WILD SHEEP. 43 



or were killed by castaways. They were also liberated on Campbell 

 Island between 1888 and 1890. In 1896 the island was taken up 

 as a sheep-run a piece of vandalism on the part of the men who 

 did it and the Government wliich granted it and in 1903 there 

 were about 4,500 sheep on it. The changes produced in the vegeta- 

 tion have been described and discussed at length by Dr. Cockayne. 

 In 1907, according to Mr. R. M. Laing, there were some eight 

 thousand sheep on the island, and the transformation and destruc- 

 tion of the native flora was going on at a great rate. 



WILD GOATS. 



The introduction of goats dates from Captain Cook's second 

 voyage. He says in his journal, " On June 2, 1773, I sent on 

 shore on the east side of the sound [Queen Charlotte Sound] two 

 goats, male and female. The former was something more than 

 a year old, but the latter was much older. She had two fine kids 

 some time before we arrived in Dusky Bay, which were killed by 

 cold." Forster in his journal says they were left by Captain 

 Furneaux in an unfrequented part of East Bay, " this place 

 being fixed on in hopes that they would there remain unmolested 

 by the Natives, who, indeed, were the only enemies they had to 

 fear." 



On the third voyage the " Resolution " was in Queen Charlotte 

 Sound from the 12th to the 25th February, 1777, and Captain Cook 

 says, " I gave Matahouah two goats (a male and a female with kid) 

 and to Tomatongeauooranuc two pigs (a boar and a sow). They 

 made me a promise not to kill them, though I must own I put no 

 great faith in this. The animals which Captain Furneaux sent 

 on shore here, and which soon after fell into the hands of the 

 Natives, I was now told were all dead." 



It is popularly believed that- the wild goats of New Zealand 

 are descended from those introduced by Captain Cook; but while 

 this may be partly true of those in the South Island, especially at 

 its northern end, it can hardly explain those found in the North 

 Island. It is more likely that they are descended from escaped 

 animals. Mr. F. G. Gibbs tells me that goats were imported into 

 Nelson some time in the "forties." "In the 'fifties' a large 

 number were kept tethered on some hills in the Maitai Valley, still 



