As the captains from Peru discovered and settled in this province of Popayan, they speak of it as a part of, and one with, that land of Peru; but I cannot consider it in that light, because the people, the land, and all other things in it are different.

This province was called Popayan from the city of Popayan, which is in it. It is 200 leagues long, little more or less, and thirty or forty broad, in some parts more, and in others, less. On one side it has the coast of the South Sea, and some very high rugged mountains to the west-ward. On the other side are the main Cordilleras of the Andes; and between these mountains rise many rivers, some of them, being very large, forming broad valleys. One of these, which is the largest in all this land, is the great river of Santa Martha. The towns of Pasto, Popayan, and Timana are included in this government, and the city of Cali, near the port of Buenaventura; besides the towns of Auzerma, Cartago, Arma, Antioquia, and others which were founded after I left the country. In this province some parts are cold and others hot, some healthy and others pestilential. In some parts it rains much, in others little. In some parts the Indians are cannibals, in others not.