THE ALPACA.—NO. 7. 
369 
llama goes seven months with young. I may 
mention, that those I had went between eleven and 
twelve months. The female was invariably cov¬ 
ered by the male two or three days after she had a 
lamb, and, from the singularity of this circum¬ 
stance, it attracted my very particular attention, and 
I regularly marked down the date on which the 
female was covered, and found that she went with 
lamb a very few days less than a year. I may add, 
that I have in my possession a stone representation 
of a llama at rest, as you mention in p. 16, which 
was taken out of an Indian grave in Peru. I may 
also state, that I have two grandsons with me from 
Tacna, who remember having often seen the dried 
flesh of the llama. They agree with you in saying, 
that the Indians are very fond of eating it.” 
By Robert Gill, Esq., I was favored with the 
subjoined, dated Manchester, April 15th :—“ It is 
quite true that I was one of the first who possessed 
the llama and alpaca. I also succeeded in breeding 
•them, I think, to the extent of three; but, as I have 
no memoranda, I can only say from memory. I 
also possessed two vicunas, but was not successful 
in breeding from them; nor have I heard that any 
one here succeeded in breeding them. In conse¬ 
quence of changing my residence about five years 
ago, I parted with the few animals of this class 
which I then possessed. I am glad to find you are 
taking up so interesting a subject. I had not heard 
of your work; but shall have much pleasure in 
reading it, as well as the forthcoming one. Should 
you succeed in adding to the number of our domes¬ 
tic animals, you will deserve the thanks of the 
country at large. Much remains to be done both 
in quadrupeds and the feathered race.” 
Joseph Hegan, Esq., of Liverpool, after stating 
that he was the person who presented to the Earl of 
Derby the first alpacas his lordship had, about five 
years ago, under date of April 20th, writes thus:— 
“ For two years I lived at Arrow Hall, Cheshire, 
and while there had three or four of these animals. 
The survivor of these, with the progeny of one 
female, have been for the last two years on a farm 
in Ireland, belonging to Mr. W. Danson of this 
town, and I really know nothing of them. The 
manager of the farm is Mr. Bell, of Gainsboro’, 
near Listowel. I am sure he will readily give you 
all the information in his power; and he has now 
had a fair opportunity of ascertaining the habits of 
the animal, from its birth onwards. Those under 
the charge of Mr. Bell are the pure breed—un¬ 
mixed alpacas.” 
Charles Tayleure, Esq., of Parkfield, near 
Liverpool, in a note, dated April 11th, speaks thus: 
■*—“ In reply to your inquiries, 1 beg to say, that my 
memory is not sufficiently good to enable me to 
state in what year I imported the first alpacas and 
vicunas. I recollect that there were a pair of each, 
and that the alpacas had a young one, the others 
none. I had the misfortune to have ©ne of the 
vicunas killed by a dog; and in consequence of 
some subsequent importations 'of alpacas being dis¬ 
eased, and the disease spreading to the others, I put 
them under the charge of a shepherd in the neigh¬ 
borhood, who, by administering too strong medi¬ 
cines, killed the greater part of them. This tended 
to disgust me; and, not long after, the only two 
alpacas that I had left I gave to Lord Derby. On a 
really mountainous country I consider that they 
would do welL Cold does not affect them, but 
diet does.” 
From Henry Lees Edwards, Esq., of Pyenest, 
near Halifax, under date April flth, I received the 
annexed :—“ In reply to your inquiries I beg to 
state, that in 1839 I imported from Valparaiso six 
alpacas and two vicunas. In 1841, of six alpacas 
shipped for me, only two arrived safe, and in the 
same year I purchased three in Liverpool, making 
a total of eleven alpacas and two vicunas. Of the 
former, eight have died, leaving my present stock 
three alpacas and two vicunas. From the latter I 
have had no lambs, but from eight alpacas in field, 
I had eight lambs, chiefly premature births, only 
two of which lived to twelve months, and them I 
have also lost. These animals have been much 
subject to scab, which is difficult to remove from 
them, and mine were seldom free. They were kept 
in a good grass field on the side of a hill, a dry 
pasture, but not short grass like the hill tops. In 
the beginning they had a good deal of hard food— 
oats, beans, &c., besides grass and hay—but when 
they died so rapidly, I discontinued hard food, and 
now only give them grass, hay, and vegetables.” 
The Earl of Derby’s being mixed up with the 
alpaca question, seems to have been purely acci¬ 
dental. Pursuing that refined taste for rare objects 
of natural history which has always distinguished 
his lordship, he made the acquisition of a few 
llamas, and added them to his splendid menagerie at 
Knowsley. There they were seen by Mr. Hegan, 
who happened to mention that he had some alpacas 
on his property, in Cheshire, of which two were 
eventually transferred to his lordship, who subse¬ 
quently obtained as many more from Mr. Tayleure, 
of Liverpool. Treating both varieties as mere 
curiosities, and seemingly never intending to use 
the preferable one as farm stock, his lordship allow¬ 
ed them to cross, and the result was births in the 
ordinary course. Both llamas and alpacas kept 
separately, also bred almost every year; but, be¬ 
sides these, his lordship procured a pair of guanacos, 
such at least they were called by the seller, although 
I am inclined to think most erroneously. 
On the 22d of February, the Marquis of 
Breadalbf-ne condescendingly informed me that “he 
had a few alpacas for a short time, but they all died 
with the exception of one;” adding, “ that it was the 
opinion of his people who had charge of them, that 
the pasturage was too rich, and that they would 
have done better on hill ground/’ 
Understanding that the illustrious consort of our 
patriotic Queen had so far identified himself with 
the fortunes of the British farmer as to purchase a 
pair of alpacas, with the intention of allowing them, 
the range of his grounds, I addressed a note to 
G. E. Anson, Esq., his royal highness’s treasurer, 
and, under date of March 5th, was honored with a 
reply in these words:—“ It is true that there are 
two alpacas at Windsor, but, as yet, no use has 
been made of them.” I have since received a 
sample of black wool, clipped from the Prince’s 
male alpaca, and full ten inches long. In quality 
it is much superior to the imported, being exceed¬ 
ingly soft and moist to the touch—a proof that the 
fibres contain more yolk, or, in other words, the 
animal has drawn more appropriate nourishment 
