ALPACAS. 355 



ALPACAS. 



THE Alpaca is a native of the lofty table-lands and mountain range of the Andes in 

 Peru and Chili, and has long occupied in that region of the globe, the position held 

 by its congeners of larger size the camel in the old world. Llamas were to the 

 ancient Peruvians the only available beasts of burden and wool-bearing sources, the same as 

 the camel is at the present day to the tribes of the Asiatic deserts. The camel ( Camdus) and 

 llama (Auchenia), form the two existing genera of the family Camelidae, and they thus, 

 in a zoological sense, represent each other in different regions of the earth. A great deal 

 of doubt and confusion, however, has existed as to the number of species into which the 

 llama can be divided. 



Most authorities now agree in regarding them separable into four species, viz. : the llama 

 (Auchenialama), the huanaco or guanaco (A. huanaco), the Alpaca or paco (A. paco), and the 

 vicugna (A, vicunna). The llama and guanaco were formerly more valued as beasts of burden, 

 and their flesh, than wool, being able to bear daily from 120 to 150 pounds burden over long 

 distances. 



Description, etc. The guanaco attains about the size of the red deer, and is the 

 largest, as well as most widely disseminated of all the species, being found from the equator to 

 Patagonia. The llama is next in size, and is mostly limited in its habitat, to the loftier 

 mountains of Northern Peru. The Alpaca is considerably smaller than either the above- 

 mentioned species, but in general outline all the species have a strong resemblance. In its 

 native condition, the Alpaca ranges between 10 and 20 south latitude, from the center of 

 Peru into Bolivia, not often coming lower down than between 8,000 and 9,000 feet above the 

 sea-level. At and above these heights, it lives in herds in a semi-domesticated state, being 

 only driven into the villages to be shorn. 



The wool is of very fine quality, lustrous, and in color mostly white, black, or gray; the 

 shades, of brown or fawn are sometimes seen, but are more rare. 



The illustration of Alpacas is from a photograph of a group of these animals from the 

 flock of Hon. Francis Thomas, formerly minister to Peru. They were imported by him, and 

 p^ced on his farm in Frankville, Alleghany County, Maryland. Mr. Thomas, in writing to 

 a friend respecting them, says: 



&quot; The fibre of a fleece of twelve months growth often exceeds fifteen inches in length, 

 and the fleeces average from seven pounds to ten pounds each in weight. The animals live to 

 the age of twenty, twenty-five, and sometimes thirty years; are too large and bold to be 

 worried by dogs, and very docile and tractable. I think you will concur with me in the 

 opinion that this experiment which I am conducting is well worth the expense which I have 

 incurred, especially when we consider the public benefit which would accrue in case of my 

 success.&quot; 



Domestication, Yalue Of Wool, etc. There is evidence of these animals having 

 been domesticated and used for their wool, from remote antiquity, as remains of clothing made 

 from the Alpaca wool have been found in the graves of the Incas; and when, in the early 

 part of the sixteenth century, Peru was first visited by Europeans, these animals formed the 

 chief wealth of the natives, being carriers of commerce, as well as the main source of their 

 food and clothing. The wool first became an article of commerce in England in 1829, and in 

 1836 it became an established trading commodity with Europe. In that year Sir Titus Salt, 

 a manufacturer in Bradford, purchased a quantity of Alpaca wool and tried various 

 experiments to discover its value and capabilities. His great success led to the establishment 

 of extensive manufactories, and making Alpaca a staple second in importance to wool. 

 England now imports annually above 3,000,000 pounds of this wool. 



