THE BROWN LLAMA. 
277 
existence of one or more large fatty humps on the 
backs of the Camels, while the Llamas have the line 
of their backs perfectly straight, or at the utmost form- 
ing a slight protuberance above the shoulders. The 
first and the last of these differences are not, it is true, 
of primary importance ; but the second is closely con- 
nected with the habits of the animals, rendering the 
one group peculiarly fitted for traversing the sandy 
deserts of its native land, and the other for mount- 
ing and descending the lofty precipices among which 
its abode is fixed. It may therefore be considered 
without hesitation sufficiently essential for the estab- 
lishment of a generic distinction, where the laws of 
geographical distribution have drawn so broad a line 
of demarcation, confining the one group to the arid 
deserts of the East, and fixing the other on the ridges 
of the mountain chain that traverses the southern divi- 
sion of the Western Hemisphere. They deserve this 
distinction at least as well as the Hogs and the Pec- 
caries, or as several other genera which have been 
admitted by common consent as distinguishing the 
animals of the Old World and of the New. 
In general appearance the Llamas present a striking 
contrast to their eastern representatives. Their slender 
and well formed legs bear a much more equal propor- 
tion to the size and form of their body, which cannot 
be better compared than to that of the Common Stag. 
Their necks, although in stooping they descend into a 
deep concavity on the upper side, are more habitually 
maintained in an upright position, and support much 
smaller and more graceful heads. Their ears are long, 
pointed, and extremely moveable ; their eyes large, 
prominent, and brilliant ; and the whole expression of 
their physiognomy conveys a degree of intelligence and 
vivacity for which we should look in vain in the heavy. 
