trary, thrive
excellently; but it is not possible to keep up herds, for the young
calves are all devoured by the numerous animals of prey. The llamas,
which the Cholos bring from Tapo to Vitoc, are so enfeebled and overcome
by the journey, that on the second day after their arrival it is often
found necessary to send them to a colder district.

In this Montana the large animals of prey seldom approach human
habitations, though sometimes the ounce pays them a visit, and the
Cuguar descends from the Ceja. Other animals of the feline genus are
very numerous, and their depredations render it impossible to breed
poultry. Even the fabulous animal, called the _carbunculo_, is said to
have been seen oftener than once in Vitoc. In almost every place I
visited on the coast, in the Sierra, and in the Montanas, extraordinary
stories concerning this animal were related; and many persons even
assured me they had seen him. The carbunculo is represented to be of the
size of a fox, with long black hair, and is only visible at night, when
it slinks slowly through the thickets. If followed, he opens a flap or
valve in the forehead, from under which an extraordinary, brilliant, and
dazzling light issues. The natives believe that this light proceeds from
a brilliant precious stone, and that any fool hardy person who may
venture to grasp at it rashly is blinded; then the flap is let down, and
the animal disappears in the darkness. Such are the stories related by
the Indians; and it appears that the belief of the existence of the
carbunculo has prevailed in Peru from the earliest times, and certainly
before the conquest, so that its introduction cannot be attributed to
the Spaniards. It is even prevalent among many of the wild Indian
tribes, by whom the early missionaries were told the stories which they
in their turn repeated about the animal. As yet nobody has been
fortunate enough to capture such an animal, though the Spaniards always
showed themselves very desirous to obtain possession of the precious
jewel; and the viceroys, in their official instructions to the
missionaries, placed the carbunculo in the first order of desiderata.
What animal may have served as a foundation for those fabulous stories,
it is certainly difficult to decide; probably a different one in each
particular district. On the coast it may have been the _anash_ (one of
the mephitic animals), which seeks for his food only at night. I have
often observed for a moment a