CHAPTER VI.

UNGULATA--WILD CATTLE, SHEEP, AND GOATS.

WILD CATTLE.

The animals which form the group called the Bovidae (from the Latin _bos_, an ox), including cattle, sheep, goats, and their allies, differ in several respects from Cervidae, or deer. One of the most important differences is the structure of the horns. Those of the Bovidae are hollow and permanent, while the antlers of deer are made of solid bone and are deciduous, being renewed each year.

The wild cattle of New Zealand are (like the wild pigs) only domesticated animals which have been running in unfenced country for several generations back. They are not nearly so abundant to-day as they were forty or fifty years ago. In these earlier days most of the cattle on the larger runs--to whatever breed they belonged--were more or less wild. They became greatly excited when they saw a man on foot, for they were mostly accustomed to men on horseback, to whom they gave only a passing notice. When mobs of such half-wild cattle were to be yarded, either for branding of calves or for drafting, they were handled pretty roughly. On enclosed roads they were dangerous, and even in open country the presence of people on foot scared and often scattered them. It is no wonder that when such cattle got into wild country where they were undisturbed and never saw human beings they and their progeny quickly became quite wild. When I first came to Southland, about fifty years ago, we were bothered a good deal by wild cattle. They found shelter during severe winter weather in the extensive bush country which formed such a feature of Southland in those days, and they used to come into our paddocks overnight. Fences and ditches never troubled them: they hopped over them as if they were non-existent. In the open country it was impossible to approach them on foot, while even on horseback one had to make a wide circuit to get within range of them. The gradual settlement and enclosure of the land displaced them in time, and they are now found chiefly in distant and seldom-visited parts.

It is difficult to find exact records of the introduction of cattle into New Zealand. They were no doubt brought over by the missionaries, and also by the whalers who settled along the coast. Thus in 1833 John Bell set out from Sydney for Mana Island, in Cook Strait, with ten head of cattle and 102 sheep. Apart from a reference in Marsden’s journal to the landing of some cattle, this is the first record I can find since the days of Cook and Vancouver. In 1839 E. J. Wakefield saw wild cattle on the hills at the entrance of Pelorus Sound. In 1840 he states that they were abundant on Kapiti, and says that they were the descendants of some which were given to the Natives in exchange for flax. The Hon. S. Thorne George, writing to me four years ago, said, “When I first went to Kawau, in 1869, there was a large number of wild cattle. The island was originally occupied as a cattle-station, but owing to the rough country and heavy bush very many were lost and became quite wild.” Mr. A. C. Yarborough, of Kohukohu, informs me that forty years ago wild cattle were very numerous in all the bush country, and in those days Hokianga and the large areas of the west coast of the Island north of Auckland were nearly all covered with bush. The Natives used to kill them in large quantities for the sake of their hides, which were valued at 6s. to 12s. each. In later years these wild cattle have been driven farther and farther back, until they are now found only in the ranges distant from settlement. These cattle are merely the descendants of tame ones which have wandered, the Maoris’ fences being usually of a defective character.

The wild cattle of these early days were an extremely mixed lot, and it is hard to say to what breed they were most nearly allied. Shorthorns, Ayrshire, and Polled Angus were commonly mixed in the South Island, but all sorts of strains were represented.

Mr. B. C. Aston, who crossed over part of the Wellington district in 1914 and 1915, says, “Wild cattle are abundant in unfrequented valleys and gorges of the Tararua Range. They are apparently Hereford cattle gone wild. They eat out many species of native plants, and have destroyed great numbers of _Ligusticum dissectum_, which is one of the most abundant and characteristic plants of the higher ground.” He adds that cattle are particularly fond of certain native trees and shrubs, such as hinahina, karamu, broadleaf, mangrove, tawa, and karaka. I myself noticed in Ulva, in Paterson Inlet, forty years ago, that the only winter food for the cows was hinahina and similar small trees, which had to be cut down for them. My son Stuart informs me that wild cattle are found in the high country between Lake Wakatipu and the west coast of the South Island; their tracks are numerous, for example, in the valley of the Rockburn.

In 1841 cattle were first introduced into the Chatham Islands. Many of them soon became wild, and used to be trapped by the Natives in the early “sixties.” Wild cattle are now very numerous in the central tableland.

In 1850 cattle were landed on the Auckland Islands, but they were all killed off by sealers. In 1894 cattle were landed from the “Hinemoa” at Enderby and Rose Islands for the use of shipwrecked mariners who were unfortunate enough to be cast ashore on these inhospitable shores. Dr. Cockayne tells me that in 1903 there were about fifteen and ten head respectively on these two islands, and Mr. B. C. Aston adds that on Enderby Island they have exterminated the huge tussocks of _Poa litorosa_.

WILD SHEEP.

The first attempt to introduce sheep into New Zealand was made by Captain Cook during his second voyage to this country. It was unsuccessful, but the record is interesting. He brought away two rams and four ewes from the Cape of Good Hope, but by the time the “Resolution” entered Dusky Sound in March, 1773, only a ram and a ewe survived, and they were in such a bad state, “suffering from an inveterate sea-scurvy,” that their teeth were loose, and they could not eat the green food which was given to them. Forster in his journal states that they “were in so wretched a condition that their further preservation was very doubtful.” However, they must have improved, for, considering the country about Dusky Sound too rough and forest-clad for them, Cook took them on to Queen Charlotte Sound, which was entered on the 18th May. In his journal he says, “On the 22nd, in the morning, the ewe and ram I had with so much care and trouble brought to this place were both found dead, occasioned, as was supposed, by eating some poisonous plant. Thus my hopes of stocking this country with a breed of sheep were blasted in a moment.” Most probably they had eaten tutu, which is common in the Marlborough Sounds district.

I cannot find when sheep were next brought into New Zealand, but as soon as settlement began they were freely imported from New South Wales. In those early days fences were very rough, and little or no attempt was made to keep sheep within enclosures. They were therefore allowed to roam freely over the open country, and were mustered at only rare intervals for shearing, tailing the lambs, culling, &c. It was inevitable, therefore, that numbers escaped the musterers, especially in high and inaccessible country, and that thus wild sheep became very common in the mountainous districts of the South Island.

Wild sheep are still abundant in some of the wilder parts of the country, and are especially numerous in the high limestone country of Marlborough. Much of this country is a _terra incognita_, for it is most inaccessible, except in certain rare states of the river-gorges, and very few people know anything about it. Mr. Aston, who recently visited this region on a botanical quest, says, “On the north-west side of Isolated Hill is a gently sloping tussock-land, stretching down towards the Ure River, on which are hundreds of wild sheep in small flocks of about half a dozen in each. All--rams, ewes, and particularly the lambs--are, as far as we could see, in excellent condition. Some were curiously marked and coloured. One had a brown body, black legs and face, and white forehead. The rams had large horns, and all were tamer than ordinary domestic sheep. Their food appears to consist of the silver-tussock (_Poa caespitosa_)--which was well eaten down--spear-grass, and several other native plants and shrubs.” In another part of his account he adds, “These sheep destroy the mountain-ribbonwood trees (_Gaya Lyallii_) by eating the bark, which we watched one stripping off in large sheets.”

In the district of Strath Taieri, in Otago, some forty years ago certain sheep on one of the runs--probably the progeny of a single ram--were found to be evidently short-winded. Apparently the action of the heart was defective, for when these sheep were driven they would run with the rest of the flock for a short distance, and then lie down panting. The result of this peculiar affection was that at nearly every mustering these short-winded sheep used to be left behind, being unable to be driven with the rest. Sometimes they were brought on more slowly afterwards, but if it happened to be shearing-time they were simply caught and shorn where they lay. As a result of this peculiar condition a form of artificial selection was set up, the vigorous, active sheep being constantly drafted away for sale, &c., while this defective strain increased with great rapidity throughout the district, for whenever the mobs were mustered for the market, shearing, or drafting, these “cranky sheep,” as they came to be called, were left behind.

This defective character appeared in every succeeding generation, and seemed to increase in force, reminding one of the Ancon sheep referred to by Darwin. At first, of course, the character was not recognized as hereditary, but as the numbers of this “cranky” breed increased to a very great extent, and spread over the district, it came at last to be recognized as a local variety. When the runs on which these sheep were abundant were cut up and sold, or released in smaller areas, the purchasers found it necessary, for the protection of their own interests, to exterminate the variety, of which hundreds were found straggling over the country. This was easily and effectively done in the following manner: As soon as a sheep of this variety was observed it was pursued, but after running for a couple of hundred yards at a great rate of speed it would drop down panting behind a big stone or other shelter, and seemed incapable for a time of rising and renewing its flight. It was immediately destroyed, and in this manner a useless--but to the naturalist a very interesting--variety was eliminated.

Sheep were introduced into the Chatham Islands in the early “forties,” but as late as 1855 there were only about two hundred of them. When sheep-stations were organized in 1866 there were about two thousand on the island, and by 1900 they had increased to about sixty thousand, and by this time a great many had become wild. Dr. Cockayne says they have profoundly altered the native vegetation by eating out many characteristic species of plants, such as _Myosotidium nobile_, _Aciphylla Traversii_, _Veronica Dieffenbachii_, and allied species, all of which they eat greedily.

On the Auckland Islands sheep have been liberated at various times since 1890, and on the Antipodes between 1886 and 1900, for the benefit of shipwrecked mariners, but they either died off or were killed by castaways. They were also liberated on Campbell Island between 1888 and 1890. In 1896 the island was taken up as a sheep-run--a piece of vandalism on the part of the men who did it and the Government which granted it--and in 1903 there were about 4,500 sheep on it. The changes produced in the vegetation have been described and discussed at length by Dr. Cockayne. In 1907, according to Mr. R. M. Laing, there were some eight thousand sheep on the island, and the transformation and destruction of the native flora was going on at a great rate.

WILD GOATS.

The introduction of goats dates from Captain Cook’s second voyage. He says in his journal, “On June 2, 1773, I sent on shore on the east side of the sound [Queen Charlotte Sound] two goats, male and female. The former was something more than a year old, but the latter was much older. She had two fine kids some time before we arrived in Dusky Bay, which were killed by cold.” Forster in his journal says they were left by Captain Furneaux in an unfrequented part of East Bay, “this place being fixed on in hopes that they would there remain unmolested by the Natives, who, indeed, were the only enemies they had to fear.”

On the third voyage the “Resolution” was in Queen Charlotte Sound from the 12th to the 25th February, 1777, and Captain Cook says, “I gave Matahouah two goats (a male and a female with kid) and to Tomatongeauooranuc two pigs (a boar and a sow). They made me a promise not to kill them, though I must own I put no great faith in this. The animals which Captain Furneaux sent on shore here, and which soon after fell into the hands of the Natives, I was now told were all dead.”

It is popularly believed that the wild goats of New Zealand are descended from those introduced by Captain Cook; but while this may be partly true of those in the South Island, especially at its northern end, it can hardly explain those found in the North Island. It is more likely that they are descended from escaped animals. Mr. F. G. Gibbs tells me that goats were imported into Nelson some time in the “forties.” “In the ‘fifties’ a large number were kept tethered on some hills in the Maitai Valley, still called the Goat Hills. Some of these goats escaped into the back country, and were the progenitors of the wild goats.”

Wild goats are very abundant in many parts of New Zealand. Great numbers of them are to be met with in the rocky and precipitous country west of Palliser Bay, near Wellington. Except when they move they are difficult to see, as their colours blend almost undistinguishably with that of their natural surroundings. They were abundant also on Kapiti Island, but have recently been greatly reduced in number by the caretaker, who has shot several thousands. They also occur, though not so commonly, on the sparsely scrub-clad faces of the west coast north and south of Hokianga, as well as on the outskirts of bush land. In the high country of Marlborough they are very abundant, and are mainly of three colours--black (which is, perhaps, the commonest), khaki, and white. In a trip through the cañon of the Ure River Mr. B. C. Aston says, “The fusillades of stones showered down on us by the goats which we had disturbed were a source of ever-present danger.” Mr. W. R. Bullen, of Kaikoura, informs me that they are numerous on his run, but, while they eat very much the same food as the sheep do, they keep the scrub and bush open, so that the sheep can move through it.

Writing of things in the Lake Wakatipu district, Mr. L. Hotop, of Queenstown, tells me that there is an immense number of wild goats spread all over the Lakes district--a moderate estimate gives them as many as thirty thousand. “They are principally at Moonlight, Skipper’s, Sandhills, and at the lower end of the lake, seriously interfering with the pasturage in these localities; one runholder has paid year after year for as many as one thousand during the season. At Moonlight a digger, during the past nine months [in 1916], has shot 550. My informant tells me he was offered 2s. 3d. a skin for as many as he could send.”

Mr. W. H. Gates, of Skipper’s, writing in 1916, said, “There are a lot of wild goats here, almost within rifle-range of my cabin. One sheep-farmer gave 1s. for each pair of ears, and 1s. for each pelt. The male is a rough-looking customer; some have horns 15 in. in length and 2½ in. by 1¾ in. at the root, and they grow in a slightly spiral form. I think there is a strain of many breeds running through them all. Some have long hair, but are not the Angora breed. Some are almost white, but the chief colours are black-and-white or black-and-tan. I have noticed here (and also on the west coast) that the female has her young in the winter, when food is not plentiful. Why this is so I never could understand.”

Goats are still found wild on the Galloway Station, Central Otago, though not so abundantly as in former years. They live in the high country, and do not come down to the settlements. Mr. A. Gunn, who managed this large run for many years, tells me that they are of great use to sheep-farmers, as they keep down the “lawyers” (_Rubus australis_), and thus save the sheep from being entangled. In shooting them, if the wind is coming from their direction, you can smell them before you see them; and a billygoat is always found standing on guard while they are feeding. While they are of many colours, black-and-white is the commonest, though brownish-red, grey, and even occasionally a white one is found. They live in the roughest places they can find.

Goats are also found in considerable numbers round the south-east corner of the South Island, but whether they have escaped from the settlements about Preservation Inlet or have worked overland from Southland it is not possible to say with certainty. Probably the former is the explanation of their occurrence from Puysegur Point inland.

The attempts made from time to time to acclimatize goats on the outlying Southern Islands are of interest. Captain Enderby landed some on Enderby Island in 1850, and Captain Norman landed them on both the Auckland and Enderby Islands in 1865, but none appear to have survived. Dr. Cockayne says, “Two or three were landed on Ewing Island in 1895, but none have been seen recently. On Ocean Island, a very small islet in the Auckland Group, goats are numerous at the present time, but I have no details as to how they got there.” Captain Bollons, of the “Hinemoa,” writing me in February, 1916, speaks also of the last-named island, and adds, “Goats have been sent down from time to time to the Auckland Islands since 1890, most of which have either died or been killed off for food by castaways. At the Snares they were liberated about 1889, but soon died off. At Campbell Island some were landed in 1883 and 1890, and several were alive when the main island was taken up for a sheep-run in 1896. At the Antipodes several were liberated between 1886 and 1900, but were either used for food by the castaways or died off.”

OTHER SPECIES OF BOVIDAE.

The Tourist Department has in recent years introduced various species of large game into New Zealand. Thus a small number of thar, or Himalayan goats (_Capra jemlaica_), are now running wild on the Sealey Range, near Mount Cook. Apparently they are increasing rapidly.

Chamois are also increasing in the neighbourhood of Mount Cook. The first were introduced in 1907, when eight were received as a present from the late Emperor of Austria. By latest accounts there is now a considerable flock in that mountain region.