Llamas were found domesticated when South America was first discovered by the Spaniards, and as there were then no Mules or Horses there, these creatures were employed exclusively as beasts of burden, as well as for their flesh, their wool, and hides. Their disposition and their habits also resemble those of the Camel. They have their own peculiar gait and speed, from which they cannot well be made to vary. When irritated they foam at the mouth and spit, sulking and lying down when overloaded. As beasts of draught their most important use is to convey the ores from the mines of Potosi and elsewhere in the Andean range. From the account of Augustin de Zerate, who was a Peruvian Spanish Government official in the middle of the sixteenth century, we learn that “in places where there is no snow the natives want water, and to supply this deficiency they fill the skins of Sheep [Llamas being meant] with water, and make other living _Sheep_ carry them, for it must be remarked that these _Sheep_ of Peru are large enough to serve as beasts of burden. They can carry about one hundred pounds or more, and the Spaniards used to ride them, and they would go four or five leagues a day. When they are weary they lie down upon the ground, and as there is no means of making them get up, either by beating or assailing them, the load must of necessity be taken off. When there is a man on one of them, if the beast is tired he turns his head round and discharges his saliva, which has an offensive odour, into the rider’s face. These animals are of great use and service to their masters, for their wool is very good and fine, particularly that of the breed called Pacas, which have very long fleeces; and the expense of their food is trifling, as a handful of maize suffices them, and they can go four or five days without water. Their flesh is as good as that of the fat Sheep of Castile.” [Illustration: LLAMA.] It is somewhat difficult to decide exactly the relations of the wild to the domesticated species of the Llamas. It seems most probable that there are two true species, known as the Huanacos (_Lama huanacos_) and the Vicuna (_Lama vicugna_), of the former of which the true Llama is a domesticated variety, as the Alpaca is of the latter.