580 
VERTEBRATA. 
THE PACO. 
which is often carried upright, bears the head at a height of nearly five feet from the ground. 
They are of a pale reddish-brown color, and covered with long hair, which, howevei', is not so 
long as that of the domesticated lama. When taken young, they may be tamed, but always 
retain a tendency to return to the wild state. They inhabit the Cordilleras of the Andes, but 
principally in Peru and Chili, They are rare in Colombia and Paraguay, and seldom make 
their appearance on the eastern side of the chain. They associate together in herds of one 
or two hundred individuals, and subsist on a peculiar kind of grass or reed called ycho. While 
they can procure green herbage they are never known to drink, and it may therefore be pre- 
sumed that they have the power of secreting from their food sufficient liquid to satiate their 
thirst. They do not appear to be so insensible to cold as the Vicunas, which are generally 
found at a much greater elevation, and have a much thicker, finer, and closer fleece. At the be- 
ginning of the winter they abandon the mountains on which they have passed the summer and 
descend into the vallej^s. Here the Chilians hunt them with dogs, which, however can catch 
only the younger and less active individuals. The old ones are so swift as scarcely to be run 
down by an excellent horse, thus offering a striking contrast to the extreme slowness of their mo- 
tions when in captivity and loaded wnth heavy baggage. When chased they frequently turn 
upon their pursuers, neigh with all their might, and then set off again at full speed. One mode 
of capturing them by the Indians is for many hunters to join and drive them into a narrow pass, 
across which cords have been drawn about four feet from the ground, with bits of cloth or wool tied 
to them at small distances. This apparatus with its pendant trumpery frightens the animals, and 
they crowd together, so that the hunters kill them with stones tied to the end of leathern thongs. 
The Lama, sometimes called the American Camel^ A. glama^ is the domesticated Guanaco, and 
takes the place of the camel among the Indians of Peru and Chili. It is of about the same size 
as the Guanaco, the principal differences between them being such as might well be produced by 
domestication, namely, a stouter and heavier form and a variety of colors, black, brown, and 
gray being the most common ; some are mottled, some piebald, and a few white — a white Lama 
being the presiding deity of the natives of Callao. The lama is employed as a beast of burden, 
and although it is unable to bear a great weight — ninety to a hundred and twenty pounds being 
about the heaviest load that it can carry — its power of traveling over rugged declivities, where no 
other loaded animals could maintain their footing, has rendered its services indispensable in those 
countries even to the present day, although its place has been to a certain extent taken by mules. 
It is, however, slow in its march, rarely traveling more than ten or twelve miles a day. When 
killed, its flesh furnishes a wholesome and excellent food — and which is common in the markets 
of Peru ; the long, woolly hair with which it is covered forms the principal clothing of the Indians. 
