footing upon the carcase. The voraciousness of these filthy birds is almost incredible, and the exactness and rapidity with which they reduce bodies to the most perfect skeletons, cannot be surpassed by the most acute anatomist.
At Mistan we turned from our former route, and crossing the river Guacalate, began to ascend in the direction for the Peña de Mirandilla. The road we found generally woody, and the path so covered with bushes and shrubs, as to be in some places almost impassable; the river in this direction has rapids for nearly a league, and several streams casting themselves down the sides of the mountains, form small cascades of considerable beauty. The Peña or Rock of Mirandilla is a bold projection of granite, which rears its head considerably above the neighbouring mountains, and appears to have been struck by lightning; the middle part has evidently been swept away by the electric fluid, leaving two bare ridges, which from their elevated and solitary situation, present a somewhat singular aspect. At the foot of the mountain is a ruinous trapiché, where we passed the night; the roof had partly fallen in, and some of the walls been opened by the recent earthquake. Between Mistan and the Peña, a distance of not more than eight or nine leagues, we found a difference of temperature equal to ten degrees.
