THE LLAMA 27 



able as being the only animal domesticated by the aboriginal 

 Americans. The reindeer of the north* and the bison of the 

 prairies enjoyed then, as they do now, their savage indepen- 

 dence : the llama alone was obliged to submit to the yoke of man. 

 But the llama reminds us of the dromedary not only by a 

 similar destiny and similar services, but also by a strong resem- 

 blance in form and structure, so as to be classed by naturalists in 

 the same family. The unsightly hump is wanting, but the 

 llama possesses the same callosities on the breast and on the 

 knees, the same divided hoof, the same formation of the toes 

 and stomach ; and the microscope teaches us that the resem- 

 blance extends even to the globules of the blood, which are 

 elliptical only in the camelides and some species of deer, but cir- 

 cular in all other quadrupeds. Thus Nature has formed in the 

 llama a species of mountain camel, admirably adapted to the 

 exigencies of a totally different soil and climate ; and surely it 

 is not one of the least wonders of creation to see animals so 

 similar in many respecta emerge, without any connecting links, 

 at the opposite extremities of the globe. 



The size of the llama is about that of the stag ; the neck is 

 very long and habitually upright, the eyes large and brilliant, 

 the lips thick, the ears long and movable. Its general colour is 

 a light brown, the under parts being whitish, but it is also fre- 

 quently dappled — seldom quite white or black. 



The ordinary load of the llama is about one hundred pounds, 

 and its rate of travelling with this burthen over rugged moun- 

 tain passes is from twelve to fifteen miles a-day. WTien over- 

 loaded it lies down, and will not rise until relieved of part of 

 its burthen. In spite of their weakness, the llamas are invalu- 

 able in the silver mines ; for they are often obliged to transport 

 the ore along precipices so abrupt, that even the hoof of the 

 mule would find no support. Yet their price does not exceed 

 three or four dollars, as the introduction of the stronger soli- 

 pedes, the horse, and the mule, have very generally superseded 

 them as beasts of burthen. 



" The Indians," says Tschudi, " often travel with large herds 

 of llamas to the coast to fetch salt. Their journeys are very 

 small, rarely more than three or four leagues ; for the llamas 

 never feed after sunset, and are thus obliged to graze while 



* It is only in the Old World that the reindeer has ever been domesticated. 



