arge and very fine vicuna. It used to follow me like a
dog whenever I went out, whether on foot or on horseback.

The frequent hunting seems not to have the effect of diminishing the
numbers of these animals. If in the vicinity of the villages where
chacus are frequently established, they are less numerous than in
other parts, it is because, to elude the pursuit of the hunters, they
seek refuge in the Altos, where they are found in vast numbers.
Several modern travellers have lamented the diminution of the vicunas,
but without reason. In former times those animals were hunted more
actively than at present.

Under the dynasty of the Incas, when every useful plant and animal was
an object of veneration, the Peruvians rendered almost divine worship
to the llama and his relatives, which exclusively furnished them with
wool for clothing, and with flesh for food. The temples were adorned
with large figures of these animals made of gold and silver, and their
forms were represented in domestic utensils made of stone and clay.
In the valuable collection of Baron Clemens von Huegel at Vienna, there
are four of these vessels, composed of porphyry, basalt, and granite,
representing the four species, viz., the llama, the alpaco, the
huanacu, and the vicuna. These antiquities are exceedingly scarce, and
when I was in Peru I was unable to obtain any of them. How the ancient
Peruvians, without the aid of iron tools, were able to carve stone so
beautifully, is inconceivable.

Besides the animals above mentioned, several others peculiar to the Puna
are deserving of remark. Among these are the Tarush (_Cervus
antisiensis_, Orb.); the timid roe, which inhabits the high forests
skirting the Andes; the Viscacha (_Lagidium peruanum_, May, and _L.
pallipes_, Benn.), and the Chinchilla (_Eriomys Chinchilla_, Licht.),
whose skin supplies the beautiful fur so much prized by the ladies of
Europe. The viscachas and chinchillas resemble the rabbit in form and
color, but they have shorter ears and long rough tails. They live on the
steep rocky mountains, and in the morning and evening they creep out
from their holes and crevices to nibble the alpine grasses. At night the
Indians set before their holes traps made of horse-hair, in which the
animals are easily caught. The most remarkable of the beasts of prey in
these high regions is the Atoc (_Canis Azarae_, Pr. Max.). It is a
species of fox, which is found throughout the whole of South America.
Th