"Yorkshire." Having held it up to the light,
and held it away from the light, and held it
in all sorts of positions, and done all sorts of
cruelties to it, as though it had been his most
deadly enemy and he was feeling quite
vindictive; he placed a handful or two in his
pocket and walked calmly away, evidently
intending to put the stuff to some excruciating
private tortures at home.

What particular experiments he tried with
this fibrous substance, I am not exactly in
a position to relate, nor does it much signify;
but the sequel was, that the same quiet
business-looking man was seen to enter the office
of C. W. and F. Foozle and Co., and ask for
the head of the firm. When he asked that
portion of the house if he would accept of
eightpence per pound for the entire contents
of the three hundred and odd frowsy, dusty
bags of nondescript wool, the authority
interrogated felt so confounded, that he could
not have told if he were the head or the tail
of the firm. At first he fancied our friend
had come for the express purpose of quizzing
him; then that he was an escaped lunatic,
and thought seriously of calling for the police;
but eventually it ended in his making over to
him the bill of lading for the goods in
consideration of the price offered.

It was quite an event in the little dark
office of C. W. and F. Foozle and Co., which
had its supply of light (of a very inferior
quality) from the grim old church-yard.
All the establishment stole a peep at the
buyer of the "South American stuff." The
chief clerk had the curiosity to speak to him
and hear him reply. The cashier touched his
coat-tails; the book-keeper, a thin man in
spectacles, examined his hat and gloves; the
porter openly grinned at him. When the
quiet purchaser had departed, C. W. and F.
Foozle and Co. shut themselves up, and gave
all their clerks a holiday.

But if the sellers had cause for rejoicing,
not less so had the buyer. Reader, those
three hundred and odd bales of queer-looking
South American stuff contained "Alpaca
Wool," at that date entirely unknown to
manufacturers, and which it would still have
been but for the fortunate enterprise of one
intelligent, courageous man. That bold
manufacturer was Mr. Titus Salt, in those days a
mere beginner, with a very few thousands to
aid him in his upward career, but at present
one of the wealthiest amongst the wealthy
men of Bradford in Yorkshire. His fortune
has been altogether built up by the aid of this
same "Alpaca," to the manufacture of which
he has for the last dozen years devoted the
whole of his time and energies.

Alpaca is the long hair-like wool, from
an animal something between a camel and a
sheep, found in vast numbers in Peru. It is
of the Llama tribe, and thrives only upon the
elevated table-lands of the interior of South
America, where it roams at full liberty, being
gregarious, but is never kept in flocks of any
number. They have been tried on the low
lands, nearer the sea-coast of their own
country, but, either from the excessive heat
or the extreme moisture of those positions,
always without success. The existence of the
wool, as also of fabrics made from it, has long
been known. Pizarro is said to have brought
portions of the raw and woven articles to
Spain on his return from his American
conquests. Attempts have, on more than one
occasion, been made to naturalize the Llama
in this country, but as yet unsuccessfully.
The late Earl of Derby possessed a few, and
these are at present in the hands of Mr. Salt,
and giving promise of multiplying.

The first sample of this hair arrived in
England in a very imperfect condition. It
now reaches us very clear and lustrous, and
is known by its extreme brightness and softness.
In colour it varies, being black, brown,
grey, and white, and of several shades of
each of these. As may be imagined, many
trials of this new fibre had to be made, and
many modifications of the existing woollen
machinery to be undertaken, before the article
could be successfully and profitably worked
up. Mechanical ingenuity has, however, overcome
every obstacle; and in the present day
we may see very many beautiful and economical
fibres produced not only with this, but
by blending it in its manufacture with cotton,
linen, wool, and even silk.

At first, none but very plain and rather
coarse goods were produced from Alpaca, and
these were, consequently, not in general
favour, although their extreme lightness has
always rendered them most agreeable for
warm weather wear. With time and patience
many great improvements have been introduced;
and now, not only are Alpaca goods
produced in every conceivable variety and
style, but at all prices, to suit the pockets of
almost any class of the community. Blended
with silk thread they are made to look like
a fine lustrous satteen. With figures and
patterns of various kinds thrown up on them
in silk of different hues, they serve as admirable
substitutes for figured silks, both
for ladies' dresses and waistcoat pieces.
"Backed" with cotton or linen yarn, they
receive a solidity which is very suitable for
many purposes; whilst, with cotton woven
amongst its fibres, the article may be sold at
such a moderate price as at once to bring it
within the reach of the most humble.

There can scarcely be a stronger proof of
the improvements which must have taken
place in this manufacture, than the single
fact—that although, upon its first introduction,
Alpaca wool was but eightpence or
tenpence the pound, and is now worth two
shillings and sixpence, the goods produced
from it are sold at one half the old price.

The principal seat of the Alpaca manufacture,
is at and around Bradford in Yorkshire,
a town which is not only rapidly rising into
importance from the skill and persevering