UNGULATA 35 



of the pigs may have been correctly reported, only Dieffenbach is 

 not very trustworthy, and his credulity seems to have been played 

 on as regards the horses ; it is most improbable that any horses were 

 on board either the ' Resolution ' or the 'Adventure.' 



There is no doubt that the abundance of wild pigs in the country 

 was of great value to explorers, particularly to prospectors, and also 

 to shepherds, miners and back-block settlers. Dieffenbach says: 

 "the natives have great quantities of pigs, which have run wild, but 

 are easily caught by dogs" (this was in the Piako). 



Dr Monro, who accompanied Mr Tuckett on his trip through 

 Otago in 1844, speaking of the hill country south-west of Saddle Hill, 

 says: "There is a famous cover for pigs, too, between the upper 

 part of the Teiari (Taieri) Valley and the sea .... The whalers come 

 up the river in their boats and kill great numbers of pigs here; as 

 the Maoris told us." 



As to the breeds of these wild pigs, it is evident that they were 

 quite distinct in the two islands, due, of course, to their different 

 origin. Mr Robert Scott, M.P. for Central Otago, writing me in 

 January, 1916, says: 



They were originally a variety of the Tamworth breed, long snout, 

 razor-backed, built for speed rather than for fattening, quick and agile 

 in movement, as I have often seen when watching two boars fighting, 

 and as many a dog found to his cost. The predominating colour was red, 

 or sandy red, with some black, and a few black and white, but these may 

 have come from an occasional tame boar which strayed and became wild. 

 At the time when they were most numerous (in Otago) they were 

 decidedly gregarious, usually three or four generations running together 

 in mobs numbering from half a dozen up to forty or even fifty. When 

 attacked by dogs, if cover, such as flax, scrub or high grass was handy, 

 they made for it and would form a circle, with the older pigs on the outside 

 ring, and the younger ones in the centre for greater protection. The boars, 

 particularly old ones, lived alone and roamed far and wide. The habits 

 of the wild pig were clean, and in the case of those tamed exceptionally so. 



Angas in Savage Life and Scenes in Australia and New Zealand , 

 vol. n, p. 37 (published in 1847), says: "The New Zealand pigs are 

 generally black ; and on the approach of a European they erect their 

 bristles, and, grunting, gallop off like wild boars." 

 Dieffenbach says : 



Pigs have only of late been generally introduced into many parts of 

 the country, and in some places where tribes have been broken up they 

 are found wild in large numbers .... The New Zealand pigs are a peculiar 

 breed, with short heads and legs and compact bodies. 



They were evidently quite distinct from the "Captain Cooks" of 

 the South Island. 



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