516 



HISTORY OF 



the llama obtains the rocky precipice of the mountain, the hunters 

 are obliged to desist in their pursuit. 



The llama seems to be the largest of the camel kind in Ame- 

 rica ; there are others, which are called guanacoes and pacces, 

 that are smaller and weaker, but endued with the same nature, 

 and formed pretty much in the same manner. They seem to 

 bear the same proportions to each other, that the horse does to 

 the ass, and are employed with the same degree of subordination. 

 The wool, however, of the paco, seems to be the most valuable, 

 and it is formed into stuffs not inferior to silk, either in price or 

 beauty. The natural colour of the paco, is that of a dried rose 

 leaf ; the manufacturers seldom give its wool any other dye, but 

 form it into quilts and carpets, which exceed those from the 

 Levant. This manufacture forms a very considerable branch of 

 commerce in South America, and probably, too, might be ex- 

 tended to Europe, were the beauty and the durability of what is 

 thus wrought up sufficiently known. 



CHAP. VIII. 



THE NYL-GHAU.* 



This animal, the nauae of which is pronounced nylgaw, is a 

 native of India, and has but lately been imported into Europe ; 



* This quadruped is a spQcies of antelope. The male nyl-ghau is superior 

 iu stature to the stag', as well as more robust in its proportions. His head 

 is rather large ; his muzzle long and narrow ; his ears middle-sized, open, 

 and terminating abruptly in an obtuse point; his neck long and thick ; his 

 shoulders surmounted by a slight hump ; his hinder quarters much less ele. 

 vated than his fore parts ; his legs thicker than those of most other antelopes j 

 and his tail of considerable length, reaching below the joint of the leg, and 

 ending in a tuft of long hairs. His eyes are full, black, and prominent; and 

 his suborbital sinuses large and obvious. The form of Ms horns is conical 

 and slightly curved, \\M\ the concavity directed inwards and the points 

 turned forwards. They take their origin by a triangular base of consider- 

 able thickness, marked with two or three indistinctly elevated rings, but 

 become perfectly round and smooth above, tapering rapidly into a rather 

 obtuse point. Their length is from seven to eight inches ; and their colour 

 a uniform dull black, corresponding with that of the hoofs. 



On all the upper parts of the body the general colour is of a slaty grey, the 

 bases of the hairs being for the most part white with an occasional tinge of 



