=Alpaca= (_Auchenia Paco_), an animal of the same genus with the llama,
belongs to the Camel family, is the half-domesticated form of the wild
vicuna. It is remarkable for the length and fineness of the wool, which
is of a silken texture, and of an uncommonly lustrous, almost metallic
appearance. The alpaca is smaller than the llama, and, in form, somewhat
resembles the sheep, but has a longer neck and more elegant head. It
carries its long neck erect; its motions are free and active, its
ordinary pace a rapid, bounding canter. The eyes are very large and
beautiful. The wool, if regularly shorn, is supposed to grow about six
or eight inches in a year; but if allowed to remain upon the animal for
several years, attains a much greater length, sometimes even thirty
inches, and not unfrequently twenty. Its color varies; it is often
yellowish brown; sometimes gray, or approaching to white; sometimes
almost black.
The alpaca is a native of the Andes, from the equator to Tierra del
Fuego, but is most frequent on the highest mountains of Peru and Chile,
almost on the borders of perpetual snow, congregating in flocks of one
or two hundred. The Peruvians keep vast flocks of them for the sake of
the silky luster and fineness of their wool, which furnishes material
for the best of fabrics.
The alpaca does not acclimatize in other regions of the world, and all
attempts to introduce and establish it as a wool-bearing animal in
Europe and the United States have failed.
=Ass= (_Equus asinus_), a species of the horse genus, supposed to have
sprung from the wild variety (_Asinus tæniopus_) found in Abyssinia. It
differs from the horse in having short hair at the root of the tail and
a long tuft at the end, in the absence of warts on the hind-legs, and in
the persistence of stripes, except in albinos. The upright mane, the
long ears, the cross stripe on the shoulders, and the dark bands on the
back are also characteristic. The domestication took place at an early
date, probably before that of the horse. It was brought to Mexico and
South America by the Spaniards.
In Arabia, Syria, Egypt, Spain, Kentucky, and elsewhere asses are well
cared for, and the breed has been considerably varied and improved. The
stupidity for which the animal has for long been proverbially reproached
seems largely the result of human influence.
The MULE is a hybrid bred between mare and male ass; while the hinny is
the rarer result of hybridism between horse and female ass. The mule is
much nearer in temper and appearance to the ass than to the horse; the
hinny in some points resembles the horse more, as it neighs, while the
mule brays like the ass. The ass is admirably adapted for a beast of
burden, being remarkable for endurance, hardiness, and docility under
kind treatment. It varies greatly in size, from dwarf forms only twenty
to thirty inches high in the West Indies to fine Spanish and American
breeds sixteen hands high.
The BURRO, used almost exclusively as a pack animal by miners and
prospectors in the mountain regions of the western states, is a small
form.
=Banteng= (_Bos sondaicus_), a species of ox, a native of Java and
Borneo, which, in color, shape, horns, and absence of dewlap, bears some
resemblance in appearance and ferocity to the gaur (_Bos gaurus_) of
India. It is black, with white legs; the hair is short and sleek; the
limbs slender; the muzzle sharp; the back rises into a high arch
immediately behind the neck.
=Camel= (_camelus_), called by the Arabs the “ship of the desert” is a
misshapen animal of the even-toed group. In this family, the upper lip
is hairy and deeply cleft; the neck is very long; the feet (with two
toes) are not enhoofed, but provided with callous soles; and the stomach
has three compartments. The family includes the camels proper and the
various forms of alpaca.
The camels are well known for their large size, for their dorsal humps,
for their callosities on knees, breast, etc., for the common sole
uniting the two toes. The ears are small and rounded; the short tail
bears a terminal switch; the hair is tangled and felted; a single young
one is born; and the diet is wholly vegetarian.
One species is usually spoken of as the DROMEDARY. It has a single hump
and a generally reddish-gray color. There are many breeds, and the
dromedary is the most agile of these. Apart from its use in transit and
transport, the flesh is eaten, the milk made into butter and cheese, the
hair woven into fabrics of various degrees of fineness, and the skin
tanned.
The other camel is known as the Bactrian, and is distinguished by its
slightly larger size, two dorsal humps, and somewhat finer brown or
reddish hair. This camel is bred in central Asia, and in its
adaptability to domestication, as well as in its natural adaptation to
desert life, is a most useful animal. Its frugal diet, its powers of
storing water and of going long without a fresh supply, and its great
strength are very familiar facts. A camel will eat almost any herbage or
green thing it comes across, even dried, leafless twigs. The hair of
the camel forms the woof and cotton the warp of the famous Persian
camel’s-hair cloth. Coarser camel’s wool or hair is imported for various
purposes.
The Bactrian camel can carry one thousand pounds weight or more, and the
dromedary proper can cover one hundred miles in a day. The ordinary jog
of a camel is about two and one-half miles an hour, but this can be kept
up for many days with little food and less drink. A swift dromedary may
go ten miles an hour. A thousand or more may journey in a caravan, and
the amount of food carried is surprisingly small. The hump must be in
good condition before starting. In the stomach-reservoirs a gallon and a
half of water can be stowed away. Like some other frugal animals, the
camel enjoys a long life of thirty or forty years.
In disposition the camel is peculiarly stolid, not to say stupid.
Whether domestication has been too much for it, there can be no doubt
that its “docility” is more the result of habitual nonchalance than any
outcome of intelligent subservience. It is usually very submissive,
except when habitually thwarted or ill-treated.
The camel is the most useful and important of all African domestic
animals; without it commerce would be impossible across some districts
which are nearly devoid of water and plants. In Australia, also, it has
become valuable for interior expeditions, and camel corps have been
formed by European troops in the Sudan, and are a permanent branch of
the Egyptian army.
[Illustration: =BLUE RUSSIAN=]
[Illustration: =ABYSSINIAN=]
[Illustration: =PERSIAN, OR ANGORA= (above) =MALTESE KITTENS= (below)]
=Cat= (_Felis domestica_) is known to everybody. Its nearest relation is
the WILD CAT (_Felis catus_), but it is not a tamed descendant of this
wild cat but seems, like other domestic animals, to have come from the
East. It is usually, though not with absolute certainty, regarded as the
descendant of the Egyptian cat which was domesticated in Egypt thirteen
centuries B. C. From Egypt the domestic cat spread through Europe, and
was confined to those who could afford a high price for the pet.