108 NATURAL HISTORY OF 



should have made a better Hand of them had we but Dogs to 

 run them down." 



In recent times we owe the fullest accounts of the 

 guanaco, as noticed in the Strait of Magellan, to the 

 narratives of King, Fitzroy, and Darwin, whose observations 

 of its habits coincide in nearly all respects with my own. It 

 is, as the last-named author truly remarks, a very elegant 

 animal, being possessed of a long, slender, gracefully- 

 curved neck, and fine legs. It is not easy to describe its 

 general appearance, which combines some of the characters 

 of a camel, a deer, and a goat. The body, deep at the breast 

 but very small at the loins, is covered with long, soft, very 

 fine hair, which, on the upper parts, is of a kind of fawn- 

 colour, and beneath varies from a very pale yellow to the 

 most beautiful snow-white. The head is provided with 

 large ears, in general carried well back, and is covered 

 with short grayish hair, which is darkest on the forehead. 

 Occasionally the face is nearly black. As a rule, it lives in 

 flocks of from half-a-dozen to several hundreds, but solitary 

 individuals are now and then to be met with. They are 

 very difficult to approach sufficiently near to admit of an 

 easy shot, as they are extremely wary, and, on being 

 disturbed, canter off at a pace which soon puts a safe 

 distance between them and the sportsman, even though he 

 should be mounted. Despite their timidity, however, they 

 are possessed of great curiosity, and will sometimes advance 

 within a comparatively short distance of an unknown 

 object, at which they will gaze fixedly till they take alarm, 

 when they effect a speedy retreat. On one or two occasions, 

 when standing motionless or sitting on the ground, I have 

 been within little more than ten yards of a guanaco, which 

 was evidently puzzled by my appearance. Their cry is 



