Llama

“ On the Andes the llama, grazing near the snow line, had its back thickly clothed with wool, while the ground was strewed with its last year's crop. When the sun stands vertically over the llama, it sheds its wool; when the sun passes far off on its northern tour, the leaves fall from the forests at the base of those great mountains. Daring the season of the year when the sap is in upward motion, the "rubber" man taps the trees and gathers the milk, converting it into shoes by smearing it over a last, and poking it into the smoke of a small fire near by him. ”

“ Let me warn you, a llama would spit in your eye as soon as look at you. And you not knowing a word of the language! How’s it to be done, Stephen, how’s it to be done? There are bits of the Andes where you cross a crevasse, llama and all, in a basket slung on a rope which stretches from precipice to precipice. ”

“ The varieties of these animals are the llama, pace, or alpaco, guanaco and vicuna or vicugna. The size of a full-grown llama is five feet five inches from the bottom of the foot to the top of the shoulders. It is by far the handsomest and most majestic animal of the four. The wool is coarse but so abundant on the body that they carry loads on their backs without pack-saddles. ”

“ The alpaca, a smaller animal than the llama, and more stockily built, is usually brown or black in color, has shorter legs and carries itself with less stately dignity than the prouder llama, which seldom curves its long neck, holding its head high and turning it from side to side with a leisurely movement, as it strides along with slow, measured tread. ”

“ They are of all colours, like the horses of Spain, when domesticated, but the wild kind, called huanacus, have only one colour, which is a washed-out chestnut. The llama stands as high as a deer of Spain, but no animal does it resemble more than a camel without a hump, and a third part of the size. The neck of the llama is long and smooth. The Indians used the skin, softened with grease, as soles for their sandals, but, as they had not the art of tanning, they took them off in crossing brooks or in rainy weather. The Spaniards make very good reins of it for their horses. ”

“ But the apparent gentleness of the llama is purely superficial; for it can spit with unpleasant accuracy to repel a frontal approach, while its rear and flanks are guarded by padded feet that are vicious in their power and uncertainty. To the Aymará the llama is transportation, food, wool, and fuel. An Aymará child can do anything with a llama, and with nothing more than her shrill little voice; but in the presence of a white man it is a creature of hysterical and timid peevishness.
AYMARÁ DRIVER OF PACK LLAMAS.
112
MEMBERS OF A GANG OF PRISONERS. ”

“ So many strange stories were told by the earlier Spanish travellers regarding this “camel-sheep,” that it was natural that great interest should attach to it. These reported that the llama was used for riding. Such, however, is not the case. It is only trained to carry burdens; although an Indian boy may be sometimes seen on the back of a llama for mischief, or when crossing a stream and the lad does not wish to get his feet wet. ”

“ It is in this country between La Paz and Cuzco that the llama is seen in greatest numbers—that remarkable animal which Mozans aptly describes as a creature with the legs of a deer, the body of a sheep, and the head and neck of a camel. They are larger than sheep, however, and far more docile and ornamental than the ugly, ungainly camel. ”

“ It ranges from Tierra del Fuego and the adjacent islands, northwards over the whole of Patagonia, and along the Andes into Peru and Bolivia. On the great mountain chain it is both a wild and a domestic animal, since the llama, the beast of burden of the ancient Peruvians, is no doubt only a variety: but as man's slave it has changed so greatly from the original form that some naturalists have regarded the llama as a distinct species, which, like the camel of the East, exists only in a domestic state. ”

“ Ascending a rough, rocky road, over deeply washed ravines, we gain the smooth grass capped mountains. Between peaks of perpendicular strata, flocks of llama are pasturing. Yonder is a lake of clear snow-water, and there stands five beautiful vicuña, looking intently at us. What pretty animals, and how wild they look. They come here to pasture with their kinsfolk,
VICUÑAS. 17
the llamas. “Richards ride round the mountain; José go with the baggage steadily along the road, while I take up this ravine, and try a shot.” We all start. ”

“ In their graves modern explorers have found many striking proofs of their proficiency in the art of weaving. They used the wool of llamas, alpacas, vicuñas, and guanacos. These species of animal, allied to the camel, still render great services to the Indians. The llama is distributed over the greater part of the Andes, and the male only is used as a transport animal. The llama is shy, stupid, and quiet, and his head is somewhat like a sheep's. The alpaca does not carry loads, but is kept as a domestic animal for the sake of its meat and wool. ”

“ The sacrifice of animals taken from sacred herds of llamas was doubtless a principal feature of the ceremony, accompanied by the offering up of maguey, or maize spirit, and followed by the performance of symbolic dances. [268]
[Contents]
The Llama
The llama was the chief domestic animal of Peru. All llamas were the property of the Inca. Like the camel, its distant relative, this creature can subsist for long periods upon little nourishment, and it is suitable for the carriage of moderate loads. ”

“ And yet such is his docility that dozens are often kept within bounds by a single thread stretched around them breast high,—rugged little mountain beasts herded with worsted! Usually so gentle, if a llama is annoyed he becomes revengeful and useless. He never will hurry, for supplying his own food he must graze when opportunity offers. ”

“ Across the plain floated white clouds of mist, like airy spirits, while before me lay a narrow valley, through which the road led to Uspallata. Upon one side of the plain rose several low hills, green with coarse herbage, upon which a small herd of llamas were feeding, as if unconscious of the presence of man. ”

“ If while travelling the Llama lies down, the arriero kneels beside him and coaxes the animal with expressions of endearment. The warm climate is hard on them, because of their heavy coats and many die before they can return to the mountains. ”

“ The llama, or "mountain camel," as it has been aptly called, is the only domesticated native animal. The horse, ox, hog, and sheep are all importations which were entirely unknown here four centuries ago. The llama has two notable peculiarities: when angry it will expectorate at its enemy, and when hurt will shed tears. The expectoration is of an acrid, semi-poisonous nature, and if it strikes the eyes will, it is said, blind them. The llama, guanaco, alpaca, and vicuña were the four sheep of the Incas, the wool of the first clothing the common people ”

“ The llamas never show affection for their masters, as horses often do. On the other hand I have never seen a llama kick or bite at his owner.
The llama was the only beast of burden known in either North or South America before Columbus. It was found by the Spaniards in all parts of Inca Land. Its small two-toed feet, with their rough pads, enable it to walk easily on slopes too rough or steep for even a nimble-footed, mountain-bred mule. It has the reputation of being an unpleasant pet, due to its ability to sneeze or spit for a considerable distance a small quantity of acrid saliva. ”

“ Llamas and alpacas are extremely variegated. The llama has so coarse a hair that it is seldom woven into cloth for wearing apparel, although heavy blankets made from it are in use by the natives. Bred to be a beast of burden, the llama is accustomed to the presence of strangers and is not any more timid of them than our horses and cows. ”

“ Upon pressing on him, he bounds aside either up or down the cliff, and is followed by the herd, scrambling over places that would be impassable for the mule or the ass. The llama travels not more than nine or ten miles a day, his load being about one hundred and thirty pounds. He will not carry more, and will be beaten to death rather than move when he is overloaded or tired. ”

“ Baby llamas, very new, and still blinking at the strange world, huddled timidly in behind a tuft of bunch-grass or behind some small boulder, while the queer, goose-necked mother stood near with apparent indifference; little llamas in all stages of adolescence and awkwardness gamboled on the hillsides, 124 and herds dotting the slopes looked for all the world like big, stiff-necked, grotesque sheep. Among them were the Aymará herders who, like traditional shepherds, played their weird and mournful flutes or pipes. ”

“ Llama Llama (Auchenia lama) , a most useful South American domesticated variety of the guanaco whose herds roam with the rheas on the plains of Patagonia, or climb on the Cordilleras. As a beast of burden the llama was in general use at the time of the Spanish conquest, and its sure-footedness and power of foraging for itself make it most valuable for transport in the rough and steep mining regions of the Andes. In many places, however, mules have to some extent replaced the llamas. The males carry a hundredweight about twelve miles in a day. ”

“ Ascending the Andes one may find other strange animals. In the high cold plains near the line of perpetual snow is the home of the llama (lah'-mah) , often called the American camel. The natives tame it and use it as a beast of burden. ”

“ At times a llama or vicunia becomes actually insane, and seeks to destroy every living creature within its reach. Regardless of punishment, such creatures attack their keepers and their herd-mates, spit upon visitors, and rage up and down their corrals in most absurd fashion. Occasionally such individuals require to be completely isolated. ”

“ Graceful when he walks, the llama runs with much the same awkward gait as the kangaroo, throwing his neck, and looking at a distance like an ostrich on four legs. In the region round about us were grazing, also, many alpacas—here called pacos—a far uglier animal in its thick wool of many colors, from black to gray, than the gracefully formed and generally white llama. ”

“ During the construction of the railway a great many men died from the effects of the dreaded sirroche, which is often followed by a sudden and quickly fatal mountain fever. Few people escape the ailment, and no animal but the llama and others of that species native to the mountain regions can survive. At every town along the road droves of llamas can be seen which have been driven in from the mountain settlements laden with furs and skins, or with ore from the mines. The llama is the only beast of burden in the Upper Andes, and is docile, patient, sure-footed, and speedy. ”

“ In more ways than one the Llama is most valuable to the inhabitants of the mountains; for the flesh of the young is good and wholesome food, their skin produces a leather of value, and their hair is used for various manufactures. ”

“ They were of all sizes, from tiny remolinos that died in a few puffs to towering whirlwinds that spiraled fifteen hundred feet in the air with a base of fifty feet that juggled boulders in its vortex like so many cork chips. They would move leisurely for a short space and then dart like a flash in an erratic path. Sometimes fifteen or twenty of these would be in sight at the same time. Herds of llamas grazed over the plain, sometimes a flock of sheep or an occasional horse, each with a wary eye on the whirlwinds; if one approached too near they galloped off. ”

“ He will carry a load of just so much, about one hundred pounds. If a greater load is strapped on his back than he is accustomed to carry, the llama will neither grunt nor groan, but he calmly kneels down and will not move until the burden is lightened. ”

“ Sometimes a llama, over vexed by ill-treatment, has been known, in despair, to dash his brains out against a rock.
The llamas are used much in the mines of Peru, for carrying the ore. They frequently serve better than either asses or mules, as they can pass up and down declivities where neither ass nor mule can travel. They are sometimes taken in long trains from the mountains down to the coast region for salt and other goods; but on such occasions many of them die, as they cannot bear the warm climate of the lowlands. Their proper and native place is on the higher plains of the Andes. ”

“ Without the aid of these animals, the Spaniards who inhabit the mining districts of South America would labour under great inconveniences for the transport of their merchandise and treasures: since mountains that are altogether inaccessible to the horse, are with facility traversed by the llama. This beast, though not so patient, is nearly as abstemious as the camel. ”

“ In our journeys along these bleak uplands we shall meet large droves of the llamas, bearing loads of merchandise, in weight up to a hundred pounds. These animals are sagacious in their way, and if overloaded refuse to move. Their services, their wool, their flesh, are all extremely valuable adjuncts of Indian life. The creature costs little or nothing to keep: it requires no shelter, and it feeds itself as it goes along, at a rate of about four miles an hour. The llama indeed was—and is—an outstanding figure in the native economics of the Peruvian and Bolivian Andes. ”

“ They scurry along the mountain road in high glee, their llamas in the lead with heads erect and long straight ears adorned with tassels of red, yellow and green woollen yarn. All the dignity of the procession is borne in the stately carriage of the llamas, whose leisurely movements are never disturbed by anything but fright. ”

“ Every llama and sheep herder passes the monotonous hours with his playing. In the still air it carries for miles and softens in the long distances with a weird pleasing effect. The strain is short, but one bar, and for hours it is repeated with unvarying exactness.
[play]
Even in the bitter cold and snow of the trails of the high passes the presence of the Indians is announced long before their appearance by the echoing flutes. They plod along in single file, muffled in their ponchos, driving the llamas or burros before them ”