﻿924 
  SOUTH 
  AMERICAN 
  INDIANS 
  [B. 
  A. 
  E. 
  Bull. 
  143 
  

  

  by 
  Belalcazar 
  between 
  the 
  Kingdom 
  of 
  Quito 
  and 
  Bogota. 
  Few 
  Span- 
  

   iards 
  wished 
  to 
  adventure 
  through 
  these 
  wild 
  lands 
  where 
  the 
  Indians 
  

   were 
  strong 
  and 
  ambushed 
  them. 
  The 
  founders 
  of 
  Timana 
  were 
  

   constantly 
  attacked, 
  and 
  the 
  frightening 
  legend 
  of 
  cannibalism 
  began 
  

   to 
  spread. 
  It 
  was 
  said 
  that 
  Spaniards 
  were 
  the 
  preferred 
  victims, 
  

   and 
  that 
  the 
  Indians 
  considered 
  the 
  flesh 
  of 
  enemies 
  the 
  finest 
  morsels 
  

   in 
  their 
  great 
  victory 
  feasts. 
  The 
  soldiers 
  collected 
  some 
  gold 
  in 
  

   the 
  so-called 
  penetrations 
  (entradas) 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  — 
  attacks 
  really 
  

   made 
  to 
  kill 
  the 
  natives, 
  to 
  destroy 
  their 
  crops, 
  and 
  to 
  burn 
  their 
  

   houses. 
  All 
  of 
  this 
  made 
  the 
  Indians 
  resist 
  more 
  strongly, 
  but 
  it 
  was 
  

   necessary 
  to 
  clear 
  the 
  road 
  to 
  Santa 
  Fe, 
  and 
  the 
  war 
  of 
  extermina- 
  

   tion 
  went 
  on 
  without 
  respite. 
  Belalcazar 
  himself 
  returned 
  to 
  Pdez 
  

   territory 
  and 
  was 
  defeated 
  at 
  the 
  rocky 
  cliff 
  of 
  Talaga 
  in 
  1541, 
  only 
  

   to 
  return 
  with 
  more 
  than 
  200 
  soldiers, 
  of 
  whom 
  100 
  had 
  horses, 
  and 
  

   spread 
  blood 
  and 
  fire 
  among 
  the 
  Indian 
  villages. 
  But 
  the 
  Indians 
  

   made 
  reprisals. 
  They 
  assailed 
  Timana 
  and 
  killed 
  its 
  mayor, 
  after 
  

   putting 
  out 
  his 
  eyes 
  and 
  leading 
  him 
  through 
  the 
  market 
  places 
  with 
  

   a 
  cord 
  passed 
  through 
  his 
  face. 
  This 
  act 
  of 
  vengeance 
  was 
  to 
  satisfy 
  

   Gaitana, 
  a 
  valiant 
  warlike 
  Indian 
  woman 
  who 
  had 
  formed 
  various 
  

   Indian 
  alliances 
  against 
  the 
  Spaniards 
  because 
  they 
  burned 
  her 
  son. 
  

   In 
  1543, 
  the 
  Pijao 
  destroyed 
  the 
  town 
  of 
  Los 
  Angeles, 
  recently 
  

   founded 
  in 
  the 
  Neiva 
  Valley. 
  They 
  continually 
  attacked 
  the 
  area 
  

   surrounding 
  Ibague, 
  but 
  many 
  of 
  them 
  were 
  defeated 
  and 
  killed 
  in 
  

   1556 
  in 
  the 
  plains 
  of 
  Chaparral 
  by 
  Francisco 
  de 
  Trejo's 
  troops. 
  Both 
  

   Spaniards 
  and 
  Indians 
  were 
  stubborn 
  in 
  their 
  struggles, 
  the 
  Indians 
  

   being 
  unwilling 
  to 
  make 
  peace 
  as 
  long 
  as 
  they 
  were 
  being 
  killed 
  and 
  

   their 
  crops 
  destroyed. 
  

  

  The 
  struggle 
  was 
  rekindled 
  in 
  1562 
  when 
  Captain 
  Domingo 
  Lozano, 
  

   having 
  requested 
  the 
  privilege 
  of 
  conquering 
  the 
  Indians, 
  organized 
  an 
  

   army 
  and 
  entered 
  Pdez 
  territory. 
  He 
  founded 
  the 
  town 
  of 
  San 
  

   Vicente 
  de 
  Paez 
  near 
  Huila 
  Mountain 
  in 
  order 
  to 
  ensure 
  Spanish 
  

   domination 
  of 
  the 
  heart 
  of 
  the 
  country. 
  But 
  the 
  Indians 
  ambushed 
  

   his 
  soldiers 
  and 
  gradually 
  killed 
  off 
  the 
  cavalry, 
  the 
  Spaniards' 
  strong- 
  

   est 
  troops. 
  Eventually, 
  they 
  destroyed 
  San 
  Vicente 
  and 
  again 
  con- 
  

   trolled 
  their 
  own 
  rugged 
  lands. 
  The 
  Pijao, 
  meanwhile, 
  fought 
  to 
  

   the 
  death. 
  They 
  destroyed 
  Villa 
  Vieja 
  or 
  Neiva 
  in 
  1569 
  and, 
  allied 
  

   with 
  the 
  Pdez, 
  took 
  San 
  Sebastian 
  de 
  la 
  Plata 
  in 
  1577, 
  killing 
  all 
  

   its 
  inhabitants 
  and 
  burning 
  the 
  houses. 
  They 
  finally 
  put 
  an 
  end 
  to 
  

   and 
  avenged 
  the 
  Spaniards' 
  exploitation 
  of 
  a 
  silver 
  mine 
  which 
  had 
  

   been 
  discovered 
  in 
  Moscopan 
  and 
  Yalcon 
  territory 
  in 
  1551. 
  

  

  Fleeing 
  Spanish 
  pressure 
  which 
  extended 
  from 
  Timana 
  toward 
  the 
  

   heart 
  of 
  the 
  Andes, 
  the 
  Andaqui, 
  exhausted 
  by 
  the 
  wars, 
  followed 
  the 
  

   high 
  hills 
  to 
  the 
  east, 
  and 
  began 
  in 
  1564 
  to 
  descend 
  toward 
  the 
  Caqueta 
  

   Kiver. 
  

  

  