MAMMALS. 633. 



The alpaca (possibly the descendant of the vicuna) is the better known, 

 at least by name, of the two ; for this is the animal whose hair furnishes 

 the well-known dress goods. Less than fifty years ago a consignment of 

 alpaca wool reached England, but no one would touch it, as they could not 

 work it satisfactorily. At last the problem was solved by Titus Salt, and 

 fame, fortune, and knighthood were his rewards. The alpacas will not 

 thrive outside their native country, although many attempts have been 

 made to introduce them into other seemingly suitable regions. Hence all 

 the supply of their wool comes from Peru. 



While the alpaca in this way takes the place of the camel as a pro- 

 ducer of textile material, the llama fills its position as a beast of burden. 

 Its importance now is far less than in former years. At the time of the 

 Spanish conquest the llama and the alpaca were the only domesticated 

 animals of the Peruvians. To-day the alpaca has gained in importance, 

 while the mule has largely supplanted the other in carrying silver from 

 the mines. About a hundred and fifty pounds is the average load of a 

 llama, and with this it can make scarcely more than a dozen miles a day 

 on the rough mountainous roads. 



There are many species of deer, and few wild animals attract more 

 attention than these usually graceful animals, with their curious horns, 

 which usually occur on the males alone. These differ from the horns of 

 sheep and cows in being solid outgrowths of bone, which are shed each 

 year, to be replaced quickly by a larger and more numerously branched 

 outgrowth. By counting the number of these branches one can approxi- 

 mate pretty closely the age of any buck, but still the rule is no more 

 infallible than in the case of the rattles of a rattlesnake or the rings of 

 growth in a tree. The horns in the sheep and cows, on the other hand, 

 never fall off : they also differ in structure ; for the bony outgrowth from 

 the skull is covered with a thinner layer of more elastic material, the 

 ' horn ' of commerce. 



The musk-deer of the mountains of central Asia differs from most 

 other deer in the absence of horns in either sex, while the upper canine 

 teeth are developed into great tushes in the male, which are the principal 

 weapons employed in the mating time. This deer is celebrated from the 

 musk which it secretes. In the males there is a small sac on the belly 

 into which the secretion is poured, and which may hold nearly an ounce 

 of it. The hunter cuts this out, dries it, and then sends it to the market. 

 Strong as it is in the dry condition, it cannot compare with it when fresh, 

 and it is said that sometimes the hunters are nauseated or even overpowered 

 with the scent at certain seasons of the year. The musk-deer is very shy, 

 and is as agile as a chamois, and hence its capture is a matter of consider- 



