ALPACA. 



ALPACA. 



foxtail-grass. This holds a middle station be- 

 tween the Alopecurus pratensis and Alopecurus 

 arundinaceus. 



The produce and nutritive powers of the se- 



veral species of Alopecurus, may easily be seen 

 by a reference to the following analytical 

 classification (Sinclair's Hort. Gram.') : 



ALPACA. A peculiar breed of Peruvian 

 sheep, for whose introduction into England 

 considerable efforts have been recently made. 

 A very excellent " Memoir " upon these inte- 

 resting animals has recently (1841) been pub- 

 lished by Mr. William Walton, from whose 

 work are gathered the following interesting 

 facts : " When the Spanish adventurers under 

 Pizarro crossed the isthmus of Panama and 

 reached the shores of the Pacific, they bent 

 their steps towards Peru, and arriving there 

 found the inhabitants in possession of two do- 

 mestic animals, the beauty and utility of which 

 excited their admiration. They also ascer- 

 tained that two others, alike in species, al- 

 though varying in properties, existed in a wild 

 state. Struck with the analogy, and always 

 disposed to see objects of comparison with the 

 productions of their own land, the Spaniards 

 called this new breed of cattle Cameras de la 

 tierra, or country sheep, arid in their use of 

 them imitated the natives. Acosta, one of 

 the earliest naturalists who embarked for the 

 New World, wrote an account of these inte- 

 resting animals, derived from personal obser- 

 vation ; and that account, which made its ap- 

 pearance in 1590, is perhaps the best ever 

 penned. He says (Historia Natural y Moral de 

 IDS Indius, lib. iv. c. 41), "There is nothing in 

 Peru more useful, or more valuable, than the 

 country sheep called llamas, and they are as 

 economical as they are profitable. From them 

 the natives obtain both food and clothing, as 

 we do in Europe from sheep, and besides use 

 them as beasts of burden. They require no 

 expense in either shoeing, packsaddles, bridles, 

 or even barley, serving their masters gratui- 

 tously, and being satisfied wiih herbage picked 

 up on the wastes. Thus did Providence pro- 

 vide the Peruvians with sheep and beasts of 

 burden united in the same animal, and on ac- 

 count of their poverty, seems to have wished 

 that they should enjoy this advantage, free 

 from expense, as pastures in the highlands are 

 abundant. These sheep are divided into two 

 kinds ; the one called paco bears a heavy fleece 

 of wool, while the.others have only a short coat, 

 and are better adapted for carrying burdens. 

 They have a long neck, similar to the camel, 

 and this they require ; for being tall and up- 

 :3ght, they stand in need of an elongated neck 

 t< reach their food. The colours of both ani- 

 mals vary, some being entirely white, others 

 entirely black, and occasionally particoloured. 

 The meat is good, that of the fawn is best and 

 most delicate, although the Indians use it spa- 

 74 



ringly, their principal object in rearing this 

 breed of cattle being to avail themselves of its 

 wool for clothing and of its services to carry 

 loads. The wool they were accustomed to 

 spin and weave into garments, one of their 

 kinds of cloth, called huasca, being coarse and 

 in more general use ; while the other, known 

 by the name of cumbi, was of a finer and more 

 delicate quality. Of the latter they still make 

 mantles, table-covers, quilts, and various arti- 

 cles of ornamental dress, which are durable, 

 and have a gloss upon them, as if partly made 

 of silk. Their mode of weaving is peculiar to 

 themselves, each side of the web being alike ; 

 nor in a whole piece is it possible to discover 

 an uneven thread or a knot. The Peruvian 

 incas, or emperors, kept experienced masters 

 to teach the art of making the cuntbi,or superfine 

 cloth, the principal part of whom resided in 

 the district of Capachica, where they had pub- 

 lic establishments, and with the aid of plants 

 gave to it various colours, bright and lasting. 

 The men and women in the highlands were 

 mostly manufacturers, having looms in their, 

 own nouses, which precluded the necessity of 

 going to market to purchase clothing." 



"The Indians still possess large droves, con- 

 sisting of 400, or 1000 head each, which they 

 load, and with them perform journeys, travel- 

 ling like a string of mules and carrying wine, 

 coca, corn, chuiio (a nutritive food made from 

 potatoes, first frozen, and afterwards reduced 

 to powder), quicksilver, and other articles of 

 merchandise, a;id more especially that which, 

 of all others, is the most valuable, viz., silver, 

 ingots of which they bear from Potosi to Arica, 

 a distance of seventy leagues, as they formerly 

 did to Arequipa, more than twice as far. Often 

 have I been astonished at seeing these droves 

 carrying 1000 or 2000 ingots, valued at more 

 than 300,000 ducats, journeying slowly on with 

 no other guard than a few Indians, who chiefly 

 served to load and unload, or, at most, two or 

 three Spaniards. They sleep in the open 

 country ; and though the journey is long, and 

 the protection afforded so extremely weak, no 

 part of the silver is ever missing. The load 

 usually carried by each animal is from four to 

 six arrobas, (each arroba has twenty-five Ibs.) ; 

 and if the journey is long they do not travel 

 beyond three or four leagues per day. The 

 drivers have their known resting-places, where 

 they find pasture and water, and on arriving 

 there, unload, pitch their tents, light a fire and 

 dress their own food, while the bearers of their 

 burdens are turned out loose." 



