Miscellaneous Intelligence. 4,i7 



In former times the Indian sorcerers, when they pretended to trans- 

 port themselves into the presence of their deities, drank the juice of the 

 thorn-apple, in order to work themselves into a state of ecstacy. Though 

 the establishment of Christianity has weaned the Indians from their idol- 

 atry, yet it has not banished their old superstitions. They still believe 

 that they can hold communication with the spirits of their ancestors, 

 and that they can obtain from them a clue to the treasures concealed in 

 the huacas, or graves ; hence the Indian name of the thorn-apple 



Huacacachu, or grave-plant. 



17. The Condor of the Cordillera, (Travels in Peru, by J. J. Von 

 Tschudi, p. 300; Jameson's Jour., xlii, 387.) — In these sterile heights 

 nature withholds her fostering influence alike from vegetable and ani- 

 mal life. The scantiest vegetation can scarcely draw nutriment from 

 the ungenial soil, and animals shun the dreary and shelterless wilds. 

 The condor alone finds itself in its native element amidst these moun- 

 tainous deserts. On the inaccessible summits of the Cordillera that 

 bird builds its nest, and hatches its young in the months of April and 

 May. Few animals have attained so universal a celebrity as the con- 

 dor. That bird was known in Europe at a period when his native land 

 was numbered among those fabulous regions which are regarded as the 

 scenes of imaginary wonders. The most extravagant accounts of the 

 condor were written and read, and general credence was granted to eve- 

 ry story which travellers brought from the fairy land of gold and silver. 

 It was only at the commencement of the present century that Humboldt 

 overthrew the extravagant notions that previously prevailed respecting 

 the size, strength, and habits of that extraordinary bird. 



The full-grown condor measures, from the point of the beak to the 

 end of the tail, from four feet ten inches to five feet; and from the tip 

 of one wing to the other, from twelve to thirteen feet. This bird feeds 

 chiefly on carrion ; it is only when impelled by hunger that he seizes 

 living animals, and even then only the small and defenseless, such as 

 the young of sheep, vicunas, and llamas. He cannot raise great weights 

 with his feet, which, however, he uses to aid the power of his beak. 

 The principal strength of the condor lies in his neck and in his feet; 

 yet he cannot, when flying, carry a weight exceeding eight or ten pounds. 

 All accounts of sheep'and calves being carried off by condors are mere 

 exaggerations. This bird passes great part of the day in sleep, .and 

 hovers in quest of prey chiefly in the morning and evening. Whilst 

 soaring at a height beyond the reach of human eyes, the sharp-sighted 

 condor discerns his prey on the level heights beneath him, and darts 

 down upon it with the swiftness of lightning. When a bait is laid it is 

 curious to observe the numbers of condors which assemble in a quarter 

 of an hour, in a spot near which not one had been previously visible. 

 These birds possess the senses of sight and smell in a singularly pow- 

 erful degree. _ . 



Some old travellers, Ulloa among others, have affirmed that the plu- 

 mage of the condor is invulnerable to a musket ball. This absurdity is 

 scarcely worthy of contradiction ; but it is nevertheless true that the 

 bird has a singular tenacity of life, and that it is seldom killed by fire- 

 arms, unless when shot in some vital part. Its plumage, particularly 

 on the win*rs, is very strong and thick. The natives, therefore, seldom 



