106 NATUllAL HISTORY OF 



proceeded some miles farther on. On my way to join them, 

 I found nearly the entire skeleton of a large puma (Felis 

 concolor) lying, witli the skin still adhering to the head and 

 paws ; and elsewhere on the beach I met with two large 

 skulls of Cetacea. One of these, which was in a beautiful 

 state of preservation, I regretted much I could not carry off 

 with me, as it measured fully three feet in length. I at 

 last encountered the surveyors, superintending the build- 

 ing of a cairn to support a flagstaff, and that operation 

 completed, we returned to the first station, and there had 

 luncheon. While thus engaged, a number of guanacos ap- 

 peared on the brow of Direction Hill, and contemplated us 

 with much apparent curiosity. On our attempting to 

 approach them, however, they made off at a rapid trot. Soon 

 after this, as the evening was rapidly advancing, we returned 

 to camp, and the rest of our waking hours were spent in 

 dining, reading, and conversation. 



As this was the first occasion on which we had seen the 

 guanaco in the wild state, I will conclude the record of this 

 day's proceedings with a brief account of its history. I may 

 begin by observing, for the benefit of such of my readers as 

 may not possess an acquaintance with it, that it forms one of 

 two species* of the ruminant genus Auchenia, in general 

 included in the same family with the camel, which it 

 resembles in various points (as, for example, the possession of 

 canine teeth in the upper and lower jaws), and that it is 

 widely distributed throughout the length of the South 



* In limiting tlie number of species to two (i. e. the guanaco and vicugna), 

 I am of course aware that there has been much contrariety of opinion on the 

 subject, and that some zoologists regard the paco or alpaca as distinct ; but 

 I think a careful consideration of all the evidence that has been adduced 

 tends to show that the latter animal is only a well-marked variety of the 

 guanaco. 



