220 WANDERINGS IN 



THIRD foll ow S o good an example. I would fain here 



JOURNEY. 



say a word or two in favour of this valuable 



scavenger. 



Kind Providence has conferred a blessing on 

 hot countries in giving them the vulture ; he has 

 ordered it to consume that which, if left to dissolve 

 in putrefaction, would infect the air, and produce 

 a pestilence. When full of food, the vulture 

 certainly appears an indolent bird ; he will stand 

 for hours together on the branch of a tree, or 

 on the top of a house, with his wings drooping, 

 and after rain, with them spread and elevated to 

 catch the rays of the sun. It has been remarked 

 by naturalists, that the flight of this bird is 

 laborious. I have paid attention to the vulture 

 in Andalusia, and to those in Guiana, Brazil, and 

 the West Indies, and conclude that they are birds 

 of long, even, and lofty flight. Indeed, whoever 

 has observed the aura vulture, will be satisfied 

 that his flight is wonderfully majestic, and of long 

 continuance. 



This bird is above five feet from wing to wing 

 extended. You will see it soaring aloft in the aerial 

 expanse on pinions which never flutter, and which 

 at the same time carry him through the fields of 

 ether with a rapidity equal to that of the golden 

 eagle. In Paramaribo the laws protect the vul- 

 ture, and the Spaniards of Angustura never think 

 of molesting him. In 1 808, I saw the vultures in 

 that city as tame as domestic fowls ; a person who 



