36S 
THE ALPACA.—NO. 7 . 
answer to the queries which you put to me, I beg to 
state, 1st, That the animals I imported were a pair 
of alpacas, and that I shipped them from Valparaiso 
in the latter end of the year 1825. 2dly, That they 
stood the voyage remarkably well. 3dly, The 
female had, three or four times, one young one at a 
time. And 4thly, They were for some three or four 
years at Earl Talbot’s, at Ingestre, to whom I gave 
them, and who afterwards, I believe, made a pre¬ 
sent of the whole stock to the Zoological Society in 
Regent’s Park. I will add that I had them shorn 
once or twice, and had the wool spun, which made 
a cloth of the softest texture possible. I have no 
doubt that they might be naturalized in this 
country,” &c. 
The next person who seems to have taken a 
fancy to these animals, was Thomas Stevenson, 
Esq., of Oban, Argyleshire, who, under date of the 
15th of last March, politely forwarded to me the 
annexed report:—“ Fourteen years ago, a son of 
mine in Peru, shipped on board of a merchantman a 
dozen alpacas for me, with an understanding with 
the commander, that he was to receive for payment 
of freight one half of whatever number might arrive 
safe in England. The object of this arrangement 
was to induce the captain to take greater care of 
them than he otherwise would do; yet of the 
dozen only four reached Liverpool, and of course I 
only got two, a male and female, which were 
about a year and nine months old when they reach¬ 
ed Oban. Although I had been long in South 
America, I had never seen an alpaca, and was 
therefore ignorant of the proper mode of treating 
them; so I fed them in the same way as we do 
Highland cattle, and found it to answer remarkably 
well, in so far as their health and growth were 
concerned. They were driven out with my milch 
cows to pasture, summer and winter. During the 
night they got a little hay or straw ; and, in winter, 
when snow covered the ground, a little grain in the 
sheaf was placed before them. They were fond of 
all vegetables and shrubs ; particularly so of hedges 
and the tops of young trees. I never weighed 
them ; but I should think they would have weighed 
from eleven to twelve stones, of sixteen pounds to 
the stone. The male was very strong, and I have 
seen him canter easily with a stout man on his 
back. Their wool was very fine; but I made no 
use of it further than manufacturing some of it into 
stockings for my family. I am sorry to say that 
they never bred. 
“ A year afterwards, my son shipped a dozen 
llamas for me; but I only got a pair, eight having 
died during the voyage, and the commander of the 
vessel reserved the other two for himself. My two 
received the very same treatment as I had observed 
towards the alpacas; and, when two years old, the 
female had a young one, and continued to have one 
regularly every year, about the month of April. 
She went a year with young. Of the offspring 
about one half lived ; of which, the females began 
to bear when two years old. I sold my young 
stock to various persons ; and two years ago, find¬ 
ing that I had only one female left, and that the old 
one, I sold my whole stock, which consisted of 
five, having five years previously sold my alpacas. 
“ The alpacas and llamas lived very quietly to¬ 
gether until the latter had theii first young one. 
when the male alpaca became extremely jealous 
and furious, and on several occasions leaped a wall 
five feet high, and broke through a dozen men, to 
beat the male llama, which, being slightly the hea¬ 
vier of the two, he did, carrying his anger so far as 
even to heat the young one when he could reach 
him. Besides the alpacas and llamas above men¬ 
tioned, two years and a half ago I had another 
Peruvian animate called the vicuna, generally con¬ 
sidered to be of the same species. It is not, how¬ 
ever, so large, being about the size of a fallow-deer, 
but infinitely more graceful and beautiful. This 
animal runs wild in Peru, and I could never tame 
mine, although I received it when very young. It 
was led out every morning to a small enclosed park. 
The wool of the vicuna exceeded in fineness any 
wool I have ever seen. I tried to have some of it 
manufactured into a shawl at Glasgow, but could 
not succeed, and at last I lost my packet of it in 
transmitting it from one manufacturer to another. I 
was so unfortunate as to lose this beautiful animal 
by a boy striking it on the heart with a stone, 
which caused instant death. It was a female; and 
what made me lament my loss the more, was the 
circumstance, that the poor creature was six months 
gone with young by the llama. My son a second 
time sent me eight alpacas, but they all died on 
their passage.” 
To subsequent inquiries, Mr. Stevenson, under 
date of March 30th, furnished me with the follow¬ 
ing additional particulars:—“ The grounds upon 
which I fed my alpacas and llamas were of different 
descriptions, being partly hill and partly plain, and 
they seemed to agree equally well with them. In 
my former letter, I forgot to state that, during the 
warm months of June, July, and August, my 
alpacas and llamas were left in the fields all night. 
The total number of births I had was, I think, 
eleven. Of these, six came to their full growth, 
one was killed by accident, and four died when a 
few days old. The greatest care is required to be 
taken of them till they are two or three weeks old, 
after which there is no fear of them. The mothers 
are very fond of their young, and take great care of 
them, spitting at any one who comes near them. I 
did not try to cross the alpaca and llama ; indeed, 1 
never thought of it. I regret to hear that you find 
so much difficulty in awakening the attention of 
farmers to this subject. I have just had a letter 
from lady-, making inquiries for a friend in 
Germany; and I should not wonder if the Germans 
do not forestall us in the acquisition of alpacas. I 
have heard from my son in Peru, that he has 
lately, on two occasions, shipped for me four 
alpacas, but they all died on the voyage. I think 
the way you propose bringing them over will be a 
great improvement.” 
From the same party, under date of the 10th of 
April, I was favored with the following :—“ I hav 
delayed until now, acknowledging the receipt 
your last esteemed favor,in order that, before do 
so, I might have an opportunity of carefully re 
mg your very interesting w r ork on the naturalizati 
of the alpaca. 1 have indeed had much pleasure in 
perusing it, and I only wonder it has not been the 
means of causing farmers to take a greater interest 
in the matter than they at present seem to do. 
“ At page 14 of your book, you say that th& 
