2-982-189 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Flock of Lllamas, just imported from Peru, 1858. Mr. Benjamin Whitehead Gee's llamas '...are very docile and tractable; their countenances exhibit marked expressions of intelligence, the eyes are large and bright, and their sight is keen; the colour of the fleece is generally brown and some black, there are a few of these nearly jet black...The fleece is found from four to six inches long, fine and soft within, with coarse hairs scattered through it...it very much resembles the fleece of a black sheep; the average weight of fleeces is about ten pounds, the bellies being generally bare; and its value is greater than that of sheep wool. The excellence and durability of alpaca cloth are well known, forming material for a garment which, for hot climates, is more suitable than silk...great credit is due to the importer of these animals for the trouble and risk he has taken in introducing so valuable a flock of the llama. They have cost nearly £3000, and we hope that his exertions will not go unrewarded'. From "Illustrated London News", 1858.