258 



and their step is slow, but sure even in the steepest 

 mountains. The chiiihueque was formerlj em- 

 ployed by the Chilians, as the paco is by the Pe- 

 ruvians ; but the introduction of the use of 

 mules, which have now become very numerous, 

 has entirely superseded that of the chiiihueque. 

 All these animals pass a great part of the night in 

 ruminating ; and whenever they wish to sleep, 

 fold their legs under their belly, and support 

 themselves upon the breast. 



Though these quadrupeds are analogous tc 

 the camel, they have likewise some peculiar cha- 

 racteristics which distinguish them from that 

 animal. Destined by nature to live among ice 

 and snow, their bodies are covered with a thick 

 fat between the skin and the flesh, like almost 

 all polar animals ; like them too they abound in 

 blood, which is the more necessary to them, as 

 they require a greater degree of warmth than 

 those animals which inhabit the plains : the fat 

 preventing the evaporation of the heat, and 

 thereby keeping up that temperature of the blood 

 without which they would not be able to endure 

 the severity of the cold. The lower jaw, like 

 that of the camel, is furnished with six incisors, 

 two canine teeth, and several grinders; but the 

 upper is wholly destitute of incisors and canine 

 teeth ; a character which appears to me suffi- 

 cieritly marked to constitute a separate genus. 

 Besides this distinction, their ears are smaller 



