page_title: Monster of Lake Tota
section_title: José Jerónimo Triana
hierarchical_section_title: Monster of Lake Tota / Historical references / 19th century / José Jerónimo Triana
caption_attribution_description: English: José Jerónimo Triana Español: Retrato de José Jerónimo Triana
context_page_description: The Monster of Lake Tota is a legendary aquatic animal known in many works as: diablo ballena, lit. 'devil whale' and is an inhabitant of Lake Tota in Colombia.
  The Muisca, who inhabited the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, believed this monster was living in Lake Tota. The earliest reference in modern history was made by the conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada. He described the monster as "A fish with a black head like an ox and larger than a whale" and Antonio de Alcedo, 1788. The monster was also defined as "a monstrous fish", "a black monster", and even as "the Dragon" and as a "divine animal archetype".
context_section_description: Meanwhile, Colombian botanist, explorer and physician José Jerónimo Triana (Bogota, May 22, 1828 - Paris, October 31, 1890), a member of the Corográfica Commission of Ancízar, also references the issue. A summary of the book Myths, legends, traditions and folklore of Lake Tota (Lilia Montaña de Silva, Edition La Rana y El Águila, UPTC Tunja, 1970, p. 46-47) states:
  “[What I want to say, comments Triana, with respect to the lakes and lagoons, is that they were the main shrines of the Indians] (...) the lagoons were the residences of a sublime divinity and the soulful Indians saw in them areas full of charm and mystery.”
  Additional notes on this part:
  "There is the idea of the modern farmer who has monsters asleep in the lagoons and who can be awaken from its cries and who can respond to the deep emptiness of the rocks that surround them, as if it were the voice of an oracle. It isn’t anything more than the involuntary evocation of the divinity of the waters."
  A concrete reference to the "black monster" of Lake Tota:
  "[In 1880, the tradition - stated by Lilia Montaña de Silva in her aforementioned book, presumably regarding historical comments of Triana- ] (. ..) that a black monster lived in the enchanted waters of the lagoon still persisted among the residents surrounding Lake Tota, in the town of Cuitiva."
caption: José Jerónimo Triana (1828–1890)
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