When a ship arrives at the port, the chiefs presently send down as many Indians as they can, according to the capacity of their villages, and these porters come up by roads and passes with loads weighing three _arrobas_ and more, and some of them carry men or women, even when they are stout, in chairs made of the bark of trees. In this way they journey with their loads, without showing fatigue, and without being overworked. If they should receive any pay, they would go off to their homes, but all that these poor fellows gain is taken by the _encomenderos_, though, in truth, they pay little tribute. It is said that they come and go willingly, but they in reality undergo great labour. When they come into the plain, and approach the city of Cali, they go along painfully. I have heard the Indians of New Spain highly praised for the great loads they carry, but these people between Cali and Buenaventura astonish me; and if I had not seen it, and traversed the mountains where they have their villages, I could neither believe nor affirm it.
Beyond these Indians there are other lands inhabited by warlike tribes, and the river of San Juan, which is marvellously rich, flows through them. These people have their houses fastened in trees. There are many other rivers, all rich in gold, the banks of which are inhabited by Indians, but they cannot be conquered because the land is covered with forests which are impenetrable, nor can the rivers be crossed without boats. The houses are very large, for each one contains twenty or thirty inhabitants.
Amidst these rivers there was a Christian settlement founded, but I will say little concerning it because it lasted only a short time. The natives killed one Payo Romero, who was there as the lieutenant of the Adelantado Andagoya, for he had received all these rivers from his Majesty, with the title of governor of the river of San Juan. The Indians deceitfully enticed Payo Romero, and other Christians, on to a river in canoes, saying that they wanted to give them plenty of gold, and soon so many Indians assembled that they killed all the Spaniards, but they took Payo Romero alive, inflicting cruel torments upon him, and slicing off his members till he died. They also took two or three women alive, and dealt very cruelly with them. Some of the Christians, by great good luck, escaped from the cruelty of the Indians. No further attempt was made to establish this village, for that land is evil.