AGRICULTURAL ZOOLOGY. 355 



clothing in their wool, and wholesome nourishment in their flesh. As in the case of the 

 Egyptians of old, the value of the animal clothed it centuries ago with the character of 

 sanctity. And thence arose and have been perpetuated prejudices which superstition has 

 nurtured into fixed principles. So that in the present day the Peruvian associates the idea 

 of personal misfortune, if not sacrilege, with the separation of his favorite llama from his 

 native home. The mild temper and perfect domestication of these animals have led to the 

 establishment of an attachment between the Peruvian and his flock of sheep analogous to 

 that existing between the Arabian and his horse. But the difficulties in procuring the 

 animals are not dependent upon national prejudice only. The laws of the country preclude the 

 export of them, and so stringently are they enforced that I have ascertained upon undoubted 

 authority that repeated but unsuccessful attempts have been made by the resident ministers 

 from European courts at Lima, in their official character, to obtain them. And the same 

 result attended an application made some time since by our minister, Mr. J. Randolph Clay, 

 who was directed, at the instance of the New York Agricultural Society, officially to apply for 

 permission to obtain them. 



An incident has been discovered, also, which deserves mention, as evincing the strong pre- 

 judice alluded to above, which is this namely, that in several instances in which these ani- 

 mals have been purchased by individuals for export in some indirect way, it has been after- 

 wards ascertained that the llamas had been in some way injured so as to insure their early 

 death after leaving the country. And I regret to say that in my own attempt recently 

 made, I have found that one of my animals had been thus treated. As an evidence of the 

 high esteem in which these alpacas are regarded as an addition to the domesticated animals, 

 I may mention that in my searches in Peru to obtain them, I met with an individual who is 

 at this very time stationed upon a rancho on the border, but without the boundary of the 

 country, where he is rearing them for the purpose of their export to Australia. And I found 

 from him that he has made arrangements with the government in Australia for the sale of 

 all the alpacas that he sends there at the rate of 60 a head, without, however, being 

 restricted from finding a better market for them if he can do so; the sole object of the govern- 

 ment being to procure the introduction of the animals into the country. 



These animals are found in all parts of South America upon the Pacific coast, from the 

 equator to about the twenty-fifth degree of south latitude, inhabiting principally the moun- 

 tainous ranges, frequently at the height of twelve to fourteen thousand feet above the level 

 of the sea, and in the region of continual mist and snow. It is not, however, in these in- 

 temperate regions alone that they find a congenial abode ; on the contrary, they are found 

 to prosper equally on the middle elevations of the Andes, where in the summer the clouds 

 accumulated from the evaporations of the sea are blown over and burst in torrents of which 

 we can form but a faint idea. No change of temperature appears, however, to affect these 

 interesting animals; and when to these considerations is added the circumstance that in 

 temper and docility they combine the intelligent vivacity of the deer tribe with the meek 

 and confiding innocence of our own sheep, it appears impossible to conceive an animal better 

 adapted, in every point of view, to form a valuable addition to our farms and homesteads. 

 Such an animal would live and thrive where sheep would starve. 



It is of course as a wool-producing animal that the alpaca is esteemed in Europe, and in 

 which its value would consist, if introduced into this country. And there are large tracts 

 of unprofitable mountainous country in the Western States that are admirably adapted to its 

 habits. 



The following comments on the character of the alpaca wool, and the hardiness of the ani- 

 mal, are taken from a recent publication by Mr. Walton, of Scotland. He says: 



"There are instances of alpaca wool measuring thirty inches long; frequently it is seen 

 twenty inches, and it averages from eight to twelve. In the samples there appeared to be no 

 under wool no closer and intermediate covering. There is, in the mass, what is technically 

 called a trueness ; that is, an equal growth, and an exemption from shaggy portions, accom- 

 panied by a soundness, by which is meant the general strength of the fibre properties, cer- 

 tainly of the first import to the manufacturer. In consequence of this characteristic dispo- 

 sition, alpaca wool breaks less in the act of combing, is freer from shreds, spins easily, and, 



