Chap* II. 



U M E^l C J. 



4°J 



S E C T. V. 



St, Martha. 



ST. Martha, fo call'd from the chief City of the Province, is border'd on the f/ r ™ pt j£,. 

 Weft with New Andalusia • on the Eaft, with \io de la Hacha< on the North, '*•• 

 with -the Ocean ; and on the South, with New Granada ; It is about three- 

 fcore and ten Leagues in length, and not much lefs in breadth : It was antiently 

 diftributed into feveral little Se^woWej, Govern'd by C a fii ues y or petty Princes, Yi%> 

 Pozjgueica, Betoma, < Buritaca i Chimola, inhabited by valiant Men and beautiful Wo- 

 men, and above all the reft, Tairona, (whofe People for a long time maintain'd 

 War againft the Spaniards) lying at the Foot of the high Mountains Sierras tfeVadas, 

 whofe fnowy Crowns are fcen thirty Leagues offat Sea, and run along in a conti- 

 nued Ridge through Peru and Qili to the Straights of Magellan. 



This Countrey wasDifcover'd, and part of it Planted, Anno 15 24. by <%oderic de , 

 fBaftredas, who afterwards was murder'd in his Sleep by his own People. 



The Sun flunes fo exceeding hot near the Sea-coaft, that there is no enduring pf j^S! 1 

 the fame 5 but upin the Countrey the fnowy Mountains occafion great Cold,and in gjjj. 

 Harveft and Otlober it Rains exceedingly, whereas at other times it is very dry Wea- g**^ 

 ther, and the Winds blow generally o„ut of the Eaft or North-Eaft, yet the Land- 

 Breezes coming out of the Weft bring fomctimes Rains with them. From the 

 Mountains, which are ftony and barren, fall many Brooks and Rivers, which wa- 

 ter divers Plains, the Grafs and other Plants of which arc often blafted by violent 

 Storms • nevcrthelefs Oranges, Lemmons, Granates,and all forts of Spanifi Garden 

 Fruits grow here in great plenty. The Woods afford likewife Pigeons, Partridges* 

 Vcnifon, and the like 5 the Rivers all manner of Fifh, which are fecn to fwim in 

 great numbers twenty Yards under the Water, efpecially in the Haven St. Martha, 

 near which formerly liv'd many Fiflher-men, who with Nets made of tough Twigs 

 pleited together, caught fuch plenty of Fifh, that they fumiftfd all their Neighbors. 

 The High-ways are made dangerous by Lyons, Tygers, and Bears. 



The Countrey !Buritaca affords the Inhabitants Gold 5 Tairona, excellent Stones rfSJ**? 

 againft Bleeding and the Gravel, Jafper, Porphyr, and Gold .' the Valley Tunia, s t ^" r 

 many rich Emeraulds, which Stones us'd to be in great efteem before America pro- 

 duced fuch great numbers of them. Acofia relates, That a Spaniard defiring to know 

 the Price of an Emerauld, fhew'd two to an Italian Jeweller, who valu'd the one at 

 a hundred, the other at three hundred Ducats * but foon after feeing a Cheft full of 

 them,faid chey were fcare worth a Ducat apiece . and that the Sute which the <%oman 

 Lady wore, being befet with Emeraulds, and valu'd at four hundred thoufand D«. 

 c*fr,would not fell now for half fo much. This Stone or Jewel exceedingly fortifies 

 the Sight, wherefore the Emperor Nero reprefented the bloody Encounters of Fen- 

 cers in an Emerauld. It is alfo judg'd to be good againft the Falling-ficknefs, 

 wherefore the Indians hang them in their ttofes to this day, and adorn their Idols 

 with them ; they grow in ftony Rocks along Veins, not unlike Cryftal, and in 

 time obtain a glittering Greennefs^the biggeftof them that are found in this Age are 

 monTefteem'd of in Genua. The Emerauld Pillar, which as a wonderful Orna- 

 ment flood in tirades'* Temple in the City of Tjww , being very famous amongft 

 the Antients, was without doubt no more than a green Stone ; and perhaps of the 

 fame Material, was the Pillar erefted by the Arabian King Miramamolines, in the Ca- 

 thedral at Corduba. But the great fame of thefe Emeraulds incited Gon^ahe^Znnenes, 



Gover* 





