WHOLE VOL. THE WEST INDIES VAZQUEZ DE ESPINOSA 377 



and thickly wooded, at noon when the bulls try to escape from the 

 heat and the flies they make for their haunts in the shade of certain 

 trees where they usually gather to pass their siesta ; and these savage 

 tigers climb the tree under whose shade the bulls settle down, and 

 when they are quietest and drowsiest, they spring down on top of 

 the bull and slash his back with their claws ; and when he bellows 

 and writhes about in pain, trying to dislodge his burden, the moment 

 he exposes his flank the tiger rips open his belly and kills him ; with 

 this treacherous maneuver they kill them quite frequently. There 

 are likewise many lions, small and dark gray ; they are not so fero- 

 cious and run away from people and from dogs barking at them. 

 There are many other kinds of animals in these huge forests ; they 

 have rabbits like those in Spain, and [many] varieties of birds, 

 notably the carrion buzzard or zopilote, which is found in [all the 

 Windward Islands and] all the Indies. It is a very ugly black bird 

 the size of a [large domestic] cock, with a bare head. These birds 

 are the salvation [and sanitation] of the Indies, for they clean up 

 whatever dead creature [and what refuse] lies on the ground and 

 devour it. When they have no food in sight they sail very high up 

 into the realm of the air, it must be for the purpose of descrying 

 and discovering dead horses or cows or dogs or other animals ; and 

 these birds, which are also called auras (vultures), have either keen 

 sight or smell, for no sooner does an animal die than there they are 

 to devour it. They do no harm of any kind, for that is all they live on, 

 and in some parts of the Indies since they are so useful in clearing 

 up garbage [and aid sanitation], there is a fine if one kills them. 

 It is not [even] known where they breed. There is another mys- 

 terious circumstance about them, and when I saw it, I was astonished, 

 for even though I had been told of it, I would not believe it. This 

 is that these birds have a king and chief among them, a bird of their 

 own size but [while they are black, he is] white ; they obey and 

 respect him ; and if there is [a] dead animal to be devoured, although 

 these birds are so greedy, they will not start eating till the white 

 buzzard their king has arrived. He begins first and eats the animal's 

 eyes, [and] the others do not make a move till he gives the signal, 

 and when he rises from the feast they all keep him company. I 

 should never have dared to write this, even though they told me 

 about it, had I not seen it with my own eyes. 



1126. There is another species of the general appearance of this 

 bird but much larger than our vulture ; its head is bare of feathers 

 [and fleshy], almost like a turkey's, [and such is the buzzard's also], 

 and it is very ugly. It is called condor, and many of them have 



