No. 199,1 131 



But a greater difficulty presents itself in their conveyance from the 

 Pacifir coast to the United States. To Europe their conveyance has 

 usually been attempted by the way of Cape Horn, but the experi- 

 ments by this route have not resulted favorably. It is only a few 

 years ago that a large cargo of them, some three or four hundred, I 

 believe, Avere embarked for England from the port of Islay, after 

 much expense in procuring them, and much trouble, also, in pro^'iding 

 them with the necessary accommodations and nourishment on ship- 

 board ; but nearly all of them died during the voyage out, and 

 scarcely any of the remainder survived long enough after their arri- 

 val to make any adequate return for the difficulty and cost of their 

 importation. Another route which has been at least once attempted, 

 is the overland route by Buenos Ayres. In 1804, more than a hun- 

 dred of the Peruvian sheep (comprising representatives from each of 

 the four species) were collected by the Governor of La Paz, in obe- 

 dience to a royal order, to be placed in the garden of the Empress 

 Josephine, at Alalmaison. They arrived in Buenos Ayres from Up- 

 per Peru in the following year, where they were detained by the 

 existing hostilities between England and Spain, but were carefully 

 provided for and kept together, so as, if possible, to produce new 

 varieties of the animal by crossing the different species. In the taking 

 of Buenos Ayers by the English, they were taken with it, and during 

 the attack of Gen. Whitelocke, in 1806, some of them were shot 

 and others dispersed. In 1808 they were once more collected, (what 

 remained of them) and were sent by the Viceroy Linier to Cadiz, 

 from whence, doubtless, they were dispatched to their original desti- 

 nation. Of the number, however, which had been ordered from La 

 Paz in 1804, only thirty-six were embarked in 1808 ; and of these, 

 twenty- five died on their passage across the Atlantic, and two others 

 upon their arrival at Cadiz ; leaving only nine tkat arrived in safety. 

 In crossing the ocean, according to the author, (D. Nicholas de 

 Pi^rola) from whence I gather this narrative, they were fed with po- 

 tatoes, maize, straw, and bran ; but the potatoes failed before their 

 arrival, and they became so much constipated as to require laxatives. 

 Among the nine which reached Cadiz safely, there were three Al- 

 paccas, three Alpa-Vicuiias, (the mixed offspring of Alpaccas and 

 Vicunas,) two Vicurias, and one Llama in conception by an Alpacca. 



