428 CLAIMS TO PATRONAGE. [CHAP. xiu. 



lying hid for ages amongst the unknown hills of Hawaii, 

 seems destined to be discovered, to be apparent in life 

 for a brief space, and then to vanish before the de- 

 structiveness of Man, leaving skeletons, stuffed-skins, 

 preparations, and drawings, as the only record of its 

 existence on earth. True lovers of Natural History 

 have still an opportunity of protecting and preserving 

 here a race of beings which, but for them, may soon 

 pass into the catalogue of the extinct. 



In March, 1850, the Earl of Derby having three 

 supernumerary males of the Sandwich Bernicle, most 

 obligingly forwarded one of them to me. He was a 

 charming little fellow, apparently so tame and gentle 

 that, after the first day or two, it was resolved to trust 

 him with the free use of his wings, as soon as the next 

 moult should be completed. The quills of one wing 

 had been clipped for security's sake ; but we may lay it 

 down as almost an axiom that there is not, in the wide 

 world a Goose which is not domesticable in the strict 

 sense, while there does not exist, that we know of, a 

 Pheasant which is. All Geese are therefore peculiarly 

 interesting to those who are anxious to increase the 

 feathered occupants of their pleasure-grounds, on account 

 of this innate docility of disposition ; and this species 

 claims especial notice, as it must probably before long 

 suffer complete extermination, now that the Sandwich 

 Islands are likely to become a sort of watering-place to 

 California, unless it be patronised by the proprietors of 

 menageries, and survive by propagation in a domestic 

 state. A party of half-a-dozen convalescent gold-finders, 

 steaming over to Hawaii, rifle in hand, for a month's 

 recreation, with powder and shot in one belt, and plenty 

 of dollars in another, would make sad havoc among the 



