ÆäÀÌÁö À̹ÌÁö
PDF
ePub

have been in playfulness. Reynard, however, by his speed and anxiety to escape, did not seem to think it an amusement. How the chase terminated we did not see, for they disappeared in a valley."

The llama bears our climate well, as has been proved by the numerous specimens which have lived in our Zoological Gardens as long as any animals indigenous to Europe under the same circumstances. A specimen, presented by Mr. Barclay, was for more than two years an inhabitant of the menagerie, and its death was entirely from an accidental cause. There can be no doubt but that if suffered to wander at large in situations resembling as much as possible their native mountains, these animals would thrive and multiply. The Earl of Derby has some in his private menagerie at Knowsley; and Mr. Stephenson, at Oban, in Scotland, has a few of these animals. The wool more resembles silk than the wool of the sheep, is capable of the finest manufacture, and especially suited to the shawl trade of Paisley and Glasgow.

This fine glossy wool has been of late fully valued by the French in the manufacture of shawls and stuffs. At the ninth meeting of the British Association, held at Birmingham, the value of this article, and the benefits which would result from the naturalization of the llama in our country, formed an interesting topic of discussion. Mr. W. Danson exhibited samples of alpaca wools, and manufactured specimens in imitation of silk (and without dye) as black as jet. A beautiful specimen of the black variety of alpaca existed some years ago in the gardens of the Zoological Society.

In 1808, a herd of thirty-six llamas, alpacas, and pramas, were sent from Peru to Buenos Ayres by journeys of two or three leagues; they were fed during their progress with potatoes, maize, and hay, but the diet was far too rich for their health, and medical help was required before they could proceed. They were shipped as a present to the Empress Josephine, from Godoy, the Prince of Peace, but only eleven arrived at Cadiz, just as Godoy fell into disgrace. Here two died, and the rest were near being thrown into the sea by

the infuriated rabble, in their detestation of the late minister. The poor llamas were, however, saved by the Governor of Cadiz, and were placed in a menagerie at San Lucar de Barrameda. When the French occupied the province Marshal Soult protected them, and M. Bory St. Vincent, who was with the army, studied their habits, and executed drawings of them, which were lost at the battle of Vittoria. M. Bory paid great attention to their beautiful wool, and some from each of the kinds was sent to the Academy of Sciences at Paris.

The flesh of the young llama is much esteemed by the natives; it is as delicate as veal or lamb, and eaten raw by some tribes of Indians. That of the full-grown animal is gross and hard; but when salted, becomes very good eating. Most navigators to the south-west coasts of America, from the earliest known down to Captain Fitzroy, mention the flesh of these animals as having afforded "a salutary refreshment to their crews." "The llama soon found its way to Europe; for we find in the Icones Animalium' (Gesner) a

66

figure of one, with a collar round its neck, led by a man apparently its keeper. This figure is by no means badly executed, and is given as the allocamelus of Scaliger, who speaks of it as an animal of Patagonia, with the head, the ears, and the neck of a mule, the body of a camel, and the tail of a horse." The figure, it appears, was taken from a print, with the following account:-" In the year of our Lord 1558, on the 19th day of June, this wonderful animal was brought to Middleburgh, as a present to the emperor, having never before been seen by the princes of Germany, nor recorded by Pliny, nor other ancient writers. They said it was an Indian sheep from Piro, a region nearly 6,000 miles distant from Antwerp." Then follows the description, from which it may be gathered that the animal was either a brown or pied llama.

In its native state the llama, or guanaco, is almost uniformly brown; but in domestication it assumes a variety of colours, of which the most usual are brown, black, grey, and white. These * Penny Cyclopædia.

colours are frequently mixed, or spread in large patches over the body of the animal, which thus becomes mottled and piebald. The unmixed white appears to be the least common, insomuch that "a white llama was," according to Father Feuillée, "the presiding deity of the province of Callao prior to its annexation to the empire of the Incas." A fine specimen of this white variety was presented to the Zoological Society by the Duke of Bedford, and has been an inhabitant of the menagerie ever since its formation. It readily accepts of bread or biscuits from visitors; but is equally ready to take offence and revenge itself, by spirting its saliva at the unsuspecting offender. Mr. Darwin says, "In the wild state the guanacos seem to have favourite places for dying. On the banks of the St. Cruz the ground was actually white with bones in certain circumscribed places, which were generally bushy, and all near the river. On one such spot I counted between ten and twenty heads. I particularly examined the bones; they did not appear as some scattered ones which I have seen gnawed and broken, as if dragged to

« ÀÌÀü°è¼Ó »