CORA SHEAR-TAIL HUMMING-BIRD. 257 



The wild table-lands of Peru are called "the 

 uninhabited." But Nature contrives a scanty 

 kind of pasture. In some places are patches of the 

 gentian, a true mountain-flower; and here is the 

 verbena, and the ornament of our English gardens, 

 the calceolaria. And here are a few dwarfed- 

 looking shrubs that the inhabitants of this deso- 

 late region use for fuel, or to roof their miserable 

 huts. 



And here are some of the animals most valu- 

 able to man. The beautiful little chinchilla has 

 a relation here, with warm soft fur that can be 

 used as a garment. And here is the llama and 

 the alpaca, and the tribe of creatures with shining 

 wool that afford us a variety of materials for 

 clothing. And here is the mighty condor, the 

 largest of the birds. He soars to the highest 

 peak of the Andes, and seems to look down on 

 mountain, forest, and river. 



But, in reality, his piercing eye is searching for 

 prey, and he will presently swoop on some poor 

 mule that has fallen beneath its burden amid the 

 bleak passes of the rocks. 



(393) 17 



