The Alpaca is smaller than the llama, and resembles the sheep; but its neck is longer, and it has a more elegantly formed head. The wool which, on account of its admirable qualities, is extensively used in England, is very long, soft, fine, and of a silky lustre—sometimes quite white or black, but often also variegated.
THE ALPACA.
Shy, like the chamois or the steinbock, the Vicuña inhabits the most sequestered mountain-valleys of the Andes. It is of a more elegant shape than the alpaca, with a longer and more graceful neck, and a more curly wool of extreme fineness. During the rainy season, the vicuñas retire to the crests of the Cordillera, where vegetation is reduced to the scantiest limits; but they never venture on the bare summits, as their hoof, accustomed to tread only on the turf, is very tender and sensitive. When pursued, they never fly to the ice-fields, but only along the grass-grown slopes. In the dry season, when vegetation withers on the heights, they descend to seek their food along the sources and swampy grounds. From six to fifteen she-vicuñas live under the protection and guidance of a single male, who always remains a few paces apart from his harem, and keeps watch with the most attentive care. At the least approach of danger he immediately gives the alarm by a shrill cry, and rapidly steps forward. The herd, immediately assembling, turns inquisitively towards the side whence danger is apprehended, and then, suddenly wheeling, flies, at first slowly, and constantly looking back, but soon with unrivalled swiftness. The male covers the retreat, frequently standing still and watching the enemy. The females reward the faithful care of their leader with an equally rare attachment; for when he is wounded or killed, they will keep running round him with shrill notes of sorrow, and rather be shot than flee. The cry of the vicuña is a peculiar whistle, which, though greatly resembling the shrill neighing of the llama, may easily be distinguished by a practised ear, when it suddenly pierces the thin air of the Puna, even from a distance where the sharpest eye is no longer able to distinguish the form of the animal.
The hunting of the vicuñas, which is very singular and interesting, takes place in April or May. Each family in the Puna villages is obliged to furnish the contingent of one of its members at least; and the widows accompany the hunters, to serve as cooks. The whole troop, frequently consisting of seventy or eighty persons, and carrying bundles of poles and large quantities of cordage, sets out for the more elevated plateaus, where the vicuñas are grazing. In an appropriate spot the poles are fixed into the earth, at intervals of twelve or fifteen paces, and united by the cordage, about two feet from the ground. In this manner a circular space, called Chacu, of about half a league in circumference, is enclosed, leaving on one side an entrance several hundred paces wide. The women attach to the cordage coloured rags, which wave to and fro in the wind. As soon as the Chacu is ready, the men disperse, and forming a ring many miles in circumference, drive all the intervening vicuña herds through the entrance into the circle, which is closed as soon as a sufficient number has been collected. The shy animals do not venture to spring over the cord and its fluttering rags, and are thus easily killed by the bolas of the Indians. These bolas consist of three balls of lead or stone, two of which are heavy, and one lighter, each ball being attached to a long leather thong. The thongs are knotted together at their free extremity. When used, the lighter ball is taken in the hand, and the two others swung in a wide circle over the head. At a certain distance from the mark, about fifteen or twenty paces, the hand-ball is let loose, and then all three fly in hissing circles towards the object which they are intended to strike, and encompass it in their formidable embrace. The hindlegs of the vicuñas are generally aimed at. It is no easy matter to throw the bolas adroitly, particularly when on horseback; for the novice often wounds either himself or his horse mortally, by not giving the balls the proper swing, or letting them escape too soon from his hand. The flesh of the vicuñas is divided in equal portions among the hunters. When dried in the air, and then pounded and mixed with Spanish pepper, its taste is not unpleasing. The Church, however, manages to get the best part of the animal, for the priest generally appropriates the skin. As soon as all the entrapped vicuñas are killed, the chacu is taken to pieces, and set up again ten or twelve miles further off. The whole chase lasts a week, and the number of the animals slaughtered frequently amounts to several hundreds.
In the times of the Incas, the Puna chases were conducted on a much grander scale. Annually from 25,000 to 30,000 Indians assembled, who were obliged to drive all the wild animals from a circuit of more than a hundred miles into an enormous chacu. As the circle narrowed, the ranks of the Indians were doubled and trebled, so that no animal could escape. The pernicious quadrupeds, such as bears, cuguars, and foxes, were all killed, but only a limited number of stags, deer, vicuñas, and huanacus; for the provident Incas did not lose sight of the wants of futurity, and were more economical of the lives of animals than their brutal successors, the Christian Spaniards, were of the lives of men.
In spite of the persecutions to which they are subject, not only from hunters but from the ravenous condor, who frequently robs them of their young, the vicuñas do not seem to diminish, and are often seen roaming about in large numbers—the inaccessible wilds to which they are able to retreat amply securing them against extermination.
CHINCHILLA.
Besides these four remarkable Camelides, we find among the animals peculiar to the Puna the stag-like Tarush (Cervus antisiensis); the timid deer, who also descends from the high mountain-plains into the coast-valleys and the forest region; the Viscachas and the Chinchillas. The Peruvian Viscachas (Lagidium peruanum and pallipes), live at an elevation of from 10,000 to 12,000 feet, between 33° and 18° S. lat., and resemble the rabbit in form and colour, but have shorter ears and a long rough tail. Their far is soft, but not nearly so fine as that of the near-related Chinchilla (Chinchilla lanigera). This little creature, which is somewhat larger than our squirrel, has large and brilliant eyes, an erect tail, strong bristles on the upper lip, and almost naked, rounded ears. It lives in burrows, feeding chiefly upon roots, and is found in such numbers in the Chilian Andes that its holes considerably increase the difficulty of travelling. The fur is too well known to require any further description. Where ruminants and rodents abound it may easily be imagined that beasts of prey will not be wanting. The cunning fox (Canis Azaræ) waylays both the chinchillas and the water-birds; and, impelled by hunger, the Puma, or American lion, ascends even to the borders of eternal snow in quest of the vicuña and the deer. But the monarch of the Puna is unquestionably the mighty condor, who, soaring over the highest peaks of the Andes, sees on one side the Pacific rolling its heavy breakers against the coast, and on the other the Marañon vanishing in the hazy distance of the primitive forest.