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holding in their hands bits of bamboo, and each clamoring to be served first!

For three or four hours I was engaged in manufacturing popguns, but at last made over my goodwill and interest in the concern to a lad of remarkably quick parts, whom I soon initiated into the art and mystery. Pop, pop, pop, pop! now resounded all over the valley.

Duels, skirmishes, pitched battles, and general engagements were to be seen on every side. Here, as you walked along a path which led through a thicket, you fell into a cunningly-laid ambush, and became a target for a body of musketeers, whose tattooed limbs you could just see peeping into view through the foliage. There you were assailed by the intrepid garrison of a house, who levelled their bamboo rifles at you from between the upright canes which composed its sides. Farther on, you were fired upon by a detachment of sharpshooters, mounted upon the top of a hut or hillock.

Pop, pop, pop, pop! green guavas, seeds, and berries, were flying about in every direction; and during this dangerous state of affairs, I was half afraid that, like the man and his brazen bull, I should fall a victim to my own ingenuity. Like everything else, however, the excitement gradually wore away, though ever after occasional pop-guns might be heard at all hours of the day. Melville's Marquesas.

LLAMAS, ALPACAS, VICUNAS, AND GUANACOS (S. AMERICA).

PERHAPS no animal of South America has attracted so much attention as the llama, as it was the only beast of burden the Indians had trained to their use, on the arrival of Europeans in that country. So many strange stories were told by the earlier Spanish travellers regarding this "camel-sheep," that it was natural that great interest should attach to it. These reported that the llama was used for riding. Such, however, is not the case. It is only trained to carry burdens, although an Indian boy may be sometimes seen on the back of a llama for mischief, or when crossing a stream, and the lad does not wish to get his feet wet.

The llama is three feet high from hoof to shoulder, though his long neck makes him look taller. His color is generally brown, with black and yellow shades, sometimes speckled or spotted; and there are black and white llamas, but these are rare. His wool is long and coarse, though the females, which are smaller have a finer and better wool. The latter are never used to carry burdens, but only kept for breeding. They are fed in flocks upon the heights, and it was a flock of these that our travellers saw near the hut.

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The males are trained to carry burdens at the age of four years. A pack-saddle, called yergua, woven out of coarse wool, is fastened on the back, and upon this the goods are placed. The burden never exceeds 120 or 130 pounds. Should a heavier one be put on, the llama, like the camel, quite understands that he is over-weighted," and neither coaxing nor beating will induce him to move a step. He will lie down, or, if much vexed, spit angrily at his driver, and this spittle has a highly acrid property, and will cause blisters on the skin where it touches. Sometimes a llama, over vexed by ill-treatment, has been known, in despair, to dash his brains out against a rock. The llamas are used much in the mines of Peru, for carrying the ore. They frequently serve better than either asses or mules, as they can pass up and down declivities where neither ass nor mule can travel. They are sometimes taken in long trains from the mountains down to the coast region, for salt and other goods; but on such occasions many of them die, as they cannot bear the warm climate of the lowlands. Their proper and native place is on the higher plains of the Andes. A string of llamas, when on a journey, is a very interesting spectacle. One of the largest is usually the leader. The rest follow in single file, at a slow, measured pace, their heads ornamented tastefully with ribands; while small bells, hanging around their necks, tinkle as they go. They throw their high heads from side to side, gazing around them; and when frightened at anything, will "break ranks," and scamper out of their path, to be collected again with some trouble.

The guanaco is larger than the llama, and for a long time was considered merely as the wild llama, or the llama run wild, in which you will perceive an essential distinction. It is neither but an animal of specific difference. It exists in a wild state in

the high mountains, though with great care and trouble it can be domesticated and trained to carry burdens as well as the llama. In form, it resembles the latter, but as is the case with most wild animals, the guanacos are all alike in color. The upper parts of the body are of a reddish brown, while underneath it is a dirty white. The lips are white, and the face a dark grey. The wool is shorter than that of the llama, and of the same length all over the body. The guanaco lives in herds of five or seven individuals, and these are very shy, fleeing to the most inaccessible cliffs when any one approaches them. Like the chamois of Switzerland, and the "bighorn" of the Rocky Mountains, they can glide along steep ledges where neither men nor dogs can find footing. The "alpaca," or "paco," as it is sometimes called, is one of the most useful of the Peruvian sheep, and is more like the common sheep than the others. This arises from its bulkier shape, caused by its thick fleece of long wool. The latter is soft, fine, and often five inches in length; and, as is well known, has become an important article in the manufacture of cloth. Its color is

usually either white or black, though there are some of the alpacas speckled or spotted. Ponchos are woven out of alpacawool by the Indians of the Andes.

The alpaca is a domesticated animal, like the llama, but it is not used for carrying burdens. It is kept in large flocks, and regularly shorn as sheep are. If one of the alpacas gets separated from the flock, it will lie down and suffer itself to be beaten to death, rather than go the way its driver wishes. You have, no doubt, sometimes seen a common sheep exhibit similar obstinacy.

Of all the Peruvian sheep, the vicuna is certainly the prettiest and most graceful. It has more the form of the deer or antelope than of the sheep, and its color is so striking that it has obtained among the Peruvians the name of the animal itself, color de vicuna (vicuna color). It is of a reddish yellow, not unlike that of our domestic red cat, although the breast and under parts of the body are white. The flesh of the vicuna is excellent eating, and its wool is of more value than even that of the alpaca. Where a pound of the former sells for one dollar—which is the usual price -the pound of alpaca will fetch only a quarter of that sum.

Mayne Reid.

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festive train, Each feather'd songster is warbling thy praise;

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Flowers are opening;

How fresh is the verdant green,
Tranquil the ripling stream,

Perfume fills the air,

2 Melody fills the grove,

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Brightness is everywhere,

Oh! 'tis sweet time to rove,

Beauty and sweetness you lavishly shed. Every young flower tree fair to the

Winter's gloom and cheerlessness has Heav'n is clothed in blue of richest hue.

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