360 QUARTERLY JOURNAL. 



sheep, and yet there the weather is never so inclement or so vari- 

 able as on the Cordilleras of Peru. With so many advantages, 

 why then, shall not the alpaca have an opportunity of competing 

 with the black faced sheep, the only breed that can exist in those 

 wild and inhospitable lands 1 Of the two, the stranger would 

 fare best on scanty and scattered food ; at the same time affording 

 to the owner a far better remuneration.' 



The alpaca wool is at present used largely in British manufac- 

 tures. Mr. Walton estimates the quantity hitherto consumed, 

 since its introduction in 1S32, at 12,000,000 lbs. The price of it 

 varies from 1a". 8d. to 2s. 6d. per pound, and the average weight 

 of the fleece may be put at 10 pounds. Were the animal fairly' 

 naturalized on some of our bleakest hill districts, such land would i 

 soon increase in value from the increased worth of its annual pro- 

 duce in alpaca wool. And it appears from the experience of seve-i 

 ral gentlemen who have small flocks, that, when its habits shall bei( 

 thorougly understood, little difficulty will be experienced in doingi 

 so. The following is a statement by Mr. Stirling, of Craigbarnet' 

 place, Lennoxtnwn, Glasgow, a gentleman better qualified to speakl 

 on the subject than any one we could name : 



' I can have no doubt that, when the subject is better under^< 

 stood, the animal itself better known, and a more expeditious me-< 

 thod contrived to bring them to Britain, we shall have thousands! 

 of them. When known, their docility, their temperate habitsJ 

 their hardiness, and, I may add, their easy keep, will, ere long,J 

 bring them into general notice. I can answer without the fear oil 

 being contradicted, that they will thrive and breed in Scotland] 

 equal, if not superior to our native black faced sheep.' 



To those who would laugh at the idea of bringing over here, 

 and domesticating on our hills, a Peruvian camel or sheep, (for the 

 alpaca has properties in common with both,) we would point to 

 Australia, a country which not many years ago possessed no qua- 

 druped but the kangaroo ; and yet notwithstanding its many pecu- 

 liarities of climate, is now thickly peopled with our sheep and ox- 

 en. But the question must not be left to generalities of this kind. 

 The experience of a few short years, on the larger scale whcih ex- 

 pected importations will enable, will determine it satisfactorily; 

 and if, as in all probability will be the case, the alpaca should be- 

 come one of our domestic animals, the best thanks of the countrj .jj 

 "will be due to Mr. Walton for the persevering energy with which 

 he has pressed the subject on public attention. His book is an ex- 

 ceedingly interesting and nratly got-up little volume, and will,w< 

 doubt not, prove a useful publication." 



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