Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-09-12
The Great Nulture of the Andes.

High up among the towering snow
peaks Of the Andes, you will find the
condor-thc huge car%rion-vulture of
South America. AS You see him wheel
ing in circles three or four miles above
you, he looks like a mere speck: YOU
woa]d never imagine him Il bird stand
ing three to four feet high, often meas
ing as much us twelve feet between the
tips OF his wings, and six feet or more
from beak to tail; with wings strong
enough to break II of your limbs.
and with beak and talons that might
wei! be a terror to the young Lambs
and goatS Of the mountains. On his
feet, ne is w~hite-neaked, brown-winged.
awkward creature that. like a sea-bird,
has to run q long distance before he
can fly; but when once he is in the
air, there is nothing moro beautiful and
graceful than his flight. His wings
seem to be perfectly motionless, and
hour after hour he may be seen, with
apparently only the head and neck in
action, ascending and descending in
spiral curves, and floating in mid.air
like a paper kite. PLittle escapes the
far-rea hing eye and keen smell of the
condor. AS they soar SO majestically
aloft,. they seem to be casting a
greedy look upon the wayfarers
and the cattle feeding OF wandering
among the mountains. They are ter
ribiy voracious birds and are pretty
sure, within a very shorttime, to pounce
upon those hat fall down through
fatigue, exposure OF mishap of any kind.
Pictures on the old Peruvian vases rem
resent children struggling in the grasp
of condors, and SO one might suppose
that these g%luttonous creatures would
ven attack man; but we know of no
ase TO prove this. or the stories that
tell OF them selling young animals and
bearing them upon their backs to their
rocky haunts twelve or thirteen thou
sand feet above the sea. They do at
tack lambs and goats, first picking out
the eyes, and then tearing out the en-
trails With their dagger-liEe beahs; and
it is as much rs the shepherd dee.s can
do 10 protect their charge. The mere
sight OF living man, however, is enough
to keep them at a distance. They win
follow in sweeping circles Lioh above
you, as Won and your donkey struggle
along the valleys and snow-blocked
paths; but YOU will have to use all man
ner of precautions to bring them even
within gunshot. If you should fall
over and pretend to be dead, they
would sweep down on vol,
in an instant. Thousands of
these birds frequent the pre-
cipitous cliffs OF the Uspallata pass.
which is the great highway over tho
Andes for travellers and cattle from the !
Argentine republic into Chill. Esle
during the winter months, storms race
and many a II is lost u the SHOWS or
sinks down from exhaustion. Here and
taere the roadside is strcwed with the
clean-picked bones OF horses. mules,
oxen: md occasionally the remains of a
human skeleton. tell Of some roor tel-
low over whose fate tire ravenous con-
doris have rejoiccd. some Of the battle
fields OF the late war, where ,hiiians
and Peruv;ans fell in such numbers,
bear evidence OF the quick and thor
ou4h work OF these great birds; and in
the copper regions Of Chill the sides
OF the paths down which the
mules bring their pack-loads OF ore. are
covered with the bones of the Door ami
mails that have fallen down exhausted
unier their burdens. In certain parts
OF South America the condor feeds al
most entirely on the carcass OF the
euanaco-a kind of wild llama that
lives in constant dread OF it's murder
Gus cnen1y-thc puma. The latter an
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