244 VICUNA. 



end of the tail is furnished, like the breast, with 

 long woolly hair. The individual described in the 

 sixtli supplemental volume of Buffon was of a 

 somewhat fierce disposition, and often attempted 

 to bite those who examined it. It was never ob- 

 served to drink, and seemed to have the same ge- 

 neral habits and manners as the Glama. 



The Glama, the Paco, and the Vicuna, have 

 sometimes been considered as the same species, 

 and what seems to have been a principal cause of 

 confusion among naturalists with respect to these 

 Peruvian animals is, that the word Lama or Glama 

 is used among the Peruvians as a general name 

 rather than a particular one. In the provinces 

 of Cusco, Potosi, and Tucuman, we are assured 

 that three species of Lamas are distinguished by 

 appropriate titles. 



The Vicuna seems to afford the finest wool of 

 any, and it is wrought into cloths of most ex- 

 quisite silky softness and beauty, which are said 

 to be too warm for common wear, unless made 

 peculiarly thin. 



The Vicuna, as well as the Paco or next species, 

 is sometimes taken by the Peruvians by the sim- 

 ple artifice of tying cords, with bits of wool or 

 cloth fixed to them at certain distances, at three 

 or four feet from the ground, across the narrow 

 passes of the mountains ; and when the animals 

 have been hunted or driven that way, they are so 

 terrified by the fluttering of the rags, that, instead 

 of attempting to pass, they huddle together in 

 heaps, and thus afford their pursuers an opportu- 



