THE VULTURE. 115 



affords them an opportunity of tearing it off; but they are 

 then as often disappointed of their expected feast, for the flesh, 

 when in a very decayed state, becomes almost fluid and runs 

 off, to the great disappointment of the hungry birds. 



Naturalists are a good deal divided as to the faculty by 

 which these birds are enabled to discover, in a most surprising 

 manner, a dead or dying animal at the distance of even many 

 miles. 



In travelling over the immensely wide deserts of Africa, 

 where there is not a blade of grass to tempt a living bird or 

 animal, and no inducement therefore for birds of prey to 

 scour those vast wildernesses in search of game, should a 

 camel or other beast of burden drop under its load in the 

 train of a caravan, in less than half an hour there will be 

 seen, high in the air, a number of the smallest specks, moving 

 slowly round in circles, and gradually growing larger and 

 larger as they descend in spiral windings towards the earth ; 

 these are the Vultures, but whence they come, or by what 

 sign or call they are collected at a height beyond the reach of 

 the human eye, is still a mystery; though we are much 

 inclined to suspect that they derive their information from an 

 indiscriminate use of both these senses, possessed of an acute- 

 ness far beyond our experience or comprehension. 



Instances without number might be mentioned, in which 

 the gifts of sight and smelling seem to rival each other. We 

 will add the following respecting the power of each, related 

 by an intelligent observer of nature in Jamaica : two relating 

 to the sense of smelling, the two others to that of sight, and 

 a third including both, with the addition of hearing. A poor 

 German emigrant, who lived alone in a detached cottage, rose 

 from his bed, after a two days' confinement by fever, to 

 purchase in the market some fresh meat for a little soup, but 

 before he could do more than prepare the several ingredients 

 of herbs and roots, and put his meat in order for the pre- 

 , paration of his pottage, the paroxysm of fever returned, and 

 he laid himself on his bed exhausted. Two days passed in 

 this state of helplessness, by which time the mess of meat 

 and pot-herbs had putrefied. The stench becoming very per- 

 i 2 



