Note 194 — Chapter VI

Don Pedro de Heredia was one of the most distinguished among the discoverers of New Granada, a firm, intrepid, enterprising man, gifted with the art of securing the confidence and obedience of his usually lawless followers. He commenced his career as lieutenant under Garcia de Lerma, the second governor of Santa Martha, and, returning to Spain with great wealth, he obtained the government of all the country between the mouth of the river Magdalena and the gulf of Darien, and set sail again with a hundred men in 1532. He founded the city of Carthagena in January 1533, and his brother Alonzo de Heredia established a settlement at Uraba in 1535.

Our author sailed from Spain, in the fleet of Pedro de Heredia, at the early age of thirteen. The lad seems to have accompanied Alonzo de Heredia to Uraba, and, with the interesting account of the Indians of that region which now follows, the personal narrative of his travels commences.