CAMEL. 



6 79 



wealth as even a Lama ; and it is probable that there 

 are wild ones, especially of the smaller kinds, in 

 many of the fastnesses of the Andes. The mule has 

 in general, however, displaced them for carriage in 

 the most difficult passages of the mountains, and the 

 bullock and the horse in other places. 



But, in earlier times, they were regarded as animals 

 of great value ; and it was probably as much owing 

 to the possession of them as to any other cause, that 

 the inhabitants of the Andes had made considerable 

 advances in civilisation, while the inhabitants of the 

 lower, and in as far as soil and climate are concerned, 

 by far the richer parts of the country, remained in a 

 state of confirmed and hopeless savageisrn. As beasts 

 of burden, they are in some respects more stubborn 

 than mules, and they hare not either the strength or 

 the sagacity of these animals ; but still a full-grown 

 lama will carry from a hundred to one hundred and 

 fifty pounds weight for more than sixteen miles in a 

 day, and over the most difficult passes, in so steady 

 a manner as not to cast any part of the load. In 

 this respect they are superior to the camel ; they do 

 not lift their feet so high, and therefore their march 

 is not so dodging. When overloaded however, they 

 become sullen, lie down under the load, and no good 

 or bad treatment will make them get up till it is 

 removed. 



Their flesh is wholesome, their hide strong, firm, 

 and useful for many purposes ; and their hair, which 

 is long and silky, and cast annually in the same 

 manner as the fleece of the sheep, allowed to run 

 unshorn, is of considerable value in the arts ; so that 

 though they are inferior to the domesticated rumi- 

 nantia of the Eastern world in an economical point 

 of view, they are still animals of no mean value ; 

 and it has been supposed that they might be intro- 

 duced with considerable advantage into many parts 

 of southern Africa, Australia, and other mountainous 

 and dry districts of the Eastern world, which are too 

 elevated for cattle, and too scanty of pasturage for 

 sheep. 



There are several species mentioned ; and it is 

 probable that the ones which have been longest in a 

 state of domestication are, as is the case with all 

 domesticated species of the order, very much broken 

 into varieties, especially varieties of colour, upon 

 differences of which, it is never safe to ground spe- 

 cific distinctions in this order of animals. There 

 seems however, to be several species, though the 

 differences between them are far from being clearly 

 made out. Their history in their native country is 

 very imperfect ; and animals which are so obedient 

 to climate, as those mountaineers which are produced 

 in a climate so variable necessarily must be, are not 

 to be safely judged of from the few specimens which 

 are brought to Europe. We shall notice one or two 

 of the principal ones. 



THE LAMA (Auchema Glama). These animals, as 

 described by Hurnboldt and others who have visitec 

 their native country, and paid some attention to its 

 native history as being wholly in a state of dornesti 

 cation, although, as they are not so attached to on< 

 another and to their homes us cattle and sheep, then 

 are strays occasionally met with among the moun 

 tains, where it is possible that they may sometime 

 breed ; but as, though sure-footed in the rocks, thej 

 are far from being fleet animals, they are soon recap 

 tured. They are of all varieties of colour, from 

 nearly a dull white to almost entirely black. Thej 



ary considerably in size ; the largest being about 

 ve feet long in the body, and nearly four and a half 

 t the shoulder. The neck has a bend downwards 

 t its junction with the back ; but it is long, and 

 vhen the head is raised, the muscle is at least six 

 et from the ground. The head is thick in propor- 

 ion to the length ; the lips are thick, the tip of the 

 ars (which are much longer in proportion than those 

 if camels) are rather rounded. The legs are stout, 

 he hoofs on the toes pointed, and capable of sepa- 

 ating from each other so as to take a firm hold on 

 he slightest inequality in the reck. Indeed the feet 

 >f these animals, unlike the round pads of the camel, 

 ire perhaps better adapted for keeping their footing 

 m rocky places than those of any other family of 

 urniuantia, except the goats. The back is straight, 

 >r rather bent down in the middle, and without any 

 [lump. This provision is not necessary in the moun- 

 ains of South America, where, though there are 

 considerable differences of seasons, these are nothing 

 Himpared with those of the Eastern deserts. The 

 ania is described as being a patient and good natured, 

 hough rather dull animal. Some notion of the ge- 

 leral appearance may be obtained from a delineation 

 of a black coloured one at the top of the plate 

 ' Camels;" but it is to be understood that this is not 

 i distinct species, any more than the white, the rust- 

 ;oloured, the dun, or the dull brown, the last of which 

 s the most prevalent tint. 



THE GUANACO (Auckia Hunaca). It is very 

 doubtful whether the animal described by this name 

 je any thing else than mere varieties of the lama, 

 produced by different pasture and climate, as they 

 io not differ from each other so much as many of the 

 breeds of sheep. These animals are chiefly from the 

 southern parts of the Andes, where there is much 

 more rain than in the parts near the equator. When 

 full grown, the animal is said to be considerably 

 larger, approaching in size to an ordinary horse ; 

 the hair on the upper part yellowish, that on the 

 under part \vhite ; the head rounded ; the ears 

 straight; the muzzle pointed and of a black colour; 

 and the tail short and sticking out like that of a deer. 

 Altogether the animal is of softer expression, and 

 appears as if better fed than the the lamas of the 

 central Andes. It is also said to be much more 

 abundant in the wild state, and indeed it is in that 

 state that the greatest number are said to be met 

 with, flocks of two or three hundred or even more 

 being mentioned as occurring in the mountain valleys 

 of the south, especially those in the interior of 

 Araucania, between the western or more thickly 

 inhabited part of that country, and the southern part 

 of the Pampas. This is by no means improbable ; 

 indeed from the character of those countries south- 

 ward of South America, and bordering on Patagonia, 

 and probably in the interior of Patagonia itself, it is 

 very likely that these ruminantia may be much more 

 abundant, and thrive much better than they do in 

 places near the equator. This part of America long 

 lay under the brand of being one of the most dreary 

 and inhospitable on the face of the earth ; and there 

 is no doubt that, immediately adjoining the strait of 

 Magellan, it is rocky, rugged, and at certain sea- 

 sons subject to violent storms. But Captain King, 

 by whom it was lately explored, with more minute 

 attention than it has been since the days of the 

 earliest Spanish navigators (and it was their policy 

 to conceal and not promulgate their discoveries), 



