WHOLE VOL. THE WEST INDIES VAZQUEZ DE ESPINOSA 323 



came in, these Indians were so unsophisticated that they took them 

 for big monkeys, and picked up hemp ropes (which they call cabuyas 

 in the kingdom) and tried to tie them with the ropes, without de- 

 fending themselves from them ; and the Spaniards, seeing them with 

 so many ropes, and the faces that they made, decided they must be 

 crazy, and so gave them that name, and tlie valley has kept it to 

 this day. 



963. Eleven leagues from the city there is another valley, which 

 they call La Matanza (The Massacre), with a little butte in the 

 center of it like a castle. In the early days 24 Spaniards came in 

 here ; and the Chitareros Indians of that province, seeing foreigners 

 on their territory— and they were brave and warlike — got more than 

 40,000 together, armed with arrows, lances, and war clubs, to kill 

 the Spaniards who were exploring. Since they saw they were lost, 

 being so few against such a multitude of savages, they retreated with 

 the utmost circumspection and reached the top of the butte, where 

 they defended themselves valiantly, rolling down boulders or large 

 stones ; thus they killed many of the enemy, and coming off victorious 

 through their great energy and precautions, they escaped from the 

 danger. In this valley there are excellent hot baths, where invalids 

 bathe and recover their health. 



964. Fifteen leagues from Pamplona there are two valleys, one 

 called Bucarica, and the other Los Caiiaverales, where there are many 

 gold-washing enterprises, in which 17 gangs of Negroes and Indians 

 are employed in washing and extracting the gold ; they have taken 

 out large amounts of gold, and still do ; it is 22|-carat gold. These 

 gold deposits were discovered by Capt. Ortun Velasco, and his estates 

 are here, exploited by his children. 



Chapter IX 



Of Other Matters Pertaining to the District of the City of 

 Pamplona. 



965. In the district of this city, and at a distance of 15 leagues, 

 lies the Cucuta Valley, which is fertile and with wide pasturelands ; 

 there are large mule ranches here ; these mules are among the largest 

 and best in the kingdom, and they take great troops of them down 

 to Peru to sell ; the same is true of the Los Locos Valley, which is 

 likewise large and fertile. 



966. In Pamplona there are extensive plantations of sugarcane; 

 they make cjuantities of sugar there, and there are 17 sugar mills. 

 The Rio de Zulia which runs through the valley in which the city 



