UNGULATA 53 



He adds: 



Cattle are particularly fond of certain native trees and shrubs, e.g., 

 Tahoe or Hina hina, Melicytus ramiflorus; Karamu, Coprosma grandifolia 

 and C. tenuifolia\ Broadleaf, Griselinia littoralis, Mangrove, Avicennia 

 officinalis; Tawa, Beilschmiedia tazva; and Karaka, Corynocarpus leevigata. 



According to Mr Maxwell, caretaker of the Waipoua Kauri Forest 

 Reserve, cattle eat out the following plants from the undergrowth 

 of the forest: Melicytus ramiflorus, Pittosporum tenuifolium, Hoheria 

 populnea, Coriaria ruscifolia, Corynocarpus leevigata, Panax (Notho- 

 panax) arboreum, Schefflera digitata, Coprosma robusta, Myrsine 

 (Rapanea) Urvillei, Olea lanceolata, Geniostoma ligustrifolia, Solanum 

 aviculare, Veronica salicifolia, Vitex lucens, Freycinetia Banksii, and 

 Cyathea medullaris. In addition to these, cattle chew the leaves of 

 bracken fern (Pteris aquilina), of the flax (Phormium tenax)and cabbage 

 tree (Cordyline australis)\ and occasionally eat Ngaio (Myoporum 

 Icetum) and anise (Angelica gingidium). 



* Common Sheep (Ovis sp.) 



The first attempt to introduce sheep into New Zealand was made 

 by Captain Cook on his second voyage, and was unsuccessful. He 

 brought away two rams and four ewes from the Cape of Good Hope, 

 but by the time the 'Resolution' entered Dusky Sound in March, 

 1773, only a ram and an ewe survived, and they were in such a bad 

 state, "suffering from an inveterate sea-scurvy," that their teeth were 

 loose, and they could not eat the green food which was given to them. 

 Forster in his Journalstates that they "were in so wretched a condition, 

 that their further preservation was very doubtful." However, they 

 must have improved, for considering the country about Dusky Sound 

 too rough and forest-clad for them, Cook took them on to Queen 

 Charlotte Sound, which was entered on i8th May. In his Journal 

 he says : 



On the 22nd in the morning, the ewe and ram, I had with so much 

 care and trouble brought to this place, were both found dead, occasioned, 

 as was supposed, by eating some poisonous plant. Thus my hopes of 

 stocking this country with a breed of sheep were blasted in a moment. 



According to the Rev. R. Taylor, Marsden brought over a merino 

 ram and four ewes from Sydney in the twenties. These animals, 

 which were a present from the King, were the originals of the first 

 flock of sheep in New Zealand. I cannot find when sheep were next 

 brought into the Colony, but as soon as settlement began they were 

 imported freely from New South Wales. In those early days fences 

 were very rough, and little or no attempt was made to keep the sheep 



