The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1893-05-18
LASSOING CONDORS.
EXCITING PASTIME OF THE CHILL
IAN PLAINS YEARS AGO.


the Monstrous vultures of the Lofty
Andes-Gigantic Birds.
Chasing the condor with the lasso was
the leading sport on the Chilian plains
when Was in that country years ago."
said New Yorker who went to South
America with Harry Meiggs. the great
railroad contractor. but ! am told that
this great bird has become so wary that
the sport is now almost unknown. Tween
ty-five years ago the condor had developed
no evidence of cunning that ever heard
Of There was then, as there is now, be-
lieve, government bounty of five dollars
a head paid for the killing of the condor
both in Chill and Peru If the birds are as
plenty as they were when | went to that
region, wide awake hunters ought to make
plenty Of money.
THE condor, unlike many other mem
bers of the vulture family, doesn't wait for
something or somebody to die in order that
he may have his dinner, but if he doesn't
find a ready made carcass convenient on
the plain when he is hungry, he proceeds
at once to provide that carcass himself. At
least. that used to be his habit, and pre-
spect, providing the material for carcasses
is as plenty now as it was then.
1.-THE herds of cattle that pastured on
the undulating plains between the impen-
etrable wall of the Andes and the Pacific's
white crested line of surf, offered the con
dor unrivaled facilities in his line in those
days, and as he seemed to be in a state of
chronic hunger, this king of the feathered
race levied constant tribute on the grazing
herds.
twenty-five and thirty years ago it was
no uncommon thing to see hundreds Of
these winged freebooters. lowering over the
plains, each one a ravenous and determined
dinner robber from the herds below, h.
which the shadow of a condors wings car
ried as much terror as the appearance of a
hawk does to brood of chickens.
TRAPPING BIG vULTUREs
THE condor was the greatest enemy the
stock raisers in that part of South America
had TO contend with, and it was his per
sistent and destructive raids on grazing
cattle that made him an outlaw, with a
price on his head, to be relentlessly hunted
even among the crags and cloud capped
peaks where he made his home.
when days old time sport at condor
lassoing was to be had the carcass of a
steer, dog or horse was carried out on
the plain. Strong stakes were driven into
the ground five or six inches apart, about
the carcass, until a roofless Enclosure six
or seven feet high and twenty feet square,
with gate at one side, was made. Long
before the work of making this Enclosure
could be finished condors would be seen
floating down from the clouds, far above
which they have their haunts AS long as
the workmen were busy at the Enclosure
the birds would sail high overhead.
THE instant the coast was clear down
the great vulture would drop and in few
seconds he would be tearing at the dead
body in the Enclosure. 1t is no uncommon
thing for a mature condor to have a
twelve foot spread of wing, and l have
known them to measure fifteen feet from
tip to tip of wing. Their bodies are heavy
and on the ground the bird is clumsy.
1T cannot rise for flight without run.
ming rapidly for a long distance, to give it
the necessary momentum, especially if it is
gorged with food, which it never fails to
be If any food can be obtained. As con-
sequence, when a condor alighted in one OF
those Enclosures, he was rs much of pris-
oner as il he were chained down to the
ground, and the sportsman kept him there
to serve his pleasure.
USING THE LARIAT.
when he wanted to ride after a condor
the owner of the pen generally with a
friend or two similarly equipped, mounted
feet horse, fastened his lariat to the sad
die and rode to the Enclosure. An attend
ant opened the gate Of the prison and let
out condor for each rider. When the
| condors found themselves at liberty, they
at once started at the top of their speed on
the long run that would enable them to
take wing.
After they had run probably one-quarter
of the distance the huntsmen put spurs to
their horses and dashed after the birds.
AS the condors arose from the ground with
great wings spread, the lassoes were
thrown. An expert handler of the lariat
would send his rope over the condor's head
and so manage it that it was slipped down
until it touched the shoulders of the wings
before it would be frightened on the bird
The condor was then a prisoner, but
able to use his powerful pinions, breathe
freely and lead the horseman wild chase
across the plain, turning in all directions
in his frantic fight, but unable to rise
higher than the length Of the lasso When
the rider tired of the sport he would turn
his horse about and lead the chase himself,
forcing the unwilling bird along until it
tumbled spent to the ground and was
dragged to death at the horses heels.
Il never could understand why a condor,
captive like that, did not turn on both man
and horse and attack them as he would a
steer, but | never knew one to do so. Once
in awhile a lariat would break while the
horseman was bracing his horse against
some desperate sweep of a mighty condor,
and then both horse and rider would be
tumbled violently to the ground, and the
suddenly released bird would shoot up
ward like cannot ball and soon disappear
among the clouds. Condors with several
feet of somebody's lariat hanging to them
were frequently seen among those that
swooped down on the herds New York