From the city of Popayan this valley begins to spread out like a level plain between the chains of mountains, and is twelve leagues broad, more or less. In some parts it is narrower, and in others broader, and the river which flows through it becomes so narrow that neither boat, nor balsa, nor anything else can pass, by reason of the fury of the stream, and of the stones which come down in it. Boats are upset and go to the bottom, and thus many Spaniards and Indians have been drowned and much merchandise lost, for the rapidity of the stream is such that they have no time to get on land.

All this valley, from the city of Cali to these rapids, was formerly very populous, and covered with very large and beautiful villages, the houses being close together and of great size. These villages of Indians have wasted away and been destroyed by time and war; for, when the Captain Don Sebastian de Belalcazar, who was the first captain to discover and conquer this valley, made his entry, the Indians were bent on war, and fought with the Spaniards many times to defend their land, and escape from slavery. Owing to these wars, and to the famine which arose on account of the seeds not having been sown, nearly all the Indians died.