At Tunja he received news that a chief called Tundama
was preparing to attack him, having allied himself with
several other chieftains, and raised an army of ten thousand
Indians. Quesada's policy was that of any other conqueror
in his position — that is, to detach some of the allies from
the confederacy, under the pretext that the chief partner
in the league was a mere tyrant pursuing his own ends. He
sent an embassy to Tundama, telling him that he was the
vassal of a great potentate, and had come to save his soul.
The Chief Tundama seems to have been a man of humour,
for he returned an answer that he cared little for his soul
so that his body was in safety, and sent a message of
defiance, telling Quesada to leave his territory. This, of
course, he would not do, but advanced against Tundama

1 Fray Simon says : ' ' Some say for five years, but this seems to6
long " (Cinco anos pareceme mucho).
GONZALO JIMENEZ DE QUESADA 139

instantly. Tundama, who had made good use of his
confederacy, met him with the best disciplined and appointed
army that the Chibchas yet had put into the field. The
armies joined battle at a place called Bonza, and for a time
the Indians maintained a stout resistance to the Spanish
arms.
The Indians' weapons were long lances, clubs, and wooden
swords, with javelins^ that they launched with a throwing
stick.2 There is no mention of their using bows and arrows.
