DOMESTIC ANIMALS "WILD" 359 



autumn, was superabundant. By its luxuriance the wild sheep that had 

 hitherto permanently remained in the scrub were now tempted on to the 

 tops during twilight and early morn ; passing at dawn en route for far 

 Heru-o-Tureia I have again and again seen practically the whole Opouahi 

 wild mob bolting downhill into the sheltering scrub. It was not a 

 homogeneous flock, but consisted of seven or eight septs or clans, each of 

 which returned to its own strip of territory, each of which moreover 

 differed in numbers and proportion of blacks and whites. 



During the last years of the expiring Opouahi lease, when no steps 

 could be taken in regard to felling and clearing the land, the proportion 

 of blacks increased fast. There was reason to believe that a pure race 

 of black merino, self-evolved, was about to be established. Full accom- 

 plishment of this interesting natural development was frustrated by the 

 obtainment of a proper tenure and the prosaic necessity of working 

 country to the best advantage for which a large rent was being paid. 

 Improvements, which have been the bane of Tutira from a field natu- 

 ralist's point of view, now began also to desecrate Opouahi. Each year, 

 starting from its east edge, a strip of the block was felled, fired, fenced, 

 and sown. It was no longer possible for the wild sheep to escape their 

 fate : their cliffs were bare, their hiding-places open to the light. Clan 

 by clan they were rounded up and run into the drafting-yards. 



The strips of territory thus successively reclaimed by axe and fire- 

 stick gave the following results in black and white sheep. No. 4 lot is 

 exact ; the numbers of the other little clans, taken down from Harry 

 Young's diary entries and counts, are approximately correct. 



No. 1 lot Eastermost strip, over 100 wild sheep; 20 to 25 per cent 

 pure black, the larger number with white tips to their tails ; 2 or 

 3 piebalds ; the balance white. 



No. 2 lot 40 in number; 18 black, mostly with white tail-tips; no 

 piebalds ; balance white. 



No. 3 lot About 50 ; rather more than half pure black, mostly with 

 white tail-tips ; no piebalds. 



No. 4 lot 16 sheep, all black; all with white tail-tips. 



No. 5 lot About the same number of sheep as in No. 4 ; 2 or 3 pie- 

 balds or white ; the rest black, with white tail-tips. 



All of these wild sheep black, piebald, or white were pure 

 merino ; all of the rams carried magnificent heads. It will be noted 



