NEW WORLD CAMELS 379 



LLAMA (Lama glamd]. 

 Coloured Plate XXVII. Fig. i. 



Of the genus Llama there are four species, two wild 

 and two domesticated, but strictly speaking the title is 

 confined to the latter. Though they are smaller in size, 

 lighter in build, and without the hump of the Camels 

 of the Old World, they are all formed on much the same 

 model, yet at the same time fitted for a very different life. 

 Instead of being natives of flat and sandy ground, they are 

 inhabitants of the lofty and snow-clad mountains of Peru 

 and Chili, traversing them with an agility little inferior to that 

 of the chamois by means of the two 

 sharp, hard hoofs that take the place 

 of the small nails which are quite 

 sufficient for the Camel. 



The ancient Peruvians domesticated 

 the wild Guanaco, from which in the 

 course of time they bred two distinct 

 varieties, viz., the true Llama, as figured 

 on the Plate, which was used as a beast 

 of burden, and the smaller Alpaca, 

 domesticated in a less degree mainly 

 for the sake of its wool. Both animals FOOT OF THE LLAMA. 

 vary considerably in colour, being 

 white, or white marked with brown or black, and sometimes 

 completely brown or black. 



Standing from three to four feet in height, and very much 

 resembling a long-necked sheep, the * American Camel' 

 can carry a load of a hundred pounds at a rate of twelve 

 miles a day ; and on a journey it can manage on very little 

 food and travel for four or five days without water. 



The Spaniards, in their conquest and occupation of South 

 America, made much use of the Llama as a pack animal, 

 for in those days there were no horses or asses in the New 

 World. Gregory Bolivar said that in his day there were 

 three hundred thousand Llamas carrying silver ingots from 

 the Potosi mines alone to the coast, and that annually 

 several millions of the animals were used for food. Only 



