The Delaware ledger. (Newark, Del.) 1879-19??, 1884-02-16
Alpaca Farming.

desolate table lands of the Peruvian
Andes, that l first saw aludicrously un-
gainly beast pop up from behind a rock,
as the stumbling feet of my mule sent
some loose stones rolling noisily down a
precipice. The brute surveyed me for
an instant, then shook his hairy head,
gave loud snort, and vanished. The
echoes of the lonely pass bore to my
ears singular noise, as if an army of
barefooted men was flying down the
mountain. had startled herd of
grazing Alpacas, and their sentry had
warned them of my approach. The
noise was the beating of their huge,
cartilage padded feet OH the rocky
ground. As 1 rode on, L saw hocks
from time to time, grubbing the sparse
grass from the rock-sprinkled levels and
the steep declivities, which are such q
peculiar feature of the heart of the
Andes. There was always one big
fellow perched on rock, or at some
other point of advantage, and at his
DlOl IllO NhOlO lulu WOulu bulu Tall
and take to fight. Often 1 would see
the sentry, without seeing his comrades,
balanced far above me on some splin-
tered pinnacle cf stone, with his big,
soft eyes fixed on me, ready to give the
signal, as soon as he considered my
proximity dangerous. 1t was singu-
lar sensation, the meeting with this
alert brute, the only living thing but
myself and mule and an occasional
condor, among these desolate mountains
whose peaks pierced the sky in a line
of savage teeth, like huge saw. That
evening, on a rock-strewn plateau,
without a bush and almost without a
blade of grass around it, halted at
dreary, stone built house, with roof
made of bundles of straw, held down
with planks and stout saplings. Skulls
and skeletons of horned cattle and other
animals were scattered all around.
From the wall of the house projected a
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, fenced with stout poles, be-
hind the house. This was an Alpaca
farm.
The Alpaca, which many people con-
fuse with the Llama, though very close
ly allied to it in form and characteris-
tics, is the "gold mine " of the Indians
of the Andes, especially those of Peru,
Bolivia and Chilli. 1t Is an extraordi-
nary animal, IN more senses than one.
Its appearance, with its full coat of
wool, is supremelY ridiculous. 1t is as
large as big sheep, with neck like a
small giraffe a mere bundle of hair
carried around on four legs, terminated
with feet resembling those Of an os-
trich. Its legs are powerful, and inap-
propriately graceful in comparison with
the body they support and the feet in
which they terminate.
If the Alpaca is absurdly ugly with
its hair on, it is positive burlesque at-
ter it has been fully sheared. 1t is
sheared like a sheep, only its head is
left covered. 1t Is sometimes sheared
once year, yielding six to eight-inch
fleece, but the more provident Alpaca
farmers only shear once in two or three
years, when they get wool from fifteen
to thirty inches long. The wool is
found ranging in color from white
through gray, yellow and brown Ia
black. The animal looks black, how.
ever, as the fleece exudes an oil, and
mats with the dust of the mountain
pastures in which it roams at large,
The fleece is very fine in texture, metal
lie in lustre when clean, and the fibre
is far stronger than any sleeps WOO
which know.
The Alpaca is allowed to gaze al
, random, only being rounded in" tt
be sheared. 1t can only be domesticated
when young. An old Alpaca, separated
from its flock, will lie down and die Of
pure stubbornness and grief. Young
Alpacas are, however, herded in pad
docks, and become as familiar, quiet
: and impudent as dogs.
. They are gentle brutes, unlike theil
cousins, the Llamas, which are Otter
full of viciousness. The Alpaca nevel
gets over its shy and timorous wilt
habits, and though 1t seems to know ant
not fear the farmer and his men, The
/, /, mere sight of stranger in the distanc,
! will stampede it. The age to which al
! Alpaca will produce valuable WOO
: none of the farmers seem to know
When it ceases to be worth shearinl
they kill and eat it.
! The Alpaca farmer leads a life littl,
: better than that of the brute he live
on. His home is desolation itself. Hi
g., only amusement is eating and sleeping
! He scarcely knows even the vice o
! drunkenness. Excepta chance travele
= he never sees soul from years. end t,
e years. end but the priest, commonly al
Indian like himself, who strays up nov
: and then from his home in the lowe
: regions to collect his mass money, and
Il his train of pack animals. Most of tn,
D trading is half barter and half money
The visit of the trader is great occa
sion. Then the old iron scales ar
l brought out and hung on the bull'
. horn at the door, and the years harves
+, raked down from the loft of the hous
: where it has been stored. 1t is curl
Gus fact that the Alpaca farmer will
never let trader use any other scales
He. is afraid of being cheated. But h
let's the trader weigh the wool with hi
J own weights, and l fancy the trader i
satisfied with the bargain.
During the solitary portion of th
u ,,aor tha y,yOn,an ne fba Alnana farm