The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1905-12-14
CORDILLERA :. VULTURES
NARROW ESCAPE FROM BIG BIRDS IN
SOUTH AMERICA
done. I should think.
AMERICA.


you do after that?"
Well" he said, ito tell you the
truth, | put in what was absolutely
the worst hour Of my life. You know
what these tracks are. It may be
three or four days before any one
comes along, and there was with my
leg damned under the horse and my
shoulders just on the edge Of the
rocks. OF course 1 couldn't do any
thing. And then I began to see specks
in the sky. You know what that
means herew 8fs&
YES" ! said, remembering a vul-
ture that had seen hop on the breast
Of half dead soldier. eyes, I know.
And what happened then?'
"They came down and perched on
the stones and up on the rocks there.
1t was just about here that it hap
pened, and they looked at me and the
horse. They saw that the horse was
dead and that I wasn't. That's the
worst Of it, you know. They wait
about till you are so far gone that
you can't hit then back. And then
they go for you, face first, of course
beginning with the eyes-and they go
ON till there isn't rag of flesh left
on your bones. Eat you to death by
mouthfuls-or beakfuls. Every minute
more of them come down, because I
needn't tell you that when one of them
starts all the others within miles fol-
low him, and so they came and settled
down till they made sort Of half cir
Gle round me and the poor gee-gee. I
happened to have a lot Of cartridges
in my jacket pocket, and SO I tried
to get my thoughts off what might
happen by loading up and potting at
them hen.they came too near, but. of
course, couldn't keep that up forever,
and If something didn't happen before
1t got dark l knew there wouldn't be
much left Of me or the horse in the
morning."
For all the emotion he showed in
telling the story he might have been
talking about game of billiards, but
there was a something in his manner
and a cold, hard note in his voice
which told me that this was real trag-
edy. Englishmen, however, have a.
constitutional objection to showing
feeling, and so I asked, in a tone of
quite ordinary inquiry:
"And what did happen?"
Il think it was the revolver shots
that did it," he replied, "for while
was potting at the condors lot of
llamas came scurrying along the path,
with a couple of Indians behind them.
Then they turned and one Of the
beasts went over. The birds got up at
once and went for it. I emptied my
gun after them and then had to throw.
1T on the track before those fellows
would come near me. They seemed
to think | was mad, and am not sure
that I wasn't pretty near it. Anyhow,
they took off the bride, passed the
reins around my shoulders, and one of
them held on while the other two
rolled my poor old nag over. Then d
suppose I went off my head for a bit.
Yes, it was just about here, round this
shoulder. Not nice sort Of a place
to say 'good-by' in, is it, and no one
to say gOOd-by to but dead horse and
lot of hungry vultures?"
Then I put my hand down into one
Of my holsters and pulled out a big
flask Of more respectable quality than
you would expect to find down on the
Perene, and passed it to my compan-
ion.
Thanks" he said, sthat's not bad
idea; but if ever I take too much OF
this sort Of stuff I know l shall see
these vultures." Correspondence in
st. Louis Globe Democrat.