3.54 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Fiivourite haunts Surprising flectuess. 



the natives, are stronger and more fleet than the 

 domestic ones. Their wool is short and their 

 colour tawny, and they climb over the most 

 craggy precipices like the ibex or chamois. 

 They feed in herds, sometimes consisting of two 

 or three hundred ; and often remain for a consir 

 derable time above the snowy tracts of the mouu r 

 tains. They are indeed much fonder of the 

 north than the south side of the hills, and appear 

 vigorous in proportion to the coldness of their 

 situation. 



When these quadrupeds discover any of the 

 human species, they regard him at first with a sort 

 pf vacant gaze, without exhibiting any symptom, 

 of fear or surprise ; but in a few seconds, they 

 blow through their nostrils somewhat like the 

 neighing of horses; and, as if by mutual consent, 

 fly off to the highest summits of the mountains. 

 The natives hunt these animals principally for 

 their fleeces. Such is their flectness, however, 

 that it is extremely difficult to follow them ; and 

 if they can once gain the rocks, both dogs and 

 hunters are obliged to abandon the pursuit. 

 They are very numerous all along the chain of 

 the Cordeliers, which are full three thousand fa- 

 thoms above the level of the sea at Peru, and 

 preserve that elevation from Chili to the Straits 

 of Magellan ; but on the coast of New Spain, 

 where the altitude of the mountains is less conr 

 si derable, none of these quadrupeds are to bp 

 found. 



