Walsh. — On the Effect of Deer on the Bush. 437 



the chain of destruction preparing the way for the next at an 

 accelerated rate of progression until the ruin is complete, 

 when sooner or later the desolated region is swept by the fire 

 from some neighbouring clearing, and at last a few charred 

 stumps and bleaching skeletons are all that is left to mark the 

 irretrievable loss of a paradise of beauty. 



That this destruction is constantly going on may be seen 

 in all the older settlements, where it may be observed in the 

 rapidly -shrinking area of the standing forest and in the pre- 

 vailing grey and brown tones of the tree-tops, which, with the 

 dry and lifeless branches, impart an air of gloomy monotony 

 to the portions which still remain. In some districts whole 

 families of trees are fast disappearing. Of the tawa, a tree of 

 very wide distribution and one whose value is just beginning 

 to be recognised, it is now in many places a rare thing to find 

 a perfect specimen.* The thin bark on its slender superficial 

 roots bleeds to death on the slightest injury, and the tree 

 rapidly perishes. The mahoe and the ngaio, once found in 

 abundance on the Auckland isthmus, are now almost a thing 

 of the past ; and the whau, a handsome broad-leaved shrub 

 which flourished in rich volcanic situations, is, in most settled 

 districts, practically extinct.! Other trees make a longer 

 struggle for life ; but, sooner or later, with few exceptions and 

 under more than usually favourable circumstances, they all 

 succumb to their change of condition. 



All this lamentable ruin has been brought about in a very 

 few years mainly by the cattle of the settler, many of which 

 have gone wild and roam in constantly-increasing numbers 

 among the forest-clad ranges ; and, as has already been ascer- 

 tained, wherever the deer have found a home their ravages 

 upon the vegetation are even more rapid and fatal than those 

 of the cattle. Nor is this surprising when we recollect that 

 the instinct of these animals causes them to seek the protec- 

 tion afforded by the seclusion of the bush, and the fact that 

 they are less dependent than the bovine species upon the 

 grasses and other products of the open country, while actual 

 observation of their haunts shows that not only are the twigs 

 and foliage cropped to a most injurious extent, but that even 

 trees of considerable size are frequently denuded of their 

 bark. 



It must, of course, be admitted that there are many species 

 of trees which even a deer will not touch, and that the larger 

 specimens are beyond the reach of their attack. But, although 

 this is the case, still every one at all acquainted with the 

 subject knows how difficult it is, even under the most favour- 



* See Kirk's "Forest Flora of New Zealand," article " Tawa." 

 t L.c, article " Whau." 



