Animals of the Puna of Peru. 1761 



" The vicunas, after being secured by the bolas, are killed, and the flesh is distri- 

 tributed in equal portions among the hunters. The skins belong to the Church. The 

 price of a vicuna-skin is four reals. When all the animals are killed, the stakes, ropes, 

 &c, are packed up carefully, and conveyed to another spot some miles distant, where 

 the chacu is again fixed up. The hunting is continued in this manner for the space 

 of a week. The number of animals killed during that interval varies according to cir- 

 cumstances, being sometimes fifty or sixty, and at other times several hundred. Dur- 

 ing five days I took part in a chacu hunt in the Altos of Huayhuay, and in that space 

 of time one hundred and twenty-two vicunas were caught. With the money obtained 

 by the sale of the skins a new altar was erected in the church of the district. The 

 flesh of the vicuna is more tender and better flavoured than that of the llama. Fine 

 cloth and hats are made of the wool. When taken young, the vicunas are easily 

 tamed, and become very docile ; but when old, they are intractable and malicious. 

 At Tarma I possessed a large and very fine vicuna. It used to follow me like a dog 

 whenever I went out, whether on foot or on horseback. 



" The frequent hunting seems not to have the effect of diminishing the num- 

 ber of these animals. If in the vicinity of the villages where chacus are frequently 

 established, they are less numerous than in other parts, it is because, to elude the pur- 

 suit of the hunters, they seek refuge in the Altos, where they are found in vast num- 

 bers. Several modern travellers have lamented the diminution of the vicunas, but 

 without reason. In former times these animals were hunted more actively than at 

 present. 



" Under the dynasty of the Incas, when every useful plant and animal was an ob- 

 ject of veneration, the Peruvians rendered almost divine worship to the llama and his 

 relatives, which exclusively furnished them with wool for clothing, and with flesh 

 for food. The temples were adorned with large figures of these animals made of gold 

 and silver, and their forms were represented in domestic utensils made of stone or clay. 

 In the valuable collection of Baron Clemens von Hugel,at Vienna, there are four of 

 these vessels, composed of porphyry, basalt, and granite, representing the four species, 

 viz., the llama, the alpaco, the huanacu, and the vicuna. These antiquities are ex- 

 ceedingly scarce, and when I was in Peru I was unable to obtain any of them. How 

 the ancient Peruvians, without the aid of iron tools, were able to carve stone so beau- 

 tifully, is inconcievable. 



" Besides the animals above-mentioned, several others peculiar to the Puna are 

 deserving of remark. Among these are the tarush {Cervus antisiensis, Orb.) ; the timid 

 roe, which inhabits the high forests skirting the Andes; the viscacha (Lagidium 

 peruanum, May, and L. pallipes, Berm.), and the chinchilla (Eriomys Chinchilla, 

 Licht.), whose skin supplies the beautiful fur so much prized by the ladies of Europe. 

 The viscachas and chinchillas resemble the rabbit in form and colour, but they have 

 shorter ears and long rough tails. They live on the steep rocky mountains, and in the 

 morning and evening they creep out from their holes and crevices to nibble the Alpine 

 grasses. At night the Indians set before their holes traps made of horse-hair, in which 

 the animals are easily caught. The most remarkable of the beasts of prey in these 

 high regions is the atoc (Canis Azarce, Pr. Max.). It is a species of fox, which is 

 found throughout the whole of South America. The warmer Puna valleys are inha- 

 bited by the cougar (Felis concolor, L.), or as the Indians call it, the poma. When 

 driven by hunger, this animal ventures into the loftiest Puna regions, even to the 

 boundary of eternal snow. The wild hucumari (Ursus ornatas, F. Cuv.) but seldom 



