10 LEAVES FROM THE 



on the wing. This the Indians well know, and when 

 they have a mind for a battue they set forth a dead 

 horse or cow and quietly watch the progress of the repast, 

 which is sure to be attended by the condors, some of 

 them being almost always on their watch far aloft. When 

 they are well gorged, and looking on each other with 

 gluttonous gravity, the Indians make their appearance 

 with the deadly lasso. Then comes a scene of excite- 

 ment, gladdening the heart of the sportsman only a 

 degree less than the stimulating bull-fight. The lassos 

 are thrown with more or less success. Some of the birds 

 are noosed, others contrive to scramble away : but when a 

 condor is caught there is a fight, and a stout one, before 

 it is killed ; and indeed the stories told of its tenacity of 

 life would be incredible, were they not attested by trust- 

 worthy witnesses. 



Humboldt shall be called to make out a strong case. 

 He was present when the Indians tried to overcome the 

 vitality of one which they had taken alive. Having 

 strangled it with a lasso, they hanged it on a tree, pull- 

 ing it forcibly by the feet for several minutes, in a manner 

 that would have done credit to Mr. Calcraft and his 

 assistants. The execution being apparently over, the 

 lasso was removed : the bird got up, and walked about 

 as if nothing had happened. A pistol was then fired at 

 it, the man who fired standing within less than four 

 paces. Three balls hit the living mark, wounding it in 

 the neck, chest, and abdomen: the bird kept its legs. 

 A fourth ball broke its thigh. Then the condor fell, but 

 it did not die of its wounds till half an hour had elapsed. 

 This bird was preserved by M. Bonpland. Such direct 

 and unimpeachable evidence should make us pause be- 

 fore we hastily discredit the accounts of older ivriters. 

 Ulloa was thought to have used a traveller's privilege 

 when he asserted, that in the colder localities of Peru 

 the condor is so closely protected by its feathery armour, 



