Alpaca, Guanaco, and Vicuna. 295 



for food by the vast Indian population of Potosi, while the 

 wool was made into warm clothing, so necessary in that rigor- 

 ous climate, where at night the temperature is below the 

 freezing point, though, during the day, the solar rays are often 

 noxious to health. 



The number of llamas and alpacas in Bolivia and Upper 

 Peru is still very great, amounting to several millions, and 

 the common sheep is also abundant. From the milk of the 

 latter good butter is made by the Indians, but is little used 

 by them, it being mostly put into bladders and sent to places 

 where a good price is obtained for it ; cheese is also made from 

 the same source. The common sheep there affords a large 

 quantity of wool ; and if proper means were adopted, the 

 number of llamas, alpacas, and sheep might be increased, and, 

 of course, there would be a corresponding amount of fleeces. 

 The Indians are not much in the habit of slaughtering the 

 llama or alpaca for food so long as they are otherwise useful ; 

 the sheep and lamb are oftener used for culinary purposes, and 

 ivhite men seldom wish to eat llama-flesh a second time if they 

 can get anything better. None of those animals require the 

 use of tar or any unctuous substance while on the punas of 

 Peru. 



The climate on these heights is very peculiar, for though 

 during a part of the year there is much rain or snow on the 

 western slopes of the Andes, and occasionally where the llama 

 and alpaca are mostly seen, yet the air on the punas is singu- 

 larly dry, so that a want of perspiration, even among the hu- 

 man species, is a general complaint there. " No puedo yo a 

 sudor,'' is often heard. 



Thus, the climate where these animals thrive so well, is 

 very elastic, and the reverse of damp or humid, which cir- 

 cumstance, together with the sort of food they get, and the 

 exceeding rare atmosphere in which they live, may be the 

 cause of the fine fleece obtained. 



When I was in Bolivia much ignorance and carelessness 

 was shewn by most of the proprietors of flocks relative to the 

 management of the wool, which, in many cases, was allowed 

 to drop, or to be torn oflF, and was not shorn at stated periods, 

 as should be done under a proper system of management. 



