RABBITS. 99 



of the Provincial Government of Southland. But there can be no 

 doubt, I think, that what happened in the south happened else- 

 where at every port where settlement took place, and that private 

 individuals at Nelson, Wellington, New Plymouth, and Napier 

 also imported rabbits. But when the animals became a pest, and 

 their increase was recognized to be a calamity to the country, every 

 one was desirous of repudiating the responsibility for their intro- 

 duction. Thus the framer of the annual report of the Canterbury 

 Society for 1889, not having read the statement in the report for 

 1866, says, concerning "the rabbit, that great scourge to our 

 large runholders that the introduction of these cannot be laid to 

 the charge of this society." Similarly, Mr. A. Bathgate, of Dun- 

 eclin, in 1897, wrote, " It is to them [the Provincial Government 

 of Southland] that we are indebted for the presence of the rabbit." 



The repudiation of the responsibility for the rabbits is almost 

 as funny as that for the sparrows. As soon as an animal turns out 

 differently from what was expected of it, and becomes a pest instead 

 of a blessing, then no one will admit having had anything to do 

 with the initial mistake of bringing it into the country. 



From 1866 onwards the spread of the rabbits was phenomenal. 

 I quote part of Mr. Begg's account of this increase : " About the 

 year 1874 they began to make their presence felt in an unpleasant 

 manner. By 1878 they had reached Lake Wakatipu, leaving a 

 devastated country behind them. At the same time they had 

 reached as far east as the Clutha River, and in a few years later 

 had overrun the greater part of Otago as well as the whole of 

 Southland. Those were evil days for farmers in that part of New 

 Zealand, and especially for the squatters, who occupied large areas 

 of grazing-country. The fine natural grasses on which the sheep 

 and cattle grazed were almost totally destroyed. Sheep perished 

 from starvation by hundreds of thousands, and it is no exaggera- 

 tion to say that the majority of the squatters were ruined. On 

 the old Burwood Station the number of sheep fell in one year from 

 119,000 to 30,000. This was partly due to heavy snow, but the 

 rabbits prevented any recovery. It is doubtful if the same coun- 

 try to-day carries more than 40,000 sheep. From the year 1878 

 onwards immense areas of grazing-land were abandoned, as the 

 owners gave up the unequal struggle with the rabbits. In 

 the early days hunting with dogs, shooting, digging out the 



