224 



HISTORY OF MEXICO. 



excellence of the Mexican falcons having been known 

 and acknowledged, Charles the V. ordered that every 

 year fifty hawks mould be fent to him from New Spain, 

 and as many from the ifland of Hifpaniola, as the hifto- 

 rian Herrera attefls ; and Acofta relates, that the fal- 

 cons of Mexico and Peru, becaufe they were much ef- 

 teemed, were fent in prefents to the grandees of Spain. 

 Acofta alfo fays, that the condors, or Mexican vultures, 

 are of an immenfe fize, and have fo much ftrength, that 

 they not only tear a ram, but even a calf ; and D. A. 

 Ulloa teftifies, that a ftroke of their wing will knock 

 down a man (r). Hernandez fays, that the Itzquauhtli, 

 or royal eagle of Mexico, attacks men, and even the 

 fierceft quadrupeds. If the climate of America had 

 taken from the quadrupeds their ftrength and courage, 

 it would without doubt have produced the fame effect 

 on birds: but from the teftimony of the above men- 

 tioned writers, and other European authors, it is mani- 

 feft that they are not feeble or pufillanimous, but that 

 they excel thofe of the old continent in intrepidity and 

 ftrength. 



With refpecl: to the beauty of birds, thofe authors do 

 not refufe the fuperiority to America, although in other 

 refpects they have fo eagerly depreciated the new world. 

 Whoever would form to himfelf a competent idea of 

 them, may confult Oviedo, Hernandez, Acofta, Ulloa, 

 and other European authors, who have feen the birds 

 of America. In New Spain, fays Acofta, there is a 



great 



(r) The condor is fo large as to meafure from fourteen to fixteen feet from 

 tip to tip of the wings when extended. Eomare fays it is common to both con- 

 tinents ; and that the Swifs call it the laemmer-geyer ; but notwithftanding this, 

 it is certain that no bird of prey has been found yet on the old continent equaj 

 in fize and ftrength to the condor of America. 



