INTRODUCED ANIMALS 363 



The first European animals to settle there were the 

 pigs benevolently introduced into New Zealand by Cap- 

 tain Cook. They multiplied apace, served for food and 

 sport both to the natives and the early settlers, and de- 

 stroyed the ancient Triassic reptile, the Tuatara, which only 

 survives now on rocky islands near the coast. In less than 

 a hundred years the settlers had introduced sheep and 

 cattle, and looked upon the abounding pigs as a scourge. 

 In 1862, pig-hunters were employed to destroy them 

 three hunters would kill 20,000 pigs in a year. Dogs, 

 cats and the European rats came in early with the settlers, 

 and destroyed the flightless birds, driving them for shelter 

 to the mountains. As the settlers increased they shot 

 down millions of birds of all kinds, and burnt up grass, 

 shrub, and bush. At last, a few years ago, the Govern- 

 ment established three islands as " sanctuaries," where 

 many of the more interesting birds survive, and are 

 increasing. 



Besides cattle and sheep (which have flourished ex- 

 ceedingly) the colonists introduced rabbits, pheasants, and 

 the honey-bee, and later on quails, hares, deer, and trout. 

 Clover depends on bees for its fertilisation and seeding. 

 White clover, taken over there for pasture, did not seed 

 in New Zealand until the honey-bee was imported in 

 1842, and later, as they could not seed red-clover without 

 it, the colonists had to introduce the humble-bee, and 

 the red-clover now also seeds freely and the imported 

 farm-beasts have their accustomed food. Besides the 

 animals already named, the colonists have introduced 

 ferrets and weasels, to reduce the destructive excess of 

 the imported rabbits ; and they, whilst failing to subdue 

 the rabbits, have themselves become a serious nuisance. 

 Of small birds there were introduced the house-sparrow, 

 which is too prolific, and is hated by the farmers ; the 

 greenfinch, a pest ; the bullfinch, a failure. The intro- 



