354 THE YEAR-BOOK OF AGRICULTURE. 



What must become of the black population at this rate in a few years? What are the 

 causes of this decay ? They do not disregard the -laws of social and physical well-being any 

 more than, if they do as much as, the whites. It seems to me one of the necessary conse- 

 quences of attempts to mix races ; the hybrids cease to be prolific ; the race must die out as 

 mulatto ; it must either keep black unmixed, or become extinct. Nobody doubts that a 

 mixed offspring may be produced by intermarriage of different races the Griquas, the 

 Papuas, the Cafusos of Brazil, so elaborately enumerated by Prichard, sufficiently prove 

 this. The question is, whether they would be perpetuated if strictly confined to intermar- 

 riages among themselves ; from the facts in the case of mulattoes, we say unquestionably 

 not. The same is true, as far as has been observed, of the mixture of the white and red 

 races, in Mexico, Central and South America. The well-known infrequency of mixed off- 

 spring between the European and Australian races, led the colonial government to official 

 inquiries, and to the result that, in thirty-one districts, numbering fifteen thousand inhabit- 

 ants, the half-breeds did not exceed two hundred, though the connection of the two races 

 was very intimate. 



If any one wishes to be convinced of the inferiority and tendency to disease in the mu- 

 latto race, even with the assistance of the pure blood of the black and white races, he need 

 only witness what I did recently viz. the disembarkation, from a steamboat, of a colored 

 pic-nic party, of both sexes, of all ages, from the infant in arms to the aged, and of all hues, 

 from the darkest black to a color approaching white. There was no old mulatto, though 

 there were several old negroes; many fine-looking mulattoes, of both sexes, evidently 

 the first offspring from the pure races ; then came the youths and children, and here 

 could be read the sad truth at a glance. The little blacks were agile and healthy- 

 looking ; the little mulattoes, youths and young ladies, further removed from the pure stocks, 

 were sickly, feeble, thin, with frightful scars and skin-diseases, and scrofula stamped on 

 every feature and every visible part of the body. Here was hybridity of human races, under 

 the most favorable circumstances of worldly condition and social position. 



Alpaca, or Peruvian Sheep. 



THE following is an abstract of a paper by Capt. James Pedersen, read before the United 

 States Agricultural Society, Washington, February, 1854, on the alpaca, or Peruvian sheep: 

 It is well known that for several years past various attempts have been made by those inte- 

 rested in the advancement and improvement of the races of domestic animals, to introduce the 

 llama, alpaca and vecuna, of South America into England and the continent of Europe. 

 Owing to the extreme care of the Peruvian government at all times against allowing those 

 animals to be exported, most of the attempts made have been unavailing. A few specimens 

 have, however, been introduced from time to time, and in almost every case have been found 

 to thrive and adapt themselves to the changes in climate. This is especially the case, so far 

 as regards their introduction into England. It is therefore reasonable to draw the inference 

 that if the removal of these animals from their native mountains to the comparatively ntoist 

 and humid climate of England has not proved injurious to them, they certainly cannot fail 

 to be indifferent to a change to the Middle, Western, and Northern States of America. 



The character and habits of these animals is very similar to that of our own sheep, or per- 

 haps an amalgamation of them and of those of the domestic goat. They are gregarious, 

 excessively gentle, and timid to a degree. One valuable quality they possess, that deserves 

 especial attention, is, that they require neither keeper nor fence, or at most one of the slight- 

 est description ; for wherever they are driven, there will they remain for hours, or for days 

 even, without wandering more than a few yards from the spot* 



To those who are not aware of the extreme difficulty that there always has been to obtain 

 these animals, owing to the jealousy of the Peruvians to their being exported, it may appear 

 extraordinary that efforts on a large scale have not been long since made to introduce them. 

 From time immemorial the llama has borne an inestimable value in the eyes of the inhabit- 

 ants of the southern Pacific coasts. They have found in them combined the beast of bur- 

 den for the transit of ore from the mines of Andes to the seaboard, the raw material for 



