58 



NARRATIVE OF A 



with a strait smooth trunk not bigger than a man's arm. 

 Of birds there was a vast number, especially parrots. 

 The Cropendola, and the Sinsonte, a species of nightingale, 

 were remarkable for the softness and clearness of their 

 note. The American raven, called Sopilote, hovered 

 around us, or, perched on some rocky peak, eyed wist- 

 fully our panting beasts as they toiled up the mountain- 

 side, in the hope that some of them might fall from ex- 

 haustion, and, by expiring, afford him and the rest of the 

 flock a luxurious feast.* The great number of these 

 birds is a proof of the frequent occurrence of these acci- 

 dents. Indeed, we, in several places, saw whitening in 

 the sun the bones of some poor mule which had dropped 

 down dead in the passage over this mountain. 



We were about four hours in reaching the summit. 

 On arriving there, I turned for a moment to view the 

 country we had left behind. "We seemed to be walking 

 on the tops of trees, a labyrinth of woods, and rocks and 

 mountains, lay beneath us, and I was astonished at what 

 we had accomplished. 



We were on the point of commencing the descent on 



* This species of raven, called Sopilote, is held in much esteem by the 

 Spanish Americans, from its usefulness. It lives on carrion, and performs 

 the part of a public scavenger. Without this bird, the vast quantities of 

 animal matter exposed in the woods and fields, after death, would infect 

 the air, and produce distempers. It is asserted that in each flock there is 

 one bird enjoying a superiority over the rest, and called by the natives the 

 Alcalde. He obtains the first morsel at every feast ; the other ravens 

 never presuming to taste their food till the Alcalde has commenced. The 

 Sopilotes never make any living animal their prey, and scrupulously ab- 

 stain from touching any thing while there is a spark of life in it. I have 

 seen a party of them standing round a dying horse — like so many doctors 

 round a sick man's bed — and anxiously awaiting the moment when the 

 animal should breathe his last. There is another species of raven, which 

 follows in the track of the Sopilote. It is called the Quiebra-huesos, or 

 Bone-cracker, from its feeding upon the bones which are left by the other 

 bird. These it prefers to the flesh ; and the facility with which it breaks 

 and eats them, is remarkable. Thus these two birds, by co-operating with 

 each other, not only soon dispose of a dead animal, but cause all vestige of 

 it to disappear. 



