44 WILD LIFE IX XK\V XKAI.AXD. 



called tin- (.Joat Hills. SOUK- of these gouts escaped into the hack 

 country, and were tin- progenitors of the wild goats." 



Wild goats a iv very abundant, in many parts of New Zealand, 

 iiivat nunilu-rs of them an- to In- 1111*1 with in the rocky and pre- 

 cipitous country wesr of Palliser Bay, near Wellington. Kxeept 

 when they move they are difficult to see, as their colours blend 

 almost undistinguishably with that of their natural surround im_ r s. 

 They were abundant also on Kapiti Island, but have recent lv been 

 greatly reduced in number by the caretaker, who has shot several 

 thousands. They also occur, though not so commonly, on the 

 sparsely scrub-clad faces of the west coast north and south of 

 Hokianga, as well as on the outskirts of bush land. In the high 

 country of Marlborough they are very abundant, and are mainly 

 of three colours black (which is. perhaps, the commonest), khaki, 

 and while. In a trip through the canon of the Ure River Mr. B. ('. 

 Aston says, " The fusillades of stones showered down on us bv 

 the goats which we had disturbed were a source of ever-present 

 danger." Mr. W. R. Bullen, of Kaikoura, informs me that they 

 are numerous on his run. but. while they eat very much the same 

 !<.od as i he sheep do, they keep the scrub and bush open, so that 

 the sheep can move through it. 



Writing of things in ihe Lake Wnkaiipu district. Mr. L. Hotop. 

 of Queenstown, tells me that there is an immense number of wild 

 L'oats spread all over the Lakes district a moderate estimate LTI'VCS 

 them as many as thirty thousand. " They are principally at 

 Moonlight. Skipper's. Sandhills, and at the lower end of the lake, 

 seriously interfering with the pasturage in these localities; our 

 runholder has paid year after year for as many as one thousand 

 during the season. At Moonlight a digger. durinLT the past nine 

 months [in 1!HG]. has shot .">(>. My informant tells me he ffAl 

 d '2s. .'{<!. a skin for as many as he could send." 



Mr. W. II. Gate*, of Skipper'*, writing in l!I<;. said. "There 



:i lot of wild goats here, almost within rifle-range of my cabin. 

 One sheep-fanner gave Is. for each pair of ear.N. and Is. for each 

 pelt. The male is a rough-looking customer: some have horn- 

 l.'iin. in length and L'i in. by 1 ',' in. at tin- root, and they grow in 

 a slightly spiral form. 1 think there is a strain of ninny breeds 

 runninir through them all. Some have long hair, but arc not the 

 ,ra breed. Some are almost white, but the chief colours are 



