ROBERTS: ALPACAS AT METHLEY PARK. 



The colour of tlie wool of the' female is Mack and white ; that of the Biales 

 is black, slightly tinged with chocolate. This wool, is long, soft and elastic, 

 and is shorn in the middle of summer. 



The figui-e of the alpaca is very singular. In height and length it exceeds 

 the sheep ; the neck is long and curved exactly like that of the camel ; the 

 legs and body are slender, but do not appear so when the wool is long ; the 

 eyes are dark, full and languid, and short wool falls like a veil over them. 

 The incisor teeth are somewhat narrow, and are inclined forwards ; in the 

 old female, they have become quite yellow ; the upper lip is divided vertically 

 almost to the nostrils, the two halves being moveable ; the ears taper to a 

 point, and in the young ones, short curly wool covers them. The front 

 divisions of the foot are very hard, and somewhat arched ; the sole of the 

 foot is cushioned. Wool covers the legs down to the feet, and when they 

 are grazing the wool of the neck sweeps the ground. The length of the 

 neck enables them to raise the head to a great height ; they have no horns. 



When they move about in the paddock in which they pasture, the old 

 female generally walks in advance of the others. They are not wild ; when 

 a stranger approaches them they turn and walks towards liim in a threatening 

 manner, and prick their ears, but, like all the camel tribe, they are quite 

 inoffensive. They often rub against trees or palings, and roll in dry dusty 

 places, but the herdsman informed me they had no ticks. I was desirous of 

 information on this point because I imagined that they might have parasites 

 peculiar to them, which would consequently be as rare in this country as the 

 Llamas themselves. No special disease has cut off those that have died, 

 their death seems to have resulted from unknown and not uniform causes. 

 In their native country they are subject to a disease, allied to the scab, called 

 by the Peruvians carachen, which is contagious. Eain is very hurtful to 

 them, they also dislike wind, but are not affected by cold ; they delight to 

 nip the green buds from the trees and hedges in spring. The males some- 

 times quarrel ; when fighting with each other they bite and use their feet to 

 strike or trample ; they appear to have no notion of butting. When teazed 

 they spit after the manner of the cat. This act of casting out saliva is men- 

 tioned by the old Spanish writers, who observed them in Peru, and who first 

 i described them. Their bleat is like that of the goat ; when one finds itself 

 [ isolated from its companions, this bleat is peculiarly doleful and indicative of 

 anxiety ; they have various ways of expressing themselves by vocal sounds, 

 understood by themselves only. In winter they are kept in a little shed 

 which opens to the south, and are fed with hay, beans, or oats. They have 

 no offensive odour. 



