Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/559

 LLAMA 553 assailant ; they have the habit of dropping their excrement in particular spots, and from this propensity the natives are able to collect considerable quantities, which they use as fuel. There appear to be three species of the genus, viz. : the wild guanaco (A. huanaco, Tschudi), of which the llama is probably the domesticated variety ; the alpaca or paco (A. alpaca, Tschu- di), described in its alphabetical order ; and the vicufia (A. vicugna, Tschudi). These are easily tamed, and are susceptible of considerable at- tachment to their keepers. The guanaco is found in the Andes from northern Peru to the neighborhood of the straits of Magellan, in the former inhabiting the mountains in small com- panies, but in Patagonia frequenting the plains in considerable herds. About 3 ft. high at the shoulder, the head is carried at the height of about 5 ft. ; the color is reddish brown, and the hair tolerably long ; they are hunted for the skin and flesh. Living mostly at an elevation of 8,000 to 12,000 ft. above the sea, they feed chiefly upon tough grassy reeds, mosses, lichens, and such shrubs as will grow at low tem- peratures ; they do not require drink as. long as succulent herbage can be obtained ; their chisel-shaped and strong lower incisors, inter- locking with the upper teeth and meeting the firm pad of the upper jaw, enable them to feed upon vegetable substances too hard for ordi- nary cattle ; and their long neck, cleft lip, pointed nose, and extensile tongue permit the collection of food in the interstices of rocks, and from the tops of tall shrubs. Sensitive to heat, they increase in situations where an arctic temperature prevails, even though under a tropical sun, far above the abodes of man. The young may be hunted with dogs and the lasso, but the adults must be shot; the flesh of the young is tender, but that of the old only Llama (Auchenia lama). fit for drying and salting. The domesticated llama (the A. lama of such as consider it a dis- tinct species) taltes the place of the camel and the horse among the Indians of Peru and Chili. It is of about the size of the guanaco, but of somewhat more compact form, and the hair is varied with black, white, gray, and other col- ors, as in other domesticated animals. From the elevation of the abdomen in the pelvic re- gion the posterior portion of the body seems weak ; 90 or 100 Ibs. is as much as they can easily carry, but the ability to travel over rug- ged declivities made them valuable beasts of burden to the natives ; their place is now to a great extent supplied by mules ; their rate of travel is only 10 or 15 m. a day. They are valued principally for their long woolly hair, from which the Indians make articles of cloth- ing ; the skin makes good leather, the dung is used for fuel, and the flesh and milk as articles of food. They require very little care ; at night they are put into an enclosure, where they sleep without protection, though the tem- perature falls even in summer below the freez- ing point ; allowed to wander among the moun- tains during the day in search of food, they return like cattle at night to their enclosures. The alpaca, noticed under that title, considera- bly smaller than the llama, is domesticated by the Peruvians, though not used as a beast of burden ; it is valued principally for its long and silky hair, which is made into the fine cloths familiar to all. The vicuna is the smallest spe- cies, about 2 ft. high at the shoulder; the color is reddish yellow on the back, and whi- tish on the belly ; it is a wild animal, of great value for its very fine hair. The llama and alpaca have a period of gestation of 11 or 12 months, and only one is usually produced at a birth ; they are weaned when six months old, and begin to bear at the age of two years ; the former are not put at work till the end of the third year. From the fact that when the three animals above mentioned can be made to breed together the offspring is sterile, it is inferred that they constitute different species; these hybrids are much handsomer and have longer and heavier fleeces than the original stocks. There have been several attempts to introduce the llama into the United States and Europe, but as yet with little success ; though thriving for a time on the usual food of cattle and sheep, they begin to fail unless they can browse on the inferior kinds of grass, with a supply of succulent roots instead of rich food and grains ; in Peru, maize or millet in the soft milky stage is frequently given to them ; in Chili they eat a coarse clover, and here would thrive on the same, as well as pea vines, bean stalks, buck- wheat straw, and such other coarse food as our cattle would reject ; they invariably suffer from disease of the skin when confined in low places, and can only be restored by pure mountain air and frequent bathing. A sketch of the at- tempts to introduce the llama into the United States is given in the agricultural portion of the patent office report for the year 1857; none of these having been successful, proba- bly from the unsuitableness of the climate and elevation in the Atlantic and gulf states, it is there advised to place them on the vast and high plains to the east of the Rocky mountains, be'