The Bozeman weekly chronicle. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1883-1889, 1883-10-31
AN ALPACA FARM.
Description and Habits OF an Ungainly
but Useful South American
Animal.

It WAS bitter wind storm, on the
desolatc table lands of the Peruvian An
des, that l first saw a ludicrously ungain.
" beast pop up from behind q rock, a.
the stumbling feet Of my mule sent some
loose stones rolling noisly down preci.
pice. The brute surveyed me for an in.
slant, then shook his hairy head, gave a
loud snort, and vanished. The echoes Of
the lonely pass bore tony ears singular
noise, a. II an army of barefooted men
were flying down the mountain. l had
startled herd of grazing alpacas. and
their sentry had warned them of my APP
proach. The noise was the beating of
their huge cartilage-padded feet on the
rocky ground.
As ! rode on saw focks from time to
time grubbing the sparse grass from the
lrock-sprinkled levels and the steep de-
|clevities, which are such peculiar fea-
Iture Of the heart of the Andes. There
was always one big fellow perched on a
rock, or at some other point Of vantage,
and ct this snort the whole herd would
turn tail and take to fight. Often 1
. would see the sentry, without seeing his
comrades, balanced far above me on some
splintered pinnacle of stone, with his big,
soft eyes fixed on me, ready to give the
signal as soon as he considered my prox-
Unity dangerous.
It was singular sensation, the meet
ing with this alert brute, the only living
thing but myself and mule and an occa-
sional condor, among these desolate
mountains. whose peaks pierced. the sky
In line of savage teeth, like a huge saw:
That evening, on a rock-strewni plateau,
without a bush and almost without a
blade Of grass around it, halted at a
dreary, stohe-built house, with a roof
made Of bundles of straw, held down
with planks and stout saplings. Skulls
ank skeletons of horned cattle and other
animals were scattered all around. From
the wall Of the house projected couple
Of big bulls horns, apparently cemented
in the masonry for ornamental purposes.
As drew rein terrific snorting and
scrambling broke out in a paddock, fenc-
ed with stout poles, behind the house.
This was an alpaca farm.
The alpaca, which many people con-
fuse with the llamal though very closely
allied to 1t in form and characteristics, is
the "gold mine" of the Indians of the
Andes, especially those of Peru, Bolivia, |
and Chill. It is an extraordinary brute,
in more senses than one Its appearance |
with its full coat Of wool is supremacy |
ridiculous. 1t is as large as big sheep,
with neck like small giraffe, a mere
bundle Of hair carried around on four
legs. terminated with feet resembling
those, Of an ostrich. Its legs are power
fqA and ipappropriately graceful, in COM
PaEEiaon with the body they support and
the \. feet in which they terminate.
II the alpaca b absurlly ugly with its |
hair on, it Is q positive burlcsque after it |
Ael hcen fully sheared. It is sheared |
like sheep, only it's head is left covered. |
1t is sometimes sheared once a year,
yielding six to eight-incf fleece, but the |
more provident alpaca farme only shear |
once in two or three years. when they
BET wool from fifteen to thirty inches |
long. The wool Ia ao,,nd rahoinc in color |
from white through gray, yellow and
brown to black. The animal looks black |
however, as the fleece cxudes in oil, and
mats with the dust Of the mountain PAS
lures In which it roams at large. The
decco is very fine in texture, metallic in
lustre when clean, and the fibre is far
stronger than that Of any sleeps wool 1
know Of