Photo by J. W. McLellan] [Highbury.
GUANACO.
The wild original of the llama and alpaca.
Guanacos readily take to the water, and have been frequently seen swimming from one island to another. Here again the llamas differ from the camels, for these can swim but little, if at all. Like the Bactrian camel, the guanaco can drink salt water with impunity.
One of the most remarkable traits of the guanaco is that which induces it, when it feels its end to be near, to seek out the dying-place of the tribe, and there breathe out its last. "The guanacos," says Mr. Darwin, "appear to have favourite spots for lying down to die. On the banks of the St. Cruz, in certain circumscribed places, which were generally bushy and all near the river, the ground was actually white with bones. On one such spot I counted between ten and twenty heads.... The animals in most cases must have crawled, before dying, beneath and amongst the bushes."
The Llama.
This is the first of the two domesticated offshoots of the guanaco, the other being the Alpaca. The Llama is a larger beast than the guanaco, and variable in colour. The ancient Peruvians bred it as a beast of burden or for riding, and before the Spanish conquest kept it in enormous numbers. Soon after the Spanish conquest "it was not uncommon to meet droves of from 300 to 500, or even 1,000 llamas, each laden with silver ingots, and the whole in charge of a single native.... Only the male llamas were used as beasts of burden, while the smaller females were kept for their milk and flesh. In travelling along the roads, the droves marched in single file, under the guidance of a leader; and such a line would traverse the highest passes of the Cordillera, and skirt the most stupendous precipices with perfect safety.... The Spanish conquerors of Peru spoke of llama-flesh as being fully equal to the best mutton, and they established shops in the towns for its regular sale. At the time of the conquest it is estimated that upwards of 300,000 llamas were employed in the transport of the product of the mines of Potosi alone."
The Alpaca.
This animal is bred solely for the sake of its wool, which is of great length and fineness. From it is made the well-known fabric which bears, in consequence, the name "alpaca."