OTABALO, a district or jurisdiction of South America, in the republic of Colombia, and department of the Equator or Quito. It contains eight towns or villages, the lands belonging to which are laid out in plantations, consisting principally of the sugar-cane; but wheat and barley both thrive uncommonly well. A number of small rivers fertilize the country, which abounds with sheep, black cattle, and horses. Great quantities of butter and cheese are exported; and the native Indians, who still inhabit their ancient territory, are a very industrious people, weaving quilts, cottons, bed-furniture, and carpets of very brilliant colours, which are much esteemed. There are two lakes in Otabela, each about three miles in length by a mile and a half in breadth, one of which produces a cray-fish that is highly prized in Quito, being the only fresh-water fish that can be had there. The Indians of Otabela resisted Huana Capac in his expedition against Quito, which so exasperated him that he ordered all who could be found to be beheaded and cast into a small lake in a neighbouring district; from which circumstance it received the name of Yagarchoca, that is, "the bloody lake." The town, which bears the same name as the district, is situated about thirty miles north from Quito, in north latitude, and west longitude. In the year 1818 it was said to contain 15,000 inhabitants, a great portion of whom were whites;
but the population must have since that period decreased materially. The other towns and villages are not of much importance. Those of Cayambe and Catacate are situated at the foot of the mountains which severally bear these appellations, the latter being between 16,000 and 17,000 feet above the level of the sea. Near Cayambe, on an eminence, are the ruins of an ancient circular temple, about fifty feet in diameter. Of this edifice nothing remains but the middle walls, which are about five feet in thickness and fifteen feet in height, the whole being constructed of unbaked brick, cemented with a sort of earth. In the plain near this village are numerous tumuli, or burying-places of the ancient inhabitants, which are generally of a conical shape. Many of these are of great size, and have been perforated for the sake of the gold utensils which were deposited in the earth along with the remains of the departed chief. In this manner not a few Spaniards at one time acquired considerable wealth; for in running a gallery through the tumuli, they came upon a number of golden idols, and jewels to a great amount. The ornaments and images made of the precious metals which have from time to time been discovered, are in general beautifully wrought, but thin and hollow. The emeralds also are cut into all sorts of shapes, and perforated with the greatest nicety; displaying altogether a degree of skill and finish far superior to what might have been expected from workmen whose only tools were made of hardened copper or stone.