SOUTH AMERICA. 
135 
Soon after arriving in these parts, thou wilt find 
that the species here enumerated are only as a hand¬ 
ful from a well-stored granary. Nothing has been 
said of the eagles, the falcons, the hawks, and 
shrikes; nothing of the different species of vultures, 
the king of which is very handsome, and seems to be 
the only bird which claims regal honours from a sur¬ 
rounding tribe. It is a fact beyond all dispute, that 
when the scent of carrion has drawn together hun¬ 
dreds of the common vultures, they all retire from 
the carcass as soon as the kins; of the vultures makes 
his appearance. When his majesty has satisfied 
the cravings of his royal stomach with the choicest 
bits from the most stinking and corrupted parts, he 
generally retires to a neighbouring tree, and then 
the common vultures return in crowds to gobble 
down his leavings. The Indians, as well as the 
Whites, have observed this; for when one of them, 
who has learned a little English, sees the king, and 
wishes you to have a proper notion of the bird, he 
says, u There is the governor of the carrion crows .” 
Now, the Indians have never heard of a personage 
in Demerara higher than that of governor; and the 
colonists, through a common mistake, call the vul¬ 
tures carrion crows. Hence the Indian, in order to 
express the dominion of this bird over the common 
vultures, tells you he is governor of the carrion 
crows. The Spaniards have also observed it, for, 
through all the Spanish Main, he is called Rey de 
Zamuros, king of the vultures. The many species 
of owls, too, have not been noticed; and no mention 
SECOND 
JOURNEY. 
