Evening star., 1894-11-03
THRILLING ADVE NTURE
The Condor, the Giant Bird of the Andes
and Its Ferooity.
An English Traveller Describes the At
tack of These Fierce Birds on an
Abandoned Horse.

Correspondence of the St. Louis GlobeDemocrat.
Few hunters or travellers in South Amer
lea have actually seen any condors, the
powerful birds of prey that make their
home on the summit Of the Andes. Stay
ing at one of the uptown hotels there is
| young Englishman, Arthur Baird, who has
just returned from a two years trip
| through South America. He was there on
| business, but being something of a hunter
| he found time to indulge little in his ia
| yorite sport He determined to see con-
| dor before he left the country, and with
| guide and two companions he made hunt
/ ing trip to the foothills of the Andes for
that express purpose.
| This is His story.
"Tt was long and tiresome journey in
| land to the foot of the Andes, where, had
1 been told, might be able to get a shot at
a condor During the trip my guide and the
| native hunters who accompanied me told
me so many wonderful stories of the con-
| dor that was beginning to believe that the
| bird was a myth and existed only in the
| Imagination of my companions.
| "One of the things they told me about
| copdors was that the birds would attack
| any kind of animal that was wounded or
| crippled and make short work of it. They
1
| even full-grown pumas, or South American
| lions, that had been killed and eaten py lhe
] big birds.
| ever did we crossed what L was told was
| one of the foothills of the Andes, but What
| seemed to me a mountain about as high as
| the Rockies On the other side OF this
1 range there was a narrow valley, througn
| which flowed a small river that was fed by
| the SHOWS on the peaks of the real noun
talns. Beyond this valley was the base or
| the giant Andes, on the summit OF "nich
| / was told the condors lived. 1t was 10 thls
| valley they came in search of prey. There
| had once been plenty of wild game along
| both banks of the river, but most of 1t had
been killed or driven away by the big bros
| and 1t was then unsafe for domestic ami
| NAL of any kind to be at large during the
| day and even men were sometimes at
| tackled
| Approach Of the Birds.
1--WE had been two days in the valley with
out catching sight of one of the birds, and
l was getting discouraged. On the morn
| ing of the third day a small party OF pack
traders passed our camp, bound down the
valley. From them we learned that they
had abandoned one of their pack horses
| about a mile up the trail. The animal had
a sore back, and had become so lame 1t
| was of no further service. The condors
| will make a meal of that horse, said my
| guide He had scarcely spoken, when look
| ing away toward the tallest peak OF the
Andes. / saw what looked like black
| speck on the sky. In a moment there was
| another of the black specks, and then an
| other and another, until l could make out
score of giant birds sailing majesticaly
| down toward the valley.
| They are comingr said the guide as
soon as he caught sight of them, and gath
| ering up our guns We hurried up the trail
| to find the abandoned horse.
Il suggested that we approach cautiously
for fear the birds would see us and be
| frightened there Il
| ignorance of the condor
| Take care that you are not the one to
be frightened away! said one of my COM
| panions.
We soon caught sight of the horse, which
was slowly following along the trail. In
| less time than 1t takes to tell IL the score
| Of condors were circling around above the
| doomed animal and not more than thou
sand feet high The first time their shad-
| ows fell across the trail the poor old horse
| threw up his head and, catching sight Of
| the black cloud above him, gave a snort Of
| terror.
He wheeled about and tried to run to-
ward the river, which was close at hand.
| but was too lame to make much progress
| The birds were still flying around in a
small circle, but every moment they were
! getting nearer the earth. We stood still
! and watched them.
The Doomed Horse.
| "When they were within 800 feet of the
earth they suddenly shot downward like a
|
giant wings was like the roar of an ap-
| preaching storm. 1t was a sight never to
| be forgotten.
| "As the condors swooped down the poor
horse uttered a scream of terror, the like
| Of which l never want to hear again. 1t
! was like the cry of human being in
mortal agony of terror. For a minute the
animal was almost cbscured from our view
by the big birds circling around him. and
then his snorts of terror were changed to
| walls of pain.
THE horse was now running around in
a short circle, and making the best fight he
| could against his assailants AS he came
| closer to where we stood L saw that his
eyes had already been torn from their
| sockets by the long beaks Of the condors.
They had torn his flesh in dozen places
with their sharp talons, and blood was
| streaming down the sides of the helpless
| animal.
up to the time that they began to strike
| their victim with beak and claw the birds
| had made no sound. But now, with the
| smell of blood whetting their appetiteS, they
| began to give voice to short hoarse cries
| that were the most hideous noise to which
| | ever listened.
| Il had for n moment forgotten that /
carried a repeating rifle. The horrible fas-
cination of the scene had completely over
! powered me, but as the pitiful cries of the
doomed horse grew weaker and his fight
against the terrible odds had weakened to
a feeble kick, my senses came back to me.
"I raised my rifle and was taking careful
| aim at the nearest condor when the guide
| caught me by the arm. His face was
drawn with the terror and excitement of
! the scene
| Wait said he. Don't disturb them
now, or they may turn on us, and then We
| will have a fight for our lives
| In an instant l realized what hope
less fight that would be II all those giant
birds should attack us as they had the
| horse and / put down my gun.
| But the fight with the horse was soon
over. With the flesh hanging in shreds
! from his sides, neck and launches, the
poor animal sank to his knees, then rolled
over on h side dead In a moment the
| whole swarm Of the great birds were around
the body, tearing the bleeding flesh from
| the bones in strips with their beaks and
| swallowing it without an effort.
| Tenacious of Life.
'In less than five minutes, 1t seemed to
| me, every bit of flesh had been torn from
the bones of the dead horse and eaten. The
skeleton was torn apart and the blood
stained bones scattered about on the
ground.
Then, one by one, the condors began to
fly away. With a great Tapping of wings
and uttering hoarse cries, they rose slowly
I "A tfl al,