532 Proceedings. 



turned out I13' Dr. Best, who had occupied a run there. Tliere are still a 

 few in that locality, near Carnarvon — about one to the hundred acres. 

 .\ year or two ago they seemed to be increasing on the Oroua Downs run, 

 and the manager employed men to destroy them, and killed off several 

 hundreds. I ne.xt saw rabbits towards the end of 1S51, about the head of 

 the Wanganui Hacecoursc, and thence to Kai-iwi. There were large 

 numbers of them, the country being sandy fern-hills, and flats of manuka 

 scrub and toetoe. A few years later they disappeared, and there have 

 been none there for at least twenty years. From 1852 to 1854 I was often 

 along the coast between Wanganui and New I'lymouth, and saw rabbits 

 near almost every pa, the iMaoris having liberated them. At Nukumaru, 

 where at that time I have shot four or five couple in an afternoon, there 

 are still a few, which sometimes increase for a year or two, and then die 

 off again ; and a local paper mentioned several years back that the Sheep 

 Inspector had ridden into llawera, much excited at having seen a rabbit 

 by the roadside. This was in a place where in 1853 they might have 

 been counted by hundreds. About 1855 rabbits were turned out at C4oat 

 ^'alley, near Wanganui, and spread rapidly. The soil was sandy loam, 

 covered witli fern, and with patches of scrubby bush at the heads of 

 blind gullies, of which they took possession. Several years later a settler 

 who lived two miles off went to England, and on his return brought out 

 two Skye terriers. Soon afterwards the rabbits disappeared, and these 

 dogs got the credit of having killed them all. They may have killed 

 some close at home, but were not likely to do so several miles off. From 

 1860 to 18C5 there were large numbers of rabbits along the coast-country 

 between the Wanganui and Wangaehu Kivers, and the Wanganui lads 

 used often to get a fair bag of them on a Saturday afternoon. When sur- 

 veying there in 1880 I saw two rabbits in four days; and I do not think 

 there are even so many now. About 1858 rabbits were turned loose be- 

 tvreen Turakina and ilarton, and increased for a time ; now, I learn that 

 only an occasional one is seen. In all these cases the rabbits turned out 

 were tame ones, and it was thought that perhaps they were too delicate 

 to live wild. About 1855, however, tlie late JMajor Nixon returned from 

 Nelson to Wanganui, and shortly afterwards he got some wild rabbits 

 from Nelson, and tiu:ned them loose on his land opposite the town. The 

 place seemed made for rabbits -pumice soil, with large areas covered 

 with furze and high manuka scrub. By 18C2 they had spread to a 

 distance of two or three miles, and were in considerable numbers ; but a 

 year or two later they disappeared as if by magic, and I have not seen or 

 heard of any there since. About 1805 the Wanganui Acclimatization 

 Society took some trouble to get wild rabbits from Canterbury, and 

 turned them out near my own house. The conditions — pumice soil 

 overgrown with furze and manuka scrub — seemed to suit them exactly ; 

 and they increased so rapidly as to threaten to become a nuisance. 

 I saw many in my paddock, and shot several in my garden. They 

 held their ground for perhaps ten years, and then died out. The 

 conditions are unchanged, yet I have not seen or heard of a rabbit 

 thereabouts for certainly five years. About twelve years ago I went to 

 Palnierston North, and found the people there rather excited at rabbits 

 having appeared at Fitzherbert. They were supposed to have crossed the 

 range from the Wairarapa side. Several years later I inquired about 

 them, and learned that they were seen for a time and then disappeared. 

 When in Auckland in 188G I saw rabbits running loose in a friend's 

 paddock, and on my remarking the fact my friend said that they did no 

 harm in that part— that they had been repeatedly turned out, and always 

 died off after a short time. It seems to me that it might be worth while 

 to try and find out wJiat kills the rabbits over so large a portion of this 

 island, and endeavour to introduce it elsewhere. It would be far better 

 than introducing ferrets and weasels, which will kill the poultry and 

 game as well as the rabbits. But rabbits are not the only things that 



