The mountain cat, gato montes, is found in the province of Huamalies, in the woods bordering on the Marañon; it is about three and a half feet long, the skin is of a dirty yellow colour, with black spots and stripes; the male has a black stripe running from between the ears along the back. This small tiger is extremely beautiful, but it is very savage; however it never attacks a man, and seldom molests the horses or horned cattle; but it sometimes leaves the woods, and visits the farms on the mountains in search of sheep and goats. The opossum, called by the natives muca muca, and a species of armadillo, called mulita, from the length of its ears, are found in the valleys; also a field rat of a dark brown colour, having the tail rather club-shaped and somewhat flattened: the flesh is considered very delicate eating.
The alco is the constant companion of the indians: it is a dog of a middling stature, of a black colour, the body covered with woolly hair, except on the breast and tail, where it is stiff and straight. They bark on the approach of any noise, and will defend their charge, whether it be the horse or cattle, against men or beasts of prey. Two kinds of these dogs are known here, the one just mentioned, and another smaller one, about the size of a lap dog, which the indians frequently carry. They seldom or never bark, which circumstance perhaps gave rise to the origin of the assertion, that "the dogs of South America do not bark." The large alco is called thegua in Chile, and the small one kiltho.
Among the indigenous quadrupeds of Peru, the species of camel, by the Spaniards called carneros de la tierra, demand the attention of a traveller. These animals in many respects resemble the camel of the old continent, but differ from them materially in others. They are less in size, but of a more elegant form; they have a small head without horns, but a large tuft of hair adorns the forehead; a very long, slender neck, well proportioned ears, large round full black eyes, a short muzzle, the upper lip more or less cleft; the body is handsomely turned, the legs long and rather slender, the feet bipartite; the covering of the body is a mixture of hair and wool, in different proportions, according to the kind of animals.
The lower jaw of each is furnished with six incisors, two canine teeth and several grinders; the upper jaw with grinders only. Under the skin the body is covered with fat, somewhat like the hog and the polar animals, intended by nature to preserve a necessary degree of warmth, because these animals inhabit the cold regions of the Cordillera. They are all ruminating, and have four ventricles; the second, which is composed of two, contains a number of cavities calculated for a deposit of water. The animals are retromingents; the time of gestation is about twenty-two weeks, and the female seldom brings forth more than one, which she suckles, having two teats and an abundance of milk. They have a callous covering on the breast or sternum, on which they fall, when reclining, either to sleep or to receive a burden; this substance appears to be destined to defend the part against any injurious contusion among the rocks; when sleeping they have their legs completely folded under the belly, and they rest on the breast. Their only means of defence is an ejection of viscous matter from the mouth, which some persons pretend acts as a caustic, producing small pimples, and a species of psora, but this is false.
The varieties are the llama, paco, or alpaca, guanaco, and vicuña, or vicugna. The size of a full-grown llama is as follows:—
| Ft. | In. | |
| Height from the bottom of the foot to top of the shoulders | 5 | 5 |
| From the first vertebre in the neck to the point of the os sacro | 6 | 5 |
| From the point of the upper lip to that of the cranium | 1 | 1 |
| From the first vertebre of the neck to the last | 2 | 5 |
| Height from the base of the foot to the spine of the os sacro | 3 | 6 |
| Length of the callosity on the sternum | 0 | 7 |
| Breadth of ditto | 0 | 1 |
| Thickness of ditto | 0 | 0½ |
| Length of the penis | 1 | 3 |
The llama is by far the handsomest and most majestic animal of the four; in its portly appearance it is somewhat like a stag, but the gracefulness of its swan-like neck, its small head, and mild countenance add much to its beauty. The colour of the llama is generally a pale bright brown, but some are nearly white, others black, and others mottled. The wool is coarse, but very abundant on the body, and precludes the necessity of using pack-saddles. Nothing can exceed the beauty of a drove of these animals, as they march along with their cargoes on their backs, each being about a hundred pounds weight, following each other in the most orderly manner, equal to a file of soldiers, headed by one with a tastefully ornamented halter on his head, covered with small hawks' bells, and a small streamer on his head: thus they cross the snow-covered tops of the Cordillera, or defile along the sides of the mountains. This sight is peculiarly interesting to a stranger, and has in it what may be justly considered as something characteristic of the country, where the mountainous tracts are ill calculated for the service of horses or even mules. Indeed, the animal itself seems to partake of the docility of its driver; it needs no whip nor spur to urge it onward; but calmly paces on to its destination. Its only means of defence, as before mentioned, is to spit in the face of its oppressor; if too heavily laden with what it kneeled to receive, it will refuse to rise until relieved of part of its load.
The paco or alpaca of Peru is the chilihueque of Chile: it differs considerably from the llama—its head is rounder, its legs are shorter and thicker, and the body more plump; the skin is of a darker colour, and the hair much longer and softer: like the llama it is used as a beast of burden, kneels to receive it, and lies down if it be too heavy. The paco bears more resemblance to a sheep than to a stag, and from its great apparent strength seems better calculated to be used as a beast of burden than the llama; but it is not so docile and tractable, it will not follow the captain or leader, but generally requires to be led with a string, passed through a small aperture made in the ear;—nor is it more sure-footed on the ridges of the mountains. The pacos vary in colour more than the llamas.
The names of these two kinds are derived from alppaco—beast of the country; and llamscani—that of burden, which the Spaniards translated into carnero, sheep. It appears both from the names of these two varieties, as well as from Garcilaso, Acosta, Sandoval, and other Spanish writers, that they were domesticated before the arrival of the Spaniards, yet the breeds have never been mixed, nor will they mingle, for a very visible aversion exists between them, which, with the striking difference in their construction and appearance, induces me to believe them to be different species. They are certainly more alike than the vicuña and the huanaco, or to either of those; so that Buffon and Linnæus were wide of the truth when they asserted, that the llama and the vicuña were of the same species, and equally so with respect to the paco and the huanaco.