SOUTH AMERICA. 
199 
an example. I would fain here say a word or two 
in favour of this valuable scavenger. 
Kind Providence has conferred a blessing on hot 
countries in giving them the vulture; he has ordered 
it to consume that which, if left to dissolve in putre¬ 
faction, would infect the air, and produce a pesti¬ 
lence. When full of food, the vulture certainly 
appears an indolent bird 5 he will stand for hours 
together on the branch of a tree, or on the top of a 
house, with his wings drooping, and after rain, with 
them spread and elevated to catch the rays of the sun. 
It has been remarked by naturalists, that the flight 
of this bird is laborious. I have paid attention to 
the vulture in Andalusia, and to those in Guiana, 
Brazil, and the West Indies, and conclude that they 
are birds of long, even, and lofty flight. Indeed, 
whoever has observed the aura vulture, will be 
satisfied that his flight is wonderfully majestic, and 
of lono; continuance. 
o 
THIRD 
JOURNEY. 
This bird is above five feet from wing to wing 
extended. You will see it soaring aloft in the aerial 
expanse on pinions which never flutter, and which 
at the same time carry him through the fields of 
ether with a rapidity equal to that of the golden 
eagle. In Paramaribo the laws protect the vulture, 
and the Spaniards of Angustura never think of mo¬ 
lesting him. In 1808 , I saw the vultures in that city 
as tame as domestic fowls; a person who had never 
seen a vulture would have taken them for turkevs. 
They were very useful to the Spaniards; had it not 
been for them, the refuse of the slaughter-houses in 
Angustura would have caused an intolerable nuisance. 
