"Epítome" starts with a description of the Caribbean coastal area where the expedition Spanish conquest of the Muisca started. The author speaks of the Magdalena River, dividing the Spanish provinces of Cartagena to the west and Santa Marta to the east. In the document, the Magdalena River is also called "Río Grande", thanks to the great width of the river close to Santa Marta. A description of the journey over the river is given where the heavy and frequent rains made it impossible to disembark the ships (brigantines). According to the "Epítome", the Spanish could not ascend further than Sompallón. The distance unit used, is the "legua" (league), an old and poorly defined unit of distance varying from to .