238 SANTA CRUZ, PATAGONIA. 



inch of the putrid mass, without discovering it. A 

 small rent was made in the canvass, and the ofFal 

 was immediately discovered ; the canvass was re- 

 placed by a fresh piece, and meat again put on it, 

 and was again devoured by the vultures without 

 their discovering the hidden mass on which they 

 were trampling. These facts are attested by the 

 signatures of six gentlemen, besides that of Mr. 

 Bachmam* 



Often, when lying down to rest on the open plains, 

 on looking upwards, I have seen carrion-hawks sail- 

 ing through the air at a great height. Where the 

 country is level, I do not believe a space of the heav- 

 ens, of more than fifteen degrees above the horizon, 

 is commonly viewed with any attention by a person 

 either walking or on horseback. If such be the case, 

 and the vulture is on the wing at a height of be- 

 tween three and four thousand feet, before it could 

 come within the range of vision, its distance in a 

 straight line from the beholder's eye would be rather 

 more than two British miles. Might it not thus 

 readily be overlooked 1 When an animal is killed 

 by the sportsman in a lonely valley, may he not all 

 the while be watched from above by the shai-p- 

 sighted bird 1 And will not the manner of its de- 

 scent proclaim throughout the disti'ict to the whole 

 family of carrion-feeders that their prey is at hand? 



When the condors are wheeling in a flock round 

 and round any spot, their flight is beautiful. Ex- 

 cept when rising from the ground, I do not recol- 

 lect ever having seen one of these birds flap its 

 wings. Near Lima, I watched several for nearly 

 half an hour, without once taking off" my eyes : they 

 moved in large curves, sweeping in circles, descend- 

 ing and ascending witliout giving a single flap. As 

 they glided close over my head, I intently watched 

 * Loudon's Magazine of Nat. Hist., vol. vii. 



