er that
they may be fed, as these animals will not eat by night. In consequence
of this they make but short journeys--ten to fifteen miles--although
they will travel for a long time, allowing them a day's rest out of
every five or six. Like the camels of the East, they can go days
without water, and Buffon knew one that went _eighteen months_ without
it! but Buffon is very poor authority. When one of them becomes
wearied, and does not wish to proceed, it is exceedingly difficult to
coax him onward.

These animals were at one time very valuable. On the discovery of
America a llama cost as much as eighteen or twenty dollars. But the
introduction of mules and other beasts of burden has considerably
cheapened them. At present they are sold for about four dollars in the
mining districts, but can be bought where they are bred and reared for
half that amount. In the days of the Incas their flesh was much used as
food. It is still eaten; but for this purpose the common sheep is
preferred, as the flesh of the llama is spongy and not very well
flavoured. The wool is used for many sorts of coarse manufacture. So
much for llamas. Now the "guanaco."

This animal (whose name is sometimes written "huanaca," though the
pronunciation is the same with "guanaco" or "guanaca") is larger than
the llama, and for a long time was considered merely as the wild llama,
or the llama _run wild_, in which you will perceive an essential
distinction. It is neither, but an animal of specific difference. It
exists in a wild state in the high mountains, though, with great care
and trouble, it can be domesticated and trained to carry burdens as well
as its congener the llama. In form it resembles the latter, but, as is
the case with most wild animals, the guanacos are all alike in colour.
The upper parts of the body are of a reddish brown, while underneath it
is a dirty white. The lips are white, and the face a dark grey. The
wool is shorter than that of the llama, and of the same length all over
the body. The guanaco lives in herds of five or seven individuals, and
these are very shy, fleeing to the most inaccessible cliffs when any one
approaches them. Like the chamois of Switzerland and the "bighorn" of
the Rocky Mountains, they can glide along steep ledges where neither men
nor dogs can find footing.

The "alpaco," or "paco," as it is sometimes called, is one of the most
useful of the Peruvian sheep, and is more like the common sh