HABITS OF THE GUANACO. 213 



half a dozen to thirty in each ; but on the banlcs of 

 the St. Cruz we saw one herd which must have con- 

 tained at least five hundred. 



They are generally wild and extremely wary. 

 Mr. Stokes told me that he one day saw through 

 a glass a herd of these animals which evidently 

 had been frightened, and were running away at 

 full speed, although their distance was so great 

 that he could not distinguish them with his naked 

 eye. The sportsman frequently receives the first 

 notice of their presence by hearing from a long dis- 

 tance their peculiar shrill, neighing note of alarm. 

 If he then looks attentively, he will probably see 

 the herd standing in a line on the side of some dis- 

 tant hill. On approaching nearer, a few more 

 squeals are given, and off they set at an apparently 

 slow, but really quick canter, along some narrow 

 beaten track to a neighbouring hill. If, however, 

 by chance he abruptly meets a single animal, or 

 several together, they will generally stand motion- 

 less and intently gaze at him ; then perhaps move 

 on a few yards, turn round, and look again. What 

 is the cause of this difference in their shyness 1 

 Do they mistake a man in the distance for their 

 chief enemy the puma "? Or does curiosity over- 

 come their timidity ? That they are curious is cer- 

 tain ; for if a person lies on the ground, and plays 

 strange antics, such as throwing up his feet in the air, 

 they will almost always approach by degrees to re- 

 connoitre him. It was an artifice that was repeated- 

 ly practised by our sportsmen with success, and it 

 had, moreover, the advantage of allowing several 

 shots to be fired, which were all taken as parts of 

 the pei-formance. On the mountains of Tierra del 

 Fuego, I have more than once seen a guanaco, on 

 being approached, not only neigh and squeal, but 

 prance and leap about in the most ridiculous man- 



