66 



ACCOUNT OF THE VlClTNA. 



damp than the between-decks, and this singular" result ap- 

 peared to me to be owing entirely to those fatal inundations 

 which were employed daily between decks, while the gun- 

 room was cleaned dry, the vicinity of the powder preventing 

 the introduction of water there. 



7, Lastly it follows from the experiments, that, if the hold 

 be the hottest part of the vessel, it is also the dampest, and 

 that on both accounts it ought to be considered as the most 

 unwholesome. 



Two young 

 vicunas 

 brought to 



Death of the 

 feiaale. 



.and soon after 

 of the male. 



IX. 



Account of the Vicuna : by Mr. Larrey, Physician in Chief 

 of the Imperial Guard, one of the Inspectors General of 

 Military Hospitals, ^'c* 



.^L Merchant of Cadiz, a lover of natural history, brought 

 from Peru two young vicunas, a male and female. He first 

 landed them at Cadiz at the beginning of the year 1808; 

 and toward the end of April in the same year conveyed them 

 to Madrid. They did not appear to be inconvenienced by 

 the change of climate, or difference of food, till the weather 

 began to get very hot. They were very badly lodged in a 

 small, dark room, not well ventilated, in this hole I had aa 

 opportunity of seeing them, examining their figure and gait, 

 and studying their manners and habits. 



The female, which was larger and older than the male, 

 being about three feet high, died soon after, during a short 

 tour I made in the neighbourhood of Madrid to inspect the 

 hospitals. I could not learn the cause of her death ; but, as . 

 the body quickly putrefied, it was thrown into the fields. 



On my return 1 hastened to visit the two strangers, but 

 found only the male, sad, dejected, and uttering plaintive 

 cries at the slightest touch. He ate but little, and remained 

 constantly squatted on his four legs : but he appeared better 

 and more lively in the cool of the evening and morning, 

 which he seemed to seek; while in the heat of the day he 



Sonnini's BibI, Phys. Econ. Sept. 1809, p. 168, 



war 



