The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-06-26

quantities on the banks of the lake, and
they are, in fact, RATS formed of rolls of
reeds so tied and woven together that they
keep out the water. Only a roll of reeds
about the top of the balsa keeps the passen-
gers in, and they must sit fiat on the floor
These reeds are also used for making
bridges, ropes and baskets The people roof
their houses with them, and they are al
most as important plants to them as the
bamboo is 10 the Chinese.
THE LLAMAS OF THE ANDES.
Much of the freight that is brought to
Lake Titicaca is on llamas The word is
pronounced ''yahmah" These animals are.
to a great extent, the freight wagons of the
Andes You see them by the hundreds ev-
erywhere ON this Titicaca plateau. found
them loaded with silver ore at the mines in
the mountains of central Peru, and saw
thousands of them feeding upon the pampas
over which crossed on my way here. They
are the most graceful beasts I have ever
seen. They walk along the road with their
little heads high up in the air, and seem to
tread as though they owned the earth. They
have heads like a camel, bodies like sheep
and feet and legs much like a deer. They
are not sulky looking. like the camel, and
are far more aristocratic in their actions.
When you lead a camel he cries like baby.
The tears roll down his cheeks. and as he
marches off he pouts and pouts and groans
and groans. The llama carries his burden
with proud air and pr:cks up his ears for
all the world like a skye terrier at every
new thing he sees. He will carry only so
much, and the usual load for llama is
one hundred pounds. If you put on more he
does not cry or groan, but calmly kneels
down and will not move until the load is
lightened. If you make him angry he does
not bite you as does the camel.
He merely shows his contempt by splitting
upon you. 1 would rather be kicked by a
government mule than be spat upon by a
llama He chews his cud like cow and
has a special reservoir somewhere in his
anatomy we'll stored for such an occasion. A
llama's spittle smells worse than the
weapon of the polecat. If once hit, it is al
most impossible to get the scent out of your
clothes, and no one wants to be near you
until you have had bath and a change 1
find, however, that most of the llamas 1
have handled are gentle, and I have had
good opportunities to study them. They
are everywhere about me on this plateau
Some are almost snow white some are seal
brown and few black and spotted. Their
wool is very long and beautiful rugs are
made of it, The Indians are very fond of
their llamas. They pet them and talk to
them. They sometimes dye their wool and
often tie bright-colored ribbons through
holes in their ears. They always walk be-
side them when journey, stopping from
time to time to let the animals Craze upon
the way. The wool Of most of the ponchos
which form the overcoats and snawIs of the
people of this plateau is from llamas 1t is
spun by the women who whether tending
the focks or walking along the road, al
ways have spinning spool in their hands.
They weave the wool themselves, and out of
it make all of the clothes of the family.
The llama not only clothes and through the
money received from him as a freight car
rier feeds these people, but he warns them
as well. There is no wood on this high,
desolate plateau. Wood all over the west
ern part of Peru is very costly. In the mar
kets of Arequipa each customer carries
homo bundle of twigs or rather roots and
bushes with his vegetables and meats, and
this forms the fuel for cooking the days
meal. No one thinks of using fuel for any
thing but cooking, and none Of the cities of
this part of the world have chimneys, fur
naces, heating stoves or Replaces
On the plateau of Bolivia in which Tit
caca lies there not even bushes, and
almost the sole fuel is composed of the
dropping of the llama. Every hut has a
pile of this fuel beside it's fireplace and
the better classes of houses have special
quarters for it. La Paz, which is a city of
nearly $4,000 people, depends entirely on
the llamas for its fuel, and the steam
which moves the dynamos of the electric
light plant of the city is created by fire
of llama manure. The cooking is all done
over such fires, and for this reason 1 have
for the time given up such things as
brOiled beefsteaks and mutton chops, and
am now sticking religiously to soups, fries
and to all victuals cooked in pans. In this
connection it seems a curious dispensation
of Providence that the llama has one place
for making his fuel deposits. He uses the
same place every day when possible, and
the manure is thus easily saved.
Llamas have curious habits as to their
love affairs The female 1 am told, picks
out the male whom she especially loves and
makes all the advances. The males are big
ger than the females. and 1 have seen it
stated that the latter are not used to carry
burdens. This is a mistake, for the freight
trains of lamas which 1 have seen, often
numbering hundreds seemed to have almost
as many females as males. About La Paz
1 am told that the females are used as much
as the males for carrying burdens, but that
the sexes are always kept separate in the
freight caravans.
The flesh of the llama is spongy and not
of agreeable flavor. Still, it is eaten by the
Indians, and llama stew forms favorite
dish There are other animals of the same
class as the llama which live on these high
lands. such as the vicuna pronounced vi
cunya), which runs wild, and which is not
so large, but more beautiful than the llama
and the alpaca, grown chiefly for its wool
and which is herded in flocks as we herd
our sheep. FRANK G. CARPENTER.