The province of Quinbaya is fifteen leagues long by ten broad, from the Rio Grande to the snowy mountains of the Andes. It is populous throughout its whole extent, and the country is not so rugged as that through which we had passed. It contains extensive and dense cane brakes, which cannot be penetrated without great labour, and this province, with its rivers, is full of these cane brakes. In no part of the Indies have I seen or heard of any place where there are so many canes as in this province, but it pleased God, our Lord, that this country should have a superabundance of canes, that the people might not have much trouble in making their houses. The snowy mountains, which are a part of the great chain of the Andes, are seven leagues from the villages of this province. In the highest parts of them there is a volcano which, on a clear day, may be seen to send forth great quantities of smoke, and many rivers rise in these mountains, which irrigate the land. The chief rivers are the Tacurumbi, the Cegue, which passes close to the city, and there are many others which cannot be counted for number. When the freshes come down in the winter season, the Indians have bridges of canes fastened together with reeds, and strongly secured to trees on either side.