

VERTEBRATA. 





iUE i'ACO. 



which is often carried upright, bears the head at a height of nearly five feet from the ground. 

 •' .-i pale reddish-hrown color, and covered with long hair, which, however, is not so 

 aa that of the domesticated lama. When taken young, they maybe tamed, but always 

 in a tendency to return to the wild state. They inhabit the Cordilleras of the Andes, but 

 principally in Peru and Chili. They are rare in Colombia and Paraguay, and seldom make 

 tin ir appearance on the eastern side of the chain. They associate together in herds of one 

 or two hundred individuals, and subsist on a peculiar kind of grass or reed called ycho. While 

 they can procure green herbage they are never known to_ drink, and it may therefore be pre- 

 sumed that they have the power of secreting from their food sufficient liquid to satiate their 

 thi- They do not appear to be so insensible to cold as the Vicunas, which are generally 



; a much greater elevation, and have a much thicker, finer, and closer fleece. At the be- 

 ginning <>f the winter they abandon the mountains on which they have passed the summer and 

 end into the valleys. Here the Chilians hunt them with dogs, which, however can catch 

 only the younger anil less active individuals. The old ones are so swift as scarcely to be run 

 •i by an excellent horse, thus offering a striking contrast to the extreme slowness of their mo- 

 when in captivity and loaded with heavy baggage. When chased they frequently turn 

 upon their | -. neigh with all their might, and then set off again at full speed. One mode 



ipturing them by the Indians is for many hunters to join and drive them into a narrow pass, 

 38 whi.-h cords have been drawn about four feet from the ground, with bits of cloth or wool tied 

 to tie m at small distances. This apparatus with its pendant trumpery frightens the animals, and 

 they crowd together, so that the hunters kill them with stones tied to the end of leathern thongs. 

 The F,\m \, sometimes called the American Camel, A. glama, is the domesticated Guanaco, and 

 take, the place of the cam,. I among the Indians of Peru and Chili. It is of about the same size 

 a- the Guanaco, the principal differences between them being such as might well be produced by 

 domestication, namely, a stouter and heavier form and a variety of colors, black, brown, and 

 being the mosl common; some are mottled, some piebald, and a lew white — a white Lama 

 being the j iresid i ng deity of the native- of < 'allao. The lama is employed as a beast of burden, 

 and although it is unable to bear a great weight — ninety to a hundred and twenty pounds being 

 about the heaviest load thai it can carry — its power of traveling over rugged declivities, where no 

 other loaded animab could maintain their footing, has rendered it- services indispensable in those 

 to the present day, although its place has been to a certain extent taken by mules. 

 is, however, slow in its march, rarely traveling more than ten or twelve miles a day. When 

 kilhd, its flesh furnishes a wholesome and excellent food — and which is common in the markets 

 I 'era; the long, woolly hair with which it is covered forms the principal clothing of the Indians. 



