Travels in Peru, on the Coast, in the Sierra, Across the Cordilleras and the Andes, into the Primeval Forests

by Johann Jakob von Tschudi

The aspect of the Puna is singularly monotonous and dreary. The expansive levels are scantily covered with grasses of a yellowish-brown hue, and are never enlivened by fresh-looking verdure. Here and there, at distant intervals, may be seen a few stunted Queñua trees (Polylepis racemosa, R. P.), or large patches of ground covered with the Ratanhia shrub[66] (Krameria triandria, R. P.). Both are used by the Indians as fuel, and for roofing their huts.

The cold climate and sterile soil of the Puna are formidable impediments to agriculture. Only one plant is cultivated in these regions with any degree of success. It is the maca, a tuberous root grown like the potatoe, and like it used as an article of food. In many of the Puna districts the maca constitutes the principal sustenance of the inhabitants. It has an agreeable, and somewhat sweetish flavor, and when boiled in milk it tastes like the chestnut. As far as I am aware this plant has not been mentioned by any traveller, nor has its botanical character yet been precisely determined. Possibly it is a species of Tropæolum, but of this I am uncertain. The root is about the size of a large chestnut. Macas may be kept for more than a year, if, after being taken from the earth, they are left a few days to dry in the sun, and then exposed to the cold. By this means they become shrivelled and very hard. From these dried macas, the Indians prepare a sort of soup or rather syrup, which diffuses a sweet, sickly sort of odor, but which, when eaten with roasted maize, is not altogether unpalatable. The maca thrives best at the height of between 12,000 and 13,000 feet above the sea. In the lower districts it is not planted, for the Indians declare it to be flavorless when grown there. Besides the maca barley is reared in the Puna. I saw there fields of barley 13,200 feet above the sea. It does not, however, attain full maturity, seldom even shoots into ears, and is cut whilst green as fodder for horses.

But poor and scanty as is the vegetation of the Puna, the animal kingdom is there richly and beautifully represented. Those regions are the native home of the great Mammalia, which Peru possessed before horses and black cattle were introduced by the Spaniards. I allude to the llama and his co-genera the alpaco, the huanacu, and the vicuña. On these interesting animals I will subjoin a few observations.[67] The two first are kept as domestic animals; the llama perfectly, and the alpaco partially tame.

The llama measures from the sole of the hoof to the top of the head, 4 feet 6 to 8 inches; from the sole of the hoof to the shoulders, from 2 feet 11 inches to 3 feet. The female is usually smaller and less strong than the male, but her wool is finer and better. The color is very various; generally brown, with shades of yellow or black; frequently speckled, but very rarely quite white or black. The speckled brown llama is in some districts called the moromoro.

The young llamas are left with the dam for about the space of a year, after which time they are removed and placed with flocks. When about four years old, the males and females are separated; the former are trained to carry burthens, and the latter are kept in the pastures of the level heights. Most of the flocks of llamas are reared in the southern Puna provinces, viz.:—Cuzco and Ayacucho, and from thence they are sent to the silver mines of North Peru. The price of a strong full-grown llama is from three to four dollars; but if purchased in flocks in the provinces above named, they may be had for one and a half or two dollars each. Shortly after the conquest the price of one of these animals was between eighteen and twenty ducats; but the increase of horses, mules, and sheep, lowered their value. The burthen carried by the llama should not exceed one hundred and twenty-five pounds, and the animal is seldom laden with more than a hundred-weight. When the llama finds his burthen too heavy he lies down, and cannot be made to rise until some portion of the weight is removed from his back. In the silver mines the llamas are of the most important utility, as they frequently carry the metal from the mines in places where the declivities are so steep that neither asses nor mules can keep their footing.

The Indians frequently proceed with large flocks of llamas to the coast, to procure salt. Their daily journeys are short, never exceeding three or four leagues; for the animals will not feed during the night, and therefore they are allowed to graze as they go, or to halt for a few hours at feeding-time. When resting they make a peculiar humming noise, which, when proceeding from a numerous flock at a distance, is like a number of Æolian harps sounding in concert.

A flock of laden llamas journeying over the table-lands is a beautiful sight. They proceed at a slow and measured pace, gazing eagerly around on every side. When any strange object scares them, the flock separates, and disperses in various directions, and the arrieros have no little difficulty in reassembling them. The Indians are very fond of these animals. They adorn them by tying bows of ribbon to their ears, and hanging bells round their necks; and before loading, they always fondle and caress them affectionately. If, during a journey, one of the llamas is fatigued and lies down, the arriero kneels beside the animal, and addresses to it the most coaxing and endearing expressions. But notwithstanding all the care and attention bestowed on them, many llamas perish on every journey to the coast, as they are not able to bear the warm climate.

Some old travellers have stated that the Indians employ the llama for riding and for draught; but these accounts are quite erroneous. It sometimes happens that when crossing a river an Indian lad, to avoid getting wet, may mount on the back of one of the llamas; but in such a case, he immediately dismounts on reaching the opposite bank. The flesh of the llama is spongy, and not agreeable in flavor. Its wool is used for making coarse cloths.

The alpaco, or paco, is smaller than the llama. It measures from the lower part of the hoof to the top of the head only three feet three inches, and to the shoulders two feet and a half. In form it resembles the sheep, but it has a longer neck and a more elegant head. The fleece of this animal is beautifully soft and very long; in some parts it is four or five inches in length. Its color is usually either white or black; but in some few instances it is speckled. The Indians make blankets and ponchos of the alpaco wool. It is also frequently exported to Europe, and it sells at a good price in England. The alpacos are kept in large flocks, and throughout the whole of the year they graze on the level heights. At shearing time only they are driven to the huts. They are in consequence very shy, and they run away at the approach of a stranger. The obstinacy of the alpaco is remarkable. When one of these animals is separated from the flock, he throws himself on the ground, and neither force nor persuasion will induce him to rise;—sometimes suffering the severest punishment rather than go the way the driver wishes. Few animals seem to require so imperatively the companionship of its own species, and it is only when brought to the Indian huts very young, that the alpacos can be separated from their flocks.

The largest animal of this family is the huanacu. It measures five feet from the bottom of the hoof to the top of the head, and three feet three inches to the shoulders. In form it so nearly resembles the llama, that until a very recent period, zoologists were of opinion that the llama was an improved species of the huanacu, and that the latter was the llama in its wild state. In the "Fauna Peruana" I have explained the erroneousness of this opinion, and described the specific differences existing between the two animals. On the neck, back, and thighs the huanacu is of a uniform reddish-brown color. The under part of the body, the middle line of the breast, and the inner side of the limbs are of a dingy white. The face is dark grey, and the lips of a clear white. Of the huanacus there are not those varieties which are found among the llamas and the alpacos. The wool is shorter and coarser than that of the llama, and it is of nearly uniform length on all parts of the body.