THE CAMELS— LLAMA. 



443 



the Bactrian Camel as the original stock and the 

 Dromedary as a breed produced by selection; for 

 the Kirghiz and Mongols describe the wild Camels as 

 being two-humped. Prshewalski has proven within 

 the past forty years that there are numerous troops 

 of Bactrian Camels in central Asia, which are, and 

 always have been, really wild, and have not merely 

 reverted to the wild state. The)- possess smaller 

 humps than those bred in a state of domesticity, cal- 

 losities on the knees of the fore-legs, and a somewhat 

 different structure of the skull, and as far as is now 

 known, they range from southern Dzungaria over 

 cistern Turkestan to Tibet. 



The Bactrian Camel is bred in all level countries 

 of central Asia, and is especially useful in the traffic 

 of merchandise carried on between China and south- 

 ern Siberia and Turkestan. In Bokhara and Turco- 

 mania the Dromedary gradually supersedes it, and 

 replaces it entirely where the plains become more 

 barren and at last merge into the desert. 



Traits of the Though it may be asserted that the 

 Bactrian Bactrian Camel shows in its char- 

 Came/, acter and qualities an affinity to the 

 Dromedary, it can not be denied that it is better 

 natured than the latter. It readily allows itself to 

 be approached and caught, and willingly obeys its 

 master's commands without causing a great deal of 

 commotion. But it is still a Camel in all that the 

 name implies. Its mental faculties are on the same 

 low level as those of the Dromedary; it is just as 

 stupid, listless and cowardly as the latter animal. A 

 Hare springing up between its feet may throw it into 

 a panic. It starts aside in terror, and then rushes on 

 like a senseless creature, and its fellows, moved by 

 common impulse, follow without knowing why. A 

 large, black stone lying by the roadside, a heap of 

 bones, a fallen saddle, in fact, any unfamiliar object 

 may frighten it to such an extent that it completely 

 loses its wits and causes rout and confusion in the 

 entire caravan. 



The Bactrian Camel, like the Dromedary, can not 

 thrive on rich pasturage; it requires the coarse vege- 

 tation of the sterile plains, which would barely sat- 

 isfy other animals; its favorite food consists of worm- 

 wood, garlic, shoots of all kinds of shrubs, and 

 especially plants containing salt, which are indis- 

 pensable to the maintenance of its good health, and 

 to its recuperation if it becomes debilitated from 

 any cause. 



To the female Bactrian Camel is born a single 

 young one — usually at the beginning of the spring 

 season. The little creature is very helpless during 

 the first few days of its life, but soon becomes strong 

 enough to follow the mother about, and she evinces 

 for it a most tender maternal affection. A few 

 weeks after birth it begins to eat vegetable food, and 

 then is temporarily separated from the mother, the 

 latter being milked, as is every other female animal 

 belonging to the herds of the inhabitants of the Asi- 

 atic plains. In the second year the colt has its nose 

 pierced, and the bridle-stick is put through the ap- 

 erture, for at this age its training commences. In 

 the third year of its life it is used for short rides, in 

 the fourth to convey light burdens; in the fifth year 

 it is looked upon as fully developed and capable of 

 working. With good treatment it may continue to 

 work until its twenty-fifth year. 

 Great Usefulness A strong Bactrian Camel can daily 



of the Bactrian travel from nineteen to twenty- five 

 Camel. miles, carrying a burden of four hun- 



dred and forty pounds, and a very strong one can 



carry one hundred pounds more; with half this load 

 it is able to cover nearly double the distance at a 

 trot. In summer it can abstain from water for two or 

 three days, in winter from five to eight, and endures 

 abstinence from food from two to four days without 

 suffering material harm or discomfort. On trips of 

 considerable length it requires a day's rest at inter- 

 vals of every six or eight days. In the Kirghiz 

 plains it is not used exclusively as a beast of burden, 

 but also as a draught animal in single and in double 

 harness, and on tracts of country liable to the con- 

 tingencies arising from the ever changing sand drifts, 

 it even takes the place of Horses in the mail service. 

 Nothwithstanding all its faults, the Bactrian Camel 

 must be acknowledged to be one of the most use- 

 ful creatures that Man has subjugated to his service. 

 It well fulfills all the tasks required of it, and could 

 not be replaced by any other domestic animal. Its 

 hair, milk, skin and flesh are all put to account, and it 

 is harnessed to carts and used as a beast of burden. 

 With its help Man is enabled to traverse the water- 

 less, treeless wastes of wilderness in which Horses 

 would succumb to the hardships incident to their 

 passage; with its help its owner climbs mountains 

 upwards of thirteen thousand feet high, to points of 

 elevation which the Yak is the only other animal 

 able to endure. The Horse is the companion of the 

 inhabitant of the steppes, the Bactrian Camel is his 

 servant. 



THE LLAMAS. 



The New World Camels include those numerous 

 American animals which appear but dwarfs in size 

 when compared with their Old World family or gen- 

 eric relations. The Llamas (Auc/icnia) are Camels, 

 but they are much smaller than the Old World spe- 

 cies. True, the American Camels are inhabitants of 

 the mountains and for this reason alone they can 

 not attain the same size as their Old World relatives 

 which belong to the fauna of the plain. The Llamas 

 differ from the true Camels not only by reason of 

 smaller size, however, but also by the relatively large 

 head, the frontal region of which recedes sharply 

 and connects at a considerable angle with a pointed 

 muzzle; by their large ears and eyes, their thin, lean 

 neck, long, slender legs with hoofs more deeply 

 cleft; by their smaller callosities and their long, 

 woolly fleece. The hump is lacking, and the loins 

 are still more contracted than those of the true 

 Camels. 



Four Species of The Llamas are divided into four 

 Llamas Now species, which have been well known 

 Existent. from remote ages under the names of 

 Huanaco or Guanaco, Llama, Paco or Alpaca and Vi- 

 cugna. Authorities are not yet agreed as to whether 

 all four animals are to be regarded as original spe- 

 cies or not. Some consider the Guanaco to be the 

 progenitor of the Llama and Alpaca, and base their 

 chief ground for this opinion in the fact that the 

 Llama and the Guanaco may interbreed and produce 

 offspring capable of continuing the species; others 

 deem the slight differences in outward form impor- 

 tant enough to regard the four Llamas as distinct 

 species, as the natives have always done. Tschudi, 

 who has been able to observe all the Llamas on their 

 native ground, agrees with the natives, and his opin- 

 ion has long been regarded as decisive. Let us con- 

 sider, however, how potent in inducing variation of 

 form is the influence of domestication on animals, 

 and we will then also find. the contrary opinion to be 

 based on reasonable grounds, and will hardly be pre- 



