1773* ROUND THE WORLD. 245 



hands of the natives, whose wandering way of life 

 will hinder them from breeding, even suppose they 

 should be taken proper eare of. Indeed they took 

 rather too much care of those which I had already 

 given them, by keeping them continually confined, 

 for fear of losing them in the woods. The sow pig 

 we had not seen since the day they had her from 

 me ; but we were now told she was still living, as 

 also the old boar and sow given them by Captain 

 Furneaux ; so that there is reason to hope they may 

 succeed. It will be unfortunate, indeed, if every 

 method I have taken to provide this country with 

 useful animals should be frustrated. We were like- 

 wise told that the two goats were still alive and run- 

 ning about, but I gave more credit to the first story 

 than this. I should have replaced them, by leaving 

 the only two I had left, but had the misfortune to 

 lose the ram soon after our arrival here in a manner 

 we could hardly account for. They were both put 

 ashore at the tents, where they seemed to thrive 

 very well : at last the ram was taken with fits border- 

 ing on madness. We were at a loss to tell whether 

 it was occasioned by any thing he had eaten, or by 

 being stung with nettles, which were in plenty about 

 the place, but supposed it to be the latter, and there- 

 fore did not take the care of him we ought to have 

 done. One night while he was lying by the sentinel, 

 he was seized with one of these fits, and ran headlong 

 into the sea, but soon came out again and seemed 

 quite easy. Presently after, he was seized with 

 another fit, and ran along the beach, with the she- 

 goat after him. Some time after she returned, but 

 the other was never seen more. Diligent search was 

 made for him in the woods to no purpose ; we, there- 

 fore, supposed he had run into the sea a second time 

 and had been drowned. After this accident, it would 

 have been in vain to leave the she-goat as she was 

 not with kid, having kidded but a few days before 

 we arrived, and the kids dead. Thus the reader will 



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