THE PACOS. 67 



bodies with great care, to prevent their load from falling off, or 

 being deranged: when, however, they hear their conductor's 

 whistle, they rise with equal precaution, and proceed on their 

 journey. In going along in the day, they browse wherever they 

 find herbage, and generally spend the night in chewing the cud. 

 If their masters continue to abuse them, after they are deter- 

 mined not to rise, they are said sometimes to kill themselves, in 

 their rage, by striking their heads alternately, from right to left, 

 on the ground. 



The wild lamas, called guanacos, are stronger and more active 

 than the domestic breed. They associate in herds, and inhabit 

 the highest regions of the Cordeliers des Andes, where their 

 retreats are inaccessible to dogs, and therefore the most usual 

 method of killing them is by shooting. They are hunted for their 

 flesh and their hair : the former is said to be as good as mutton, 

 and the latter is manufactured into cloth. The lama resembles 

 the camel in its faculty of abstaining a long time from water, as 

 well as in the nature of its food, which is of the coarsest kind. 

 They have neither corn nor hay allowed them, and a very small 

 quantity of coarse herbage is sufficient for their support. 



THE PACOS 



Is a native of the same countries as the lama, and seems to be 

 only a variety of the same species, although a much smaller 

 breed. Its body is covered with very fine long wool, of a dull 

 purple colour, resembling dried roses, which constitutes a valu- 

 able article of commerce, and is manufactured into gloves, stock- 

 ings, carpets, &c. The Pacos associate in numerous herds upon 

 the most elevated parts of the Andes, where they are almost in 

 accessible, and endure the ulrnost severity of those frozen re- 

 gions. The manner of taking them by the natives, is singular. 

 They tie cords, with small pieces of cloth or wool, hanging 

 loosely from them, across the narrow passes of the mountains, 

 about three feet, from the ground. They then drive a herd of 

 these animals towards them, and they are so terrified by the flut- 

 tering of the rags, which they dare not pass, that they crowd 

 together in great numbers, and are taken without difficulty. 



The pacos, like the lama, is domesticated, and sometimes used 

 for carrying burdens ; but it cannot bear more than sixty or 

 seventy pounds, and is less tractable and patient than the lama. 



The great advantages derived from the wool of these animals, 

 induced the Spaniards to attempt their introduction into Europe. 

 Some of them were brought into Spain ; but through misman- 

 agement, or some other cause, the experiment did not succeed. 



