Before I treat of the kingdom of Peru, or leave the government of Popayan, it seems to me well to give some account of the notable fountains there are in this land, and of the rivers of water from which they make salt, for thus the people are sustained, having no salt pits in these parts, and the sea being far distant.

When the licentiate Juan de Vadillo set out from Carthagena, we marched over the mountains of Abibe, which are very rugged and difficult to cross, so that we passed a time of no little hardship; most of the horses died, and we were obliged to leave the greater part of our baggage in the road; and, having reached the plain, we found many villages, with great store of fruit trees, and broad rivers. But, as the stock of salt which we had brought with us from Carthagena was coming to an end, our food being herbs and beans for want of meat, except that of horses and a few dogs we caught; we began to feel distress, and many, from the want of salt, began to lose their colour, and became yellow and thin. We procured some things in the Indian farms, but there was only a little black salt mixed with the aji that the natives eat, and even this was very scarce, so that he thought himself fortunate who could get any.