance of half a mile on its western side. Pariña Point is the western extremity of South America.

[150] Nine leagues S.E. ¼ S.

[151] 5° 3´ S.

[152] A long level point terminating in a steep bluff one hundred and fifty feet high. It is in 5° 55´ S.

[153] These are the islands of Lobos de Afuera, about one hundred feet high. There are regular soundings in fifty fathoms between them and the shore.

[154] The road of Malabrigo is a bad anchorage, though somewhat better than the road of Huanchaco, the port of Truxillo, which is in 8° 6´ S.

[155] There is a small cove with a tolerable landing on the north side of Guañape hill.

[156] Santa bay, though small, is a tolerable port, and fresh provisions, vegetables, and water may be procured.

[157] Ferrol bay is an excellent place for a vessel to careen, being entirely free from the swell of the ocean. There is no fresh water.

[158] The bay of Casma is a snug anchorage.

[159] Guarmay is the best place on the coast for firewood. The river cannot be depended upon for supplies of water, except during the wet season.

[160] There are large salt lakes here.

[161] Several islets off the coast.

[162] The high barren island of San Lorenzo, which Cieza de Leon called the island of Lima, forms the spacious and safe anchorage of Callao Bay.

[163] 12° 4´ S.

[164] Sangalla, so called also by Alonzo Enriquez de Guzman (p. 149), Herrera, and others, was no doubt close to the modern Pisco, which is in latitude 13° 43´ S. If Sangalla is not identical with Pisco, it was probably on the site of the modern village of Paraccas, a few miles further south, and about in the latitude given by Cieza de Leon. There is an island still called Sangallan, off the peninsula of Paraccas, about two miles and a half long, with a bold cliffy outline.

[165] See chapter lix.

[166] These are the _Ballista_ and _Chincha_ islands: the latter, now so famous for their guano deposits, supplying all the world with that rich manure, which forms the chief item in the revenue of modern Peru.

[167] Cape Nasca is a lofty bluff, one thousand and twenty feet high, in 14° 57´ S.; there is an anchorage called Caballas Roads to the westward, rocky and shallow, “which should only be known to be avoided.” The _Beagle_ was at anchor there for twenty-four hours without being able to effect a landing. I rode along the whole of this coast in January 1853, a most desolate miserable region. Near Cape Nasca there are a few huts, called Sta. Anna, used as a bathing station for the ladies of Nasca, San Xavier, and other coast valleys.

[168] In latitude 15° 11´ S.

[169] In latitude 15° 20´ S. The port of Acari is called San Juan, and is one of the best on the coast; but wood, water, and provisions are all brought from a distance.

[170] In latitude 16° 42´ S. The anchorage is much exposed, but landing is tolerably good. Quilca was the port of Arequipa in Spanish times, but since 1827 it has given place to Islay, another port a short distance down the coast.

[171] In lat. 17° 7´ there is a point of that name, a few miles S.E. of Islay.

[172] This is Coles point, a low sandy spit, running out into the sea, with a cluster of rocks off it.

[173] Ylo is five miles and a half N.E. of Coles point, in latitude 17° 36´ S. Water is scarce.

[174] This may be Sama hill, the highest and most conspicuous land near the sea, on this part of the coast.

[175] In latitude 18° 27´ S. Our author is beginning to get a good deal out in his reckoning.

[176] This is the port of Iquique, in latitude 20° 12´ S.; a place of considerable trade, from the quantity of saltpetre that is exported. The anchorage is under a low island correctly described by our author.

[177] The spacious bay of Mexillones is eight miles across, but no wood nor water can be obtained there.

[178] In latitude 27° 2´ S. A very bad port, with a remarkable island called Isla Grande to the north.

[179] The point forming Huasco bay is low and rugged, with several small islands between it and the port. The river is small, and a heavy surf breaks outside; the water, however, is excellent. There is another small river of brackish water nearer the port. The port is in latitude 28° 27´ S. Here our author becomes more correct in his reckoning.

[180] In latitude 29° 55´ S. The islands he mentions are the Pijaros Niños islets and rocks.

[181] The point here mentioned is a low rocky spit called Lengua de Vaca, round which is Tongoy, or, as our author calls it, Atongayo bay. About twenty-two miles further south is the mouth of the Limari river.

[182] I cannot identify this.

[183] In latitude 32° 50´ S. The bay of Quintero is roomy and sheltered during southerly winds.

[184] In latitude 33° S.

[185] Coasters sometimes anchor here for a few hours, but there is no place fit for a vessel of two hundred tons.

[186] In latitude 36° 47´ S.

[187] He must mean the island of Mocha.

[188] In latitude 39° 49´ S.

[189] The above is, on the whole, an excellent account of the coast from Panama to Valdivia. It agrees, in all essential points, with Admiral Fitz-Roy’s sailing directions printed in 1851; and Cieza de Leon deserves great credit for his care and diligence in collecting what, in those days, must have been very useful information. Indeed, it is not a little remarkable that, in those early days of the conquest, the old Spanish pilots should have completed a manual of sailing directions such as is contained in the preceding chapters, on a plan very similar to those now issued by the Hydrographic Office.

[190] Or Darien.

[191] Or Atrato.

[192] The events thus briefly alluded to by our author, will be made more intelligible by a short summary. The main land of the American continent was first discovered by Columbus during his third voyage in 1498, at Paria, opposite to the island of Trinidad. In 1499 one of his companions, Alonzo de Ojeda, accompanied by Amerigo Vespucci, touched the coast somewhere near Sarinam, and coasted along as far as the gulf of Maracaibo, naming a village at the mouth of that gulf _Venezuela_. In 1508 Ojeda, who was a brave soldier of great personal strength, obtained the government of the coast from Cabo de la Vela to the gulf of Uraba, which was called New Andalusia; and at the same time Diego Nicueza, a very different sort of person,--a polished courtier and good musician, was appointed governor of Veragua or Castille del Oro, a territory extending from the gulf of Uraba to Cape Gracias á Dios.

The two adventurers arrived at Hispaniola at the same time; but Ojeda set out first on his voyage of discovery, and landed at Carthagena in 1510. Advancing into the country he was surprised and defeated by the Indians in the bloody battle of Turbaco, losing seventy Spaniards, among them Juan de la Cosa, Ojeda’s lieutenant. At this time Nicuesa arrived, and, in spite of former jealousies and quarrels, offered assistance to Ojeda. The Indians were in their turn defeated, and all were put to the sword, neither age nor sex being spared.

Ojeda then took leave of Nicuesa, and, sailing to the westward, selected a spot on the east side of the gulf of Uraba or Darien as a site for a town. It consisted of about thirty huts surrounded by a stockade, and was called San Sebastian de Uraba. Here Ojeda was again defeated by the Indians, and, returning to Hispaniola for assistance, he died there in extreme poverty. The Spaniards at San Sebastian were left under the command of Francisco Pizarro, the future conqueror of Peru; they suffered from famine and disease, and at last Pizarro embarked them all in two small vessels. Outside the harbour they met a vessel which proved to be that of the Bachiller Enciso, Ojeda’s partner, coming with provisions and reinforcements. They all returned to San Sebastian, but found that the Indians had destroyed the fort, and Enciso determined to abandon it. One of the crew of Enciso’s ship, Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, the future discoverer of the South Sea, induced his commander to form a settlement on the other side of the gulf, called Santa Maria la Antigua del Darien. No vestige of it now remains. The troops, however, soon became discontented, Enciso was deposed, and Diego Colmenares, who arrived with provisions, was sent to offer the command to Nicuesa. This commander, after parting from Ojeda, had suffered most fearful hardships on a desert island, and Colmenares found him in a state of great misery, in a bay which he had called _Nombre de Dios_. When he arrived at Darien, the Spaniards had changed their minds, and refused to receive him, and he was finally obliged to sail in a wretched boat, and was never heard of again. This was in March 1511. Vasco Nuñez, a clever and courageous adventurer, then took command of the Darien settlement, and the Bachiller Enciso was sent back to Hispaniola. The new commander entered upon a career of conquest in the neighbourhood of Darien, which ended in the discovery of the Pacific Ocean on September 25th, 1513. In 1514 Pedrarias de Avila was appointed governor of Darien, an old man of rank and some reputation, but with no ability, and of a cruel disposition. He set out with a large expedition, the historian Oviedo, and the Bachiller Enciso being in his train; and superseded Blasco Nuñez in the government of Darien in June.

[193] In 1517.

[194] Don Pedro de Heredia was one of the most distinguished among the discoverers of New Granada, a firm, intrepid, enterprising man, gifted with the art of securing the confidence and obedience of his usually lawless followers. He commenced his career as lieutenant under Garcia de Lerma, the second governor of Santa Martha, and, returning to Spain with great wealth, he obtained the government of all the country between the mouth of the river Magdalena and the gulf of Darien, and set sail again with a hundred men in 1532. He founded the city of Carthagena in January 1533, and his brother Alonzo de Heredia established a settlement at Uraba in 1535.

Our author sailed from Spain, in the fleet of Pedro de Heredia, at the early age of thirteen. The lad seems to have accompanied Alonzo de Heredia to Uraba, and, with the interesting account of the Indians of that region which now follows, the personal narrative of his travels commences.

[195] _Perico ligero_, one of the sloth tribe (_Bradypus didactylus_). The snout is short, forehead high, eyes black and almost covered with long black eyelashes, no incisors in the upper jaw, legs ill-formed, thighs ill-shaped and clumsy, hind legs short and thick, the toes united, having three long curved claws on the hind and fore feet, twenty-eight ribs, and very short tail. The whole length of the body is between four and five feet. The animal is the very picture of misery, and covered with long shaggy hair like dried grass. Its motion is very slow, at each step it howls most hideously, and scarcely walks ten yards in as many hours. It feeds on leaves and buds, and when it has once gained the top of a tree it will remain there as long as a leaf is to be procured. _Stevenson_, ii, p. 237.

[196] The Peccary, or South American wild pig.

[197] What Cieza de Leon, and other old writers, called a navel, is a dorsal gland on the backs of these peccaries, which must be cut out soon after the animal’s death, or it soon vitiates the whole carcase.

[198] “Manzanillo de playa.” (_Hippomane Mancinella_ Lin.), a euphorbiaceous plant. In the West Indies it is known as the manshineel tree.

[199] For an account of the office and duties of a Juez de Residencia, see a note at page 86 of my translated edition of “Alonzo Enriquez de Guzman,” printed for the HAKLUYT SOCIETY in 1862.

[200] The _Emys decussata_ of Bell. It is a land tortoise.

[201] Macaws.

[202] The Abibe mountains are a branch of the Andes, extending from the shores of the gulf of Darien to the village of the cacique Abibe, whence the range took its name. They are covered with dense forest, and the only paths are the tortuous beds of mountain torrents, flowing on one side to the Cauca river, and on the other to the gulf of Darien.

[203] In 1537 Don Pedro de Heredia sent his lieutenant, Don Francisco Cesar, in search of the wealth of the cacique Dobaybe, which had been famous ever since the days of Vasco Nuñez. He set out from San Sebastian de Uraba with a hundred men and some horses, and crossed the mountains of Abibe, a barrier which had proved insurmountable to all previous explorers during twenty years. After passing over these mountains he descended into a valley ruled by the cacique Nutibara, with a force reduced to sixty-three men. The cacique attacked him with an array of three thousand Indians, but eventually retreated on the death of his brother. Nutibara caused the body to be placed on his own litter, and he was seen by the Spaniards to run by the side on foot for many miles, mourning his brother’s loss, in the midst of the retreating host. Cesar found forty thousand ducats worth of gold in the tombs, in this valley.

During Cesar’s absence, the licentiate Pedro Vadillo, sent by the Audience of San Domingo to examine into the government of Carthagena, had arrived there and thrown Heredia into prison. On his return the faithful lieutenant went first to the prison of his unfortunate master, and supplied him with funds to conduct his defence, and then paid his respects to Vadillo. The harsh conduct of Vadillo was disapproved in Spain, and it was resolved that a lawyer should be sent out to sit in judgment upon him. The licentiate, who was a bold and audacious man, determined to attempt some new discovery in anticipation of the arrival of his judge, in hopes of performing a service the importance of which might wipe off all former delinquencies. He, therefore, organized a force of four hundred Spaniards at San Sebastian de Uraba, and, taking the gallant Cesar as his lieutenant, set out early in 1538. Cieza de Leon, then nineteen years of age, accompanied this expedition.

[204] A quintal is about a hundredweight.

[205] This word, as well as the word _huaca_, at the end of the last chapter, are Quichua: and Cieza de Leon must, I think, have confused them in his mind, in applying them to the language of the Indians of the Cauca valley.

[206] The wealth of the cacique Dabaybe is the theme of many old chroniclers. He seems to have ruled a country near the river Atrato, where gold ornaments are frequently found at the present day. Vasco Nuñez de Balboa went in search of the Dabaybe.

[207] The province of Antioquia, in New Granada, including the lower part of the course of the great river Cauca, is still the least known part of Spanish South America. Even now the account of this region given by Cieza de Leon in this and the following chapters, is the best that has been published. Humboldt was never there, nor is this country described in such modern books of travels as those of Captain Cochrane, Mollien, or Holton. Some of these travellers, as well as General Mosquera in his pamphlet, give accounts of Cartago, Cali, and other places in the upper part of the valley of the Cauca: but none of them visited or described the lower part of the course of that river nor the province of Antioquia. Besides that of Cieza de Leon, I only know of one account of this province, namely that written in 1809 by Don José Manuel Restrepo, the colleague of the illustrious Caldas, which was published in the “_Semanario de la Nueva Granada_,” pp. 194-228.

Restrepo says that the province of Antioquia, one of the richest and most fertile in New Granada, was entirely unknown to geographers up to the time when he wrote. No astronomical or other observation had ever been taken in it, and its rivers and other features were either not marked at all, or put down in false positions on the maps. The first map of Antioquia, a copy of which is in the map room of the Royal Geographical Society, was made by Restrepo in 1807. He triangulated the whole province, corrected his bearings by sun’s azimuths, took meridian altitudes of stars for his latitudes, and deeply regretted that he had no instruments to enable him to get his longitudes by observing the eclipses of Jupiter’s satellites. In the _Semanario_ Restrepo gives a long and detailed geographical description of the valley of the Cauca.

[208] In latitude 6° 36´ N. according to Restrepo.

[209] It will be as well here to give, in a few lines, the fate of Vadillo’s expedition. He led his men up the left bank of the Cauca, suffering terribly from want of proper food, the difficulties of the road, and the constant attacks of the Indians. At last his gallant lieutenant Francisco Cesar died. His death filled the soldiers with consternation, and they clamoured for a retreat to the coast. This, however, did not at all suit the views of Vadillo, who knew that imprisonment was awaiting him at Carthagena; and, when the discontent of his men became formidable, he drew his sword and rushed alone into the woods, crying out that, let who would go back, he should press on till he met with better fortune. The men were ashamed and followed him, and eventually reached Cali. Here at last Vadillo was deserted by most of his people, he went on nearly alone to Popayan, was sent by sea to Panama, and thence to Spain for trial. He died in poverty at Seville, before the termination of his trial. This soldierlike lawyer thus completed the discovery of the course of the river Cauca. Though harsh and obstinate, he was a brave commander, and cheerfully shared all privations with his men.

Meanwhile the licentiate Santa Cruz, who had arrived at Carthagena with orders to arrest Vadillo, sent two officers in chase of him in 1538. It is of one of these officers, named Juan Greciano, that a story is told at p. 42. Their troops met those of the captain Don Jorge Robledo, who had advanced down the Cauca from Cali, and joined them.

The expeditions of Cesar and Vadillo, the first discoverers of the valley of the Cauca, thus came to an end without a foot of ground having been permanently conquered. The same fate did not attend the next invader, Don Jorge Robledo. He had accompanied Belalcazar from Quito to Popayan, and in 1541 set out from Cali with one hundred and thirty men, for the conquest of Antioquia. Our young author, on the breaking up of Vadillo’s expedition, seems to have joined that of Robledo, whose fortunes he followed for some time; and he witnessed the conquest of many Indian tribes, and the foundation and settlement of several Spanish towns in this valley of the Cauca.

[210] The river Cauca is still noted for its gold washings, and mines. Boritica, the very place alluded to by our author, is also mentioned by Restrepo as having once yielded great treasure, though now exhausted. The gold of the Cauca valley is mentioned as one of the resources of New Granada in a letter to the Committee of Spanish American Bondholders (_New Granada and its Internal Resources_, p. 27.) In the beginning of the present century, the Viceroyalty of New Granada yielded 20,505 marcs of gold, worth 2,990,000 dollars, according to Humboldt. In 1850 the produce of gold in New Granada was worth £252,407.

[211] _Cui_, according to Velasco, is the smallest kind of rabbit in the country. From most ancient times the Indians have bred great quantities of these _Cuis_ or _Ccoys_ (guinea pigs) in their houses. He describes them as under five or six _dedos_, but very broad and thick, with round ears, great variety in colour, and very fat delicate flesh. _Hist. de Quito_, i. p. 89.

[212] The Atrato.

[213] Cieza de Leon calls the Canea, the river of Santa Martha. In this part of its course it flows between two chains of mountains, which only leave a space of one hundred or two hundred yards between them and the river. The stream is full of huge blocks of rock causing numerous rapids, and impeding navigation.

[214] Probably the _Ceroxylon andicola_.

[215] A _repartimiento_ was a grant of Indians, who were bound to pay tribute and to render personal service.

[216] Or _Pitajaya_ (_Cereus Pitajaya_, De Cand.), a cactus used for making fences.

[217] _Vanilla?_

[218] Or _carats_, a small weight used for gold and silver. It was the twenty-fourth part of a _marc_, so that nineteen _carats_ would mean nineteen parts of pure gold and five of alloy, in the _marc_.

[219] _Encomiendas_ were estates granted to the Spanish conquerors, the inhabitants of which were bound to pay tribute and to render personal service to the holders of the grants. Pizarro was empowered to grant _encomiendas_ to his followers in 1529, and in 1536 these grants were extended to two lives; but by the “New Laws,” enacted in 1542, the _encomiendas_ were to pass immediately to the crown after the death of the actual holders, and a fixed sum was to be settled as tribute to be paid by the Indians. All forced labour was also absolutely forbidden. The conquerors were furious at the promulgation of these humane laws, and, it being considered unsafe to enforce them, they were revoked in 1545. The president Gasca redistributed the _encomiendas_ in Peru in 1550, and they were granted for three lives in 1629. For further information on this subject see my _Travels in Peru and India_, chap. viii.

[220] _Jatropha Manihot_, Lin., an excellent edible root.

[221] _Psidium Guayava_ Raddi.

[222] _Persea gratissima._ R. P.

[223] That is, “As the Indians themselves have no greed after gold, it behoves the Spaniards to show them that avarice is not the only motive which influences the conduct of their conquerors.”

[224] Francisco Hernandez Giron was afterwards famous as the leader of the final rebellion in Peru. The anger of the Spanish soldiers at a law prohibiting the use of Indians as beasts of burden enabled him to assemble a number of discontented spirits at Cuzco in November 1553. He routed the royal army at Chuquinga, but was finally defeated at Pucara, and publicly beheaded in the great square of Lima. His head was hung up in an iron cage, besides those of Gonzalo Pizarro and Carbajal.

[225] When Vadillo’s expedition came to an end, our young author transferred his services to Don Jorge Robledo.

Robledo was one of the followers of Sebastian de Belalcazar, the discoverer of Quito and Popayan, and was detached by him for the conquest of the Cauca valley. After Robledo had founded the city of Antioquia in 1541, he determined to go to Spain by way of Carthagena, and solicit the formation of a separate government for himself, to be carved out of the grant formerly made to Belalcazar. On arriving at San Sebastian de Uraba, he was arrested by Don Pedro de Heredia, who had returned from Spain with renewed titles and privileges, accused of an attempt to upset his government, and sent to Spain for trial. In 1546 Robledo returned from Spain with the title of marshal, and, landing at San Sebastian, marched once more up the valley of the Cauca. Belalcazar demanded that he should retire from the territory which he had invaded, and, by forced marches, surprised him on the 1st of October 1546, and took him prisoner. The unfortunate Robledo was reviled by his captor as a deserter, traitor, and usurper, and finally hung, although he entreated to be beheaded as became a knight.

[226] _Muchos tienen con la una mano la vasija con que estan bebiendo, y con la otra el miembro con que orinan._

[227] The tendency to the partial adoption of the rule of female succession amongst these Indians is worthy of note. When a chief had no son, the son of his sister succeeded, to the exclusion of brothers’ sons. It appears that this was the general practice amongst the Indians of the valley of the Cauca. The Indians of Anzerma (see p. 64), of Arma (see p. 73), and of Carrapa, all adopted it; and Velasco says that the same custom prevailed in the family of the _Scyris_ or ancient kings of Quito. (_Hist. de Quito_, i, p. 8.) It is well known that with the Nairs of Malabar the rule of female succession is absolute, and that the son of a sister succeeds to the exclusion of the possessor’s son. The heirs apparent in these South American tribes seem to have had sufficient influence to ensure their own succession, although the sister’s son came next, even to the exclusion, as Velasco tells us, of daughters. Friar Jordanus gives us the reason for this rule amongst the people of Malabar:--“Whatever man may be the father of their sister they are certain that the offspring is from the womb of their sister, and is consequently thus truly of their blood.” Colonel Yule, in a note to his edition of Friar Jordanus (HAKLUYT SOCIETY’S _volume for 1863_, p. 32), has given a list of all the people amongst whom this custom of female succession has prevailed. They are the Nairs of Malabar, the people of Canara, the aborigines of Hispaniola, the tribes of New Granada, the royal family of Quito, the negro tribes of the Niger, certain sections of the Malays of Sumatra, the royal family of Tipura, the Kasias of the Sylhet mountains, the people of a district in Ceylon adjoining Bintenne, in Madagascar, the Fiji Islanders, and the Hurons and Natchez Indians of North America.

[228] About half a gallon.

[229] The _estolica_, used by South American Indians, consists of flattened pieces of wood about a yard long, in the upper end of which a bone is fixed. A long dart is fastened on the bone, and hurled with tremendous force and sure aim.

[230] Truly! so long ago that it is the merest waste of time to make conjectures or surmises as to whence they came. The testimony given by Cieza de Leon that, even in his time, there was evidence of the country having once been far more densely peopled, is very interesting.

[231] Half a gallon.

[232] One arroba = 25 lbs.

[233] _Chrysophyllum Caimito_, Linn., or star apple.

[234] Alligator pear. _Persea gratissima R. P._

[235] _Inga spectabilis._

[236] _Psidium Guayava_, Raddi.

[237] Velasco says that the _chucha_, _tututu_, or _guanchaca_, is a sort of domestic fox, rather larger than a cat, with a very long tail, generally without hair; it is very cunning, is seldom seen in the daytime, and carries its young in a bag which opens and shuts on its belly, within which are the two nipples of its teats. _Hist. de Quito_, i, p. 92. Probably this is the small opossum of the genus _Didelphys_.

[238] Velasco describes the _guadaquinaje_ as about the size of a hare, with no tail, and very good for food. Found in the warm parts of the province of Popayan. i, p. 89.

[239] The Magdalena.

[240] The Atrato.

[241] _Psidium Guayava_ Raddi.

[242] _Inga spectabilis_ Willd.

[243] _Anona muricata_ Linn.

[244] _Persea gratissima R. P._ In other places he calls it _Aguacate_. _Palta_ is the Quichua word.

[245] See note at page 72.

[246] The fruit of the passion flower.

[247] The licentiate Pascual de Andagoya came to the Indies in the train of Pedrarias, governor of Panama, and was appointed governor of San Juan, including the coast of the Pacific between the gulf of San Miguel and the river of San Juan, in 1539. He landed at the mouth of the river Dagua, and marched inland until he came to the town of Cali, which he claimed as coming within the limits of his jurisdiction. At this time Belalcazar was in Spain, petitioning for the government of Popayan. When he received it, with the title of Adelantado, he came out by way of Panama, landed at Buenaventura, and marched to Cali. Here the people received him as their governor, and he arrested Andagoya as an intruder, and sent him prisoner to Spain. Andagoya was a learned man, and wrote a _Relacion_ of his expedition, which occupies sixty pages of Navarrete’s work.

[248] Mollien describes Buenaventura as consisting of a dozen huts inhabited by negroes, a barrack with eleven soldiers, a battery of three guns, and the residence of the governor built of straw and bamboo, on an island called Kascakral, covered with grass, brambles, mud, serpents and toads. _Travels in Colombia_, 1824, p. 299.

[249] Or Jamondi.

[250] See note to page 72.

[251] Grange or farm.

[252] After the fall of Robledo, our author attached his fortunes to those of Belalcazar.

Sebastian de Belalcazar was born in a village called Belalcazar, on the borders of Estremadura and Andalucia. He was the child of a peasant, and one day, having killed the only donkey possessed by his family because it was slow in getting over a miry road, the ill-conditioned young rascal run away, fearing to return home, and reached Seville in 1514. At that time Pedrarias was enlisting men for his expedition to the isthmus of Darien, and the fugitive took service as a soldier in one of the ships. He knew not of any other name by which he was called, save Sebastian, and to it was added the name of his birthplace. It is said that his father’s name was Moyano. On one occasion his sagacity saved the governor Pedrarias when he was nearly lost in the woods near Darien, and from that time his fortune was made. Pedrarias sent him in the expedition to Nicaragua, where he assisted in the founding of the city of Leon, and he afterwards followed Pizarro to Peru. Pizarro appointed him governor of San Miguel, whence he marched, with a force of one hundred and forty well-armed soldiers, to the city of Quito in 1533. In 1536 he set out from Quito, discovered Popayan and Pasto, and the valley of the Cauca, and reached Bogota in 1538. Thence he descended the Magdalena and returned to Spain, where, to check the ambition of the Pizarros, Charles V granted him the government of Popayan, with the title of adelantado. He went out again by way of Panama, landed at Buenaventura on the Pacific coast, and marched to Cali, where he seized Andagoya and established his own authority. Afterwards he was wounded fighting on the side of the Viceroy Vela against Gonzalo Pizarro at Añaquito, he treated Robledo with harsh cruelty, and he marched to the assistance of the President Gasca against Gonzalo Pizarro, on which occasion he was accompanied by our author. Briceño, a judge, who had married the widow of Robledo, was sent to examine into the conduct of Belalcazar, and, urged by his wife, was not very favourably disposed towards him. Indeed he condemned him to death for the murder of Robledo. Belalcazar appealed, and set out for Spain with a heavy heart. He died at Carthagena on his way home in the year 1550.

[253] The Magdalena. By the two branches he means the Magdalena and the Cauca.

[254] _Manatus Americanus._ They are also called by the Spaniards _Vaca Marina_, and by the Portuguese _Pegebuey_, and they abound in the great South American rivers, especially in the Amazon. The _manatee_ is a sort of porpoise, often eight feet long. See the very interesting account of it given by Acuña, at page 68 of my translation of that author. (HAKLUYT SOCIETY’S Vol. for 1859.)

[255] I cannot make out what this can be. It may possibly mean the grain called _quinoa_ (_Chenopodium Quinoa_), which is cultivated in the loftier parts of the Andes.

[256] The fruit of the passion-flower.

[257] Literally “Blue river.”

[258] _Paramo_ is the name given, in the Quito provinces, to the elevated plateaux of the Andes. In Peru they are called _Punas_.

[259] Lorenzo de Aldana came to Peru with the Adelantado Pedro de Alvarado. He was appointed lieutenant-governor of Quito by Pizarro, and it was then that he founded the town of Pasto. During the subsequent civil wars he acted a very conspicuous part, especially in the battle of Chupas, when the younger Almagro was defeated. When Gonzalo Pizarro determined to send an embassy to Spain to obtain a confirmation of his authority, Aldana was selected as his envoy in 1546; but he was won over to the side of Gasca at Panama, by the persuasions of that wily ecclesiastic. He was then sent to cruise off Callao, and receive all those on board who wished to join the royal cause; and during the remainder of the struggle he took an active part against his old commander. Aldana died at Arequipa in 1556, unmarried and leaving no children. In his will he left all his property to the Indians whom he had received in _repartimiento_, for the payment of their tribute in future years. He seems to have been a noble minded man, and superior to the common run of Spanish _conquistadores_. Aldana was not the only _conquistador_ whose conscience smote him on his death bed, when too late, for his treatment of the Indians. The curious dying confession of Marcio Serra de Lejesama, addressed to Philip II in 1589, is another instance of these stony-hearted men being moved at last. (_Calancha_, i, cap. 15. p. 98.). After telling the simple truth concerning the poor Indians, their former happy state, and the desolate misery to which the Spaniards had reduced them, the guilty wretch thus concludes: “I pray to God that he will pardon me, for I am the last to die of all the conquerors and discoverers; it is notorious that there are none surviving except I alone, in all this kingdom nor out of it; and I now do what I can to relieve my conscience.”

[260] _Prosopis horrida._ Willd.

[261] Bricks of immense size, baked in the sun.

[262] See note at page 143.

[263] _Rumi_ (a stone) and _chaca_ (a bridge) in Quichua.

[264] _Yahuar_ (blood) and _Cocha_ (a lake) in Quichua.

[265] After the conquest of Quito by Huayna Ccapac, the cacique of Carangue was the first to submit to his authority, and, while he lulled the Ynca and his captains into security, he meditated their destruction by a sudden and secret blow. Suspecting nothing, they were encamped in his country, when his Indians made a furious attack upon them in the dead of night, many of the nobles of the guard were killed, and the Ynca himself narrowly escaped with his life. Huayna Ccapac resolved to give these people of Carangue a terrible and memorable lesson. He put every man in the province, who was capable of bearing arms, to death, and ordered their bodies to be thrown into the lake, which to this day is called “the lake of blood.” Garcilasso de la Vega considers that the number stated by Cieza de Leon to have been put to death on this occasion is an exaggeration, and that two thousand would be nearer the truth than twenty thousand. _G. de la Vega_, i, lib. ix, cap. ii; _Velasco_, i, p. 18.

[266] _Huayna_ (a youth) and _cuna_ (the plural) in Quichua.

[267] Before the country of Quito was conquered by the Yncas, it was governed by native kings called _Scyris_. The Ynca Tupac Yupanqui first extended his dominion beyond the frontiers of Quito, and Huayna Ccapac completed the conquest in 1487. Cacha, the last Scyri, was killed in battle, and Paccha, his only daughter, was married to Huayna Ccapac and became the mother of Atahualpa.

[268] The Amazon.

[269] It seems to be generally allowed, even by Velasco, that all the ruins in the kingdom of Quito date from the time of the Yncas, and that none can be referred to the Scyris, or native kings.

[270] It was partly in search of this spice, that Gonzalo Pizarro undertook his famous expedition into Quijos. The dried calyx alone is used as a spice, and its flavour resembles a mixture of cinnamon and cloves. The tree is a species of _Lauracea_. Herrera describes it as resembling an olive, with large pods. Velasco declares that the cinnamon of his country exceeds that of Ceylon in fragrance and sweetness. Garcilasso de la Vega says that the cinnamon tree of Quijos, a province of Quito, is very tall, with large leaves, and fruit growing in clusters like acorns. He adds that many grow wild in the forests, but that they are not so good as those which the Indians get from trees which they plant and cultivate for their own use, but not for the people of Peru, who care for nothing but their own condiment called _uchu_ (_aji_, pepper). When I was in the forests of Caravaya, in Southern Peru, I met with trees of great height which my guide called _canela_ (cinnamon). The inner bark had a strong taste of that spice, and the natives use it to scent and flavour their _huarapu_ or fermented juice of the sugar cane. _G. de la Vega_, ii, lib. iii, cap. 2; _Velasco_, i, p. 51; _Markham’s Travels in Peru and India_, p. 264.

[271] The quinua (_Chenopodium Quinua L._) is cultivated in the higher parts of the Andes of Quito and Peru, and is probably the hardiest cereal in the world, growing at the greatest elevation above the level of the sea. Velasco mentions two kinds, the white and red. The former is a small white round grain, extensively raised on the cold lofty mountains, and yielding good food; the latter, a very small round red grain, only eaten toasted. Garcilasso de la Vega mentions quinua as having been extensively cultivated by the ancient Peruvians, both for the sake of the grain, and for the leaves, which they use in soup. He sent some seeds of it to Spain in the year 1590, but they did not come up. In Quichua the cultivated plant is called _quinua_; the green leaves, _lliccha_; the plant growing wild, _azar_; a pudding made of quinua grains, _pisque_; and boiled quinua grains, dried in the sun and ground into a coarse powder for food on a journey, _quispiña_. At harvest time the stalks are cut and tied up in bundles, and the grain is then beaten out with sticks. It is an insipid and not very nutritious grain.