The Jeffersonian Democrat. [volume] (Chardon, Ohio) 1854-1865, 1863-12-04
The Condor of the Andes.

The condor may be said to constitute tho
groat living wonder Of tho Cordilers. For
reasons hitherto undiscovered, this i'm.
mcnse and poworfal bird is mover found 90
yond tho equator toward tho north, though
southward it extends its umpire through
clouds and storms to the Strait Of Magellan.
No exact estimate can bo formed of the
height to which the condor ascends into tho
air. but 1t unqucstionably floats aloft far be.
yond the highest projections of the globo,
where, according to generally received cpin.
ions, the act of breathing is impossible, at
least to man. But such ideas are gradually
giving way before tho light of experience.
Men have ascended in balloons full six miles
above tho leve! of the sea, and, when strong
and robust. found their lungs very little af
fected. Again, In mountainous regions, En-
glish travellers have attained to elevations
at which the air was previously supposed
to be too subtle for respiration. We must,
therefore, attribute to other causes the pain.
fui sensations felt by explorers in tho An.
dos At whatever conclusions we may ar
rive on this point with respect to man. it is
certain that tho condor finds it practicable
to breathe miles above the apex Of Chin
borazo. since, to keen sighted observer.
looking upwards from the level of perpetual
snow, il has scared into tho ether. till, aftor
looking for awhile like dark speck. it has
disappeared and beon lost altogether in tho
blue OF the armament. IL the condor could
write. what glowing ond brilliant dcscrip-
tions might it not give of the landscapes
spread out before it at such moments whom
the diameter of Its horizon must have ex.
ceeded thousand miles How long it re.
mains thus buried in the heavens must dc.
pond partly on its strength of wing, partly
on its power of abstinence which is so great
that it is said. in captivity, to live forty
days without food, though in state Of lib.
erty its voracousness is believed to exceed
that of all other animals not excepting even
the vulture. In point Of taste. also, it is
any thing but choice, preferring to fresh,
such carrion as is found to be in state oi
extreme decomposition. Throughout ,ht
South American States. from the equator
to the utmost limits of Chill. tho husband
men carry on an internecine war with thii
Bird which proys eagerly on their locks and
their children, and is mercilessly shot OF
knocked on the head whenever an opportu
nifty offers
Were it not. however. for its greodincss
, tho condor would seldom become the farm
er's prey. 1t might pounce upon young
vienna or lama. it might carry off a lamb or
baby to its inaccessible oyrie in the Cordil
lora, without affordng the chance of a shot
so swift is its wing. SO sudden ard instanta
noous its sweop. But thoroughly onilave,
t by its appetite, it becomes, when thero is
feast before it, loss alive to conscq uenUe
than an alderman. Scarcely looking to tn
right hand or left, it toars and gorgos a
. long as there is a square quarter of an incl
in its stomach untitled and whom it ha
1 dinod, it is 30 heavy that it is utterly unabl
{ to mount till it has taken pretty long run
to gather air into its wings. Aware of it
stupendous gluttony, tho farmers kill a
:, OK, and surround tho carcass with a sma
q enclosure of lofty palisades. The condor
"a soon scent the bait, and descend in flight
q into the trap, where they tug, and scream
4 and swallow, till they are judged to be in
n state rpe for death or slavery. Having n
;. space for their preliminary run, they cann'
> rise from between the palisades, and so the
are either Drained with clubs or caught
the lasso, and retained in captivity, thoug
for what purpose is not stated. unless it /
m to afford their captors tho pleasure OF b
1t holding them gaze at the peaks of tho Co
} dillera in vain. An anecdote is told of
farmer in Peru, who paid a heavy penal
ss for his cruelty to the condor The bir
having his wings clipped. rem aimed sulen
". about the house. now and then Gevourng
u lamb or kid. Gradually tho old feathe
"a moulted, aud new ones camo and grow, I
to tho condor felt his strength return to hil
O. and sezing upon young child, the favori
81 of bis father, swept around tho farm var
"a and spreaping forth its vast wings, spurn
ct the ground, and scared alofi with its victil
rs, n sight OF the whole family -ChambeI
hg Journal.
w ------~~-~~7-->--- -----------------