When In Blossom, They Add A Little
More; And, Lastly, When The Pods Are Completely Formed, They Add A Good
Handful more to each plant, always taking care to supply them with
water, as it never rains in this country;
Otherwise, the salts contained
in the manure, not being dissolved, would burn the plants, as has been
found by experience. It is also for this reason that this manure is laid
on at different times, as already explained, the necessity of which has
been found by long use, and by the superior value of the crops thus
produced.
For the carriage of this guana, or fowl's dung, the people at Arica
generally use that sort of little camels which the Indians of Bern call
Llamas, the Chilese, Chilihneque, and the Spaniards, Carneros de la
tierra, or native sheep. The heads of these animals are small in
proportion to their bodies, and are somewhat in shape between the head
of a horse and that of a sheep, the upper lips being cleft like that of
a hare, through which they can spit to the distance of ten paces against
any one who offends them, and if the spittle happens to fall on the face
of a person, it causes a red itchy spot. Their necks are long, and
concavely bent downwards, like that of a camel, which animal they
greatly resemble, except in having no hunch on their backs, and in being
much smaller. Their ordinary height is from four feet to four and a
half; and their ordinary burden does not exceed an hundred-weight.
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