86 MAMMALIA 



on the mainland, nor whether it was possible for them to get ashore. 

 Mr H. Travers (February, 1919) says: 



From what I can recollect about the introduction into New Zealand 

 of the black rabbit, or silver greys as they were then called, these were 

 imported by a Captain Ruck Keene, R.N., who had a run, I think, at 

 Kaikoura, as I knew him when he lived in Nelson in the late fifties and 

 saw the rabbits. Other rabbits were imported into Nelson, and were kept 

 as pets the "French rabbits" as we boys knew them; they were white 

 and foxy coloured. Some of these were turned out at Taradale and 

 increased enormously, but being in a district in which only cattle were 

 run, did no damage. Some years afterwards, these were practically ex- 

 terminated by a tremendous rainstorm and flood which pretty well destroyed 

 the lot, as it was followed by a snowstorm and the rabbits were smothered 

 in their burrows. 



According to Mr Huddlestone, silver-grey rabbits were first intro- 

 duced into Nelson in or about 1865, but there is no record as to what 

 came of this importation. 



Mr James Begg, of Mosgiel, has given me some very valuable 

 information as to the earliest attempts to introduce these animals, 

 and I quote him freely in the following pages. He says: "When 

 Willsher and party settled at Port Molyneux in the early forties 

 they sent to Sydney for rabbits, but whether they obtained them or 

 not, I am unable to say." Perhaps these were the rabbits which 

 Mr Tuckett saw. From early days there was at least one colony of 

 rabbits on the Upper Waitaki. These remained quite local in their 

 habits, and did not increase to any great extent. They were finally 

 overwhelmed by the invasion of the grey rabbit from the south. 



Mr Thomas Walsh of Shag Point tells me that these rabbits 

 were turned out by Messrs Julius Bros., on their run at the Rugged 

 Ridges on the Waitaki River, but they never seemed to increase. He 

 also states that the Rev. Mr Fenton, who came down to Dunedin 

 shortly after the commencement of the Otago Settlement about 

 1849 brought with him both black and grey rabbits. Some of these 

 were handed over to Mr Geo. Crawford in whose care they increased, 

 and they were distributed from there to various other centres. One 

 lot were liberated on the sand-hills between Invercargill and Riverton ; 

 and another lot at Queenstown, the price paid being 1 per pair. 

 These rabbits do not seem to have increased to any extent. At a 

 somewhat later date (1870) when Mr Walsh was at Palmerston he 

 kept long-haired lop-eared rabbits, and turned out a good many of 

 them. He states that the lop-ears quickly disappeared in succeeding 

 generations, though occasionally long-haired ones were seen. They 

 never increased to any extent, however, and only an odd one was 

 afterwards seen. They also were swamped by the southern invasion. 



