144 



Irrigation. 



Vol. XL 



their supply of potatoes was exhausted they 

 became so constipated, that it was necessary 

 to afford tliem medical relief. Eleven only 

 of the number arrived at Cadiz, of which 

 two died there. These animals were carried 

 to Europe as a present from Godoy (Prince 

 of Peace,) to the Empress Josephine; but 

 they arrived just at the period of his dis- 

 grace, at the commencement of the Spanish 

 Revolution ; and the populace, in hatred of 

 their late minister, were about to throw the 

 llamas into the sea. The governor of Cadiz, 

 however, rescued them; and they were given 

 in charge to an eminent Spaniard, Don Fran- 

 cisco de Theran, who had a fine zoological 

 garden at San Lucar de Barrameda, in An- 

 dalusia. The French armies having subse- 

 quently traversed this province, Marshal 

 Soult took the llamas under his care; and 

 Monsieur Bory de Saint Vincent, a distin- 

 guished French naturalist, who accompanied 

 the army, studied their habits with great at- 

 tention, and made some drawings of them, 

 which were afterwards lost at the battle of 

 Vittoria. He paid particular attention to 

 the quality of their wool, and transmitted 

 some specimens of each sort to the Academy 

 of Sciences, at Paris. It appears from the 

 report of M. de Saint Vincent and Don 

 Francisco de Theran, that the fleece of the 

 alpa-vigonia — the cross between the vicuna 

 and the alpaca — is much longer and six 

 times heavier, than that of any other va- 

 riety. 



The first account of this interesting race 

 of quadrupeds as having been introduced 

 into Britain, was that of the beautiful white 

 and brown female alpaca exhibited by Mr. 

 Cross, in the Surrey Zoological Gardens, 

 from 1810 to 1816, and is noticed and fig- 

 ured in page 217 of the present volume. In 

 a letter to Mr. Walton, dated May 2nd, 

 1843, Mr. Cross gives the result of his ex- 

 perience in regard to this animal, in the fol- 

 lowing words: 



"As you are desirous of having the result 

 of my observations relative to the alpacas 

 which have fallen under my notice, I beg to 

 8ay that the first one brought to this coun- 

 try, came into my possession after being for 

 two years in that of Mr. De Tastet, of Hals- 

 head, in Essex, who exchanged it with 



Tharpe, Esq., of Chippenham Park, near 

 Newmarket, for a pair of magnificent coach 

 horses. The latter gentleman kept it for 

 about two years, in the hope that one might 

 arrive from Peru of a difl^erent sex, as he 

 was anxious to breed from them in conse- 

 quence of the fineness of their wool. Dis- 

 appointed in his object, I bought it of him 

 for one hundred guineas, and exhibited it 

 about six years ; consequently it must have 



been eleven or twelve years old when it 

 died. 



"It was fonder of browsing than grazing. 

 One remarkable fact I cannot help mention- 

 ing, and that is, that it never drank anything 

 during the whole time I had it, though re- 

 peatedly offered drink. I fed it upon bran, 

 oats, carrots, and hay; occasionally in the 

 season with a little green tares. Its wool 

 was about eighteen inches long, mixed with 

 some trifling portions of hair. It was re- 

 markably tame, and I may say affectionate. 

 I have since had several others of various 

 colours, some quite black, and others piebald, 

 &c. Having had them so often, I let them 

 take their chance in the stalls, giving them 

 the opportunity of running into a paddock, 

 and they always did well. The last pair I 

 had were perfectly black, and I sold them to 

 Mr. Advenant, who immediately took thera 

 over to the King of Bavaria. The late 

 King of Wirtemburg, and other continental 

 monarchs, also had some of me. I think 

 they might be introduced into some parts of 

 this country with great advantage, particu- 

 larly in the hilly parts of Scotland and Ire- 

 land, where they could have an opportunity 

 of browsing as well as grazing. Occasion- 

 ally they will breed with the llama; and a 

 more elegant animal than the offspring can- 

 not be imagined, but whether the latter will 

 breed again, I cannot say." 



About the time Mr. Cross was exhibiting 

 his interesting specimen, the late Duchess 

 of York had four or five llama and alpaca 

 pets at Oatlands, where she took great de- 

 light in watching their sportive antics on 

 the lawn, or contemplating their intelligent 

 and expressive countenances, greatly resem- 

 bling that of the gazelle. They ran the 

 chance of all exotics, whether animal or 

 vegetable ; left to the care of servants who, 

 when the master and the mistress are away, 

 usually treat them as mere matters of course, 

 and often with a strong feeling of prejudice. 

 When the Duchess died, these pets neces- 

 sarily were dispersed ; and in all probability, 

 at that early period breeding with them was 

 deemed an impracticability. They, how- 

 ever, lived long enough at Oatlands to ren- 

 der it apparent that they are of a hardy 

 race, although the old and plain-spoken 

 park-keeper has more than once been heard 

 to say, that while under his charge, they 

 were not in their proper element, the grass 

 being too firm — meaning too rich and good. 

 — American Agriculturist. 



Irrigation. 



In the second No. of the current volume, page 68, we 

 gave an extract from J. J. Thomas' prize essay on this 

 subject. Below, will be found another part of that 



