CONDOR HUNTING ON THE SIERRAS. 159 
the Condors Hew past, and letting fly with my three solitary bullets, 
without taking steady aim, was mortified to find that their wing- 
feathers alone were struck, which did not stop their progress. As 
the birds flew over us, there was a perfect hail of meat around us, 
disgorged by them to accelerate their flight. 
Suddenly a loud shout of “Viva!” was heard, and looking 
round I perceived a fine Condor struggling on the ground, lassoed 
by one of the peons. One other was lassoed by our host, but it 
managed to slip the knot, and so escaped. Don Palemon had no 
better luck with his fowling-piece than I with my rifle, firing two 
shots without effect, although a small boy standing by remarked 
that one Condor was hit in the eye, and certainly a drop of some- 
thing—most likely a Condor’s parting tear—fell at Don Palemon’s 
feet. 
Our capture was a male bird of medium size, but in very 
good condition, measuring over ten feet across the wings. Some 
of the Condors having settled on a neighbouring eminence, one or 
two of us gave chase, Don Enrique firing two unsuccessful shots, 
and l1—in very vexation at not having a better weapon—amused 
the game by using my revolver. All the Condors had now taken 
to flight, circling high above our heads, of course awaiting our 
departure to continue their meal, and as all chance of further 
sport on that day had vanished, we wisely returned homewards 
to dinner. 
Time did not permit us to extend the programme, as intended, to 
the sacking of Condors’ nests—a difficult and dangerous feat. About 
a league distant stands a precipice, on a ledge of which, 200 feet 
deep, the Condors love to build, and to reach this a rope is 
suspended dangling in the air, and if the old birds return during 
the burglarions attempt, woe to the daring hunter! The universal 
testimony is that the Condor lays but one egg. 
I managed to construct a leather hood for the captured 
Condor, and, having tied his legs and wings, deposited him 
safely in one of the panniers; and then, all being ready, we 
bade adieu to the kind family where we had been so hospitably 
entertained for two days. Our host serving as guide, our descent 
was rapid. Passing round the crest of a hill, three Condors 
were espied, evidently about to attack a calf grazing with a few 
head of cattle in the hollow beneath us. Now the Condors are 
notoriously inquisitive, and one of them sailing up to interview 
