But all this is
compensated by the little care and cost required for its
management and its maintenance. It picks up an easy subsistence
from the moss and stunted herbage that grow scantily along the
withered sides and the steeps of the Cordilleras. The structure
of its stomach, like that of the camel, is such as to enable it
to dispense with any supply of water for weeks, nay, months
together. Its spongy hoof, armed with a claw or pointed talon to
enable it to take secure hold on the ice, never requires to be
shod; and the load laid upon its back rests securely in its bed
of wool, without the aid of girth or saddle. The llamas move in
troops of five hundred or even a thousand, and thus, though each
individual carries but little, the aggregate is considerable.
The whole caravan travels on at its regular pace, passing the
night in the open air without suffering from the coldest
temperature, and marching in perfect order, and in obedience to
the voice of the driver. It is only when overloaded that the
spirited little animal refuses to stir, and neither blows nor
caresses can induce him to rise from the ground. He is as sturdy
in asserting his rights on this occasion, as he is usually docile
and unresisting. *2
[Footnote 2: Ibid., p. 23, et seq. - Garcilasso, Com. Real.,
Parte 1, lib. 8, cap. 16. - Acosta, lib. 4, cap. 41.
Llama, according to Garcilasso de la Vega, is a Peruvian word
signifying "flock." (Ibid., ubi supra.) The natives got no milk
from their domesticated animals; nor was milk used, I believe, by
any tribe on the American continent.
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