INTRODUCTION 29 



It was with the advent of Europeans that destruction began 

 in earnest. It seemed as if they had been commanded to 

 destroy the ancient inhabitants. Men went forth with 

 slaughtering weapons in their hands, and the overflowing 

 scourge of devouring fire was sent throughout the country, till 

 a great part of the flora was consumed, and the birds had to 

 seek food in remote places. 



The first European animals were introduced by Captain 

 Cook. On his second voyage, in 1773, he let loose three pigs in 

 Queen Charlotte Sound. His motive was purely philanthropic. 

 He made the Maori to whom he gave the pigs promise not to 

 kill them. "If he keeps his word, and proper care is taken," 

 the navigator wrote in his diary, "there are enough to stock 

 the whole island in due time." The Maori did keep his word, 

 and it was not long before the country was completely stocked 

 with "Captain Cooks," as they were called by the settlers. 

 They afforded food and sport for the Maoris, and also for the 

 adventurous Europeans who lived in the colony in its early 

 civilised days. They also took part in the war of extermination, 

 and it was probably owing to their depredations that the 

 tuatara was banished from the mainland. Less than a hundred 

 years after the first liberation, the settlers in many parts looked 

 upon the pigs as a scourge, as they killed the lambs. Cook's 

 prediction was fulfilled too well. The pigs, becoming quite 

 wild, retreated from the sites of civilisation, but in uninhabited 

 valleys they congregated in vast numbers. Dr. Hochstetter, 

 writing in 1862, after a visit to the colony, states that 

 experienced pig-hunters sometimes took contracts for the 

 suppression of the pigs, and that in twent.y months three men, 

 on an area of 250,000 acres, killed no fewer than 25,000, and 

 pledged themselves to kill 15,000 more. 



An inkling of the full effects that were to follow the advent 

 of civilisation was given when the whalers visited these waters 

 and established stations on the shores. Their special mission 

 was the destruction of the whales, but they made their presence 

 felt in other ways, notably by the introduction of dogs, cats, 

 and rats, before which many of the flightless birds fell easy 

 victims. 



