126 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



most it has been subject to the new influences scarcely three 

 quarters of a century. During that time no appreciable change 

 has taken place in the colouring of the Ox, nor much in his form, 

 but his habit is wild and wary, fleeing from man in alarm ; and 

 he has acquired great fleetness over the lava beds in the moun- 

 tainous regions whicb he selects for his borne. While he is 

 terrified at the approach of man, when wounded or hard pressed 

 he becomes bold and aggressive, and is a dangerous enemy. In 

 some parts of the islands they have become so numerous that the 

 scarcity of sustenance has forced them down into the lower 

 regions, where it is feared tbat they may destroy the forests, 

 upon which it is supposed much of the rainfall depends. Indeed, 

 on the island of Ouahu a large district of country was pointed 

 out to me which was said to have been once a forest, and was 

 now entirely destitute of arboreous vegetation. This change 

 was attributed to the wild cattle. They are hunted for their 

 hides alone. 



I saw none of the Wild Horses or Wild Sheep, neither of 

 which are numerous. I was told that the former are much 

 more degenerated in size, form, and vigour than those on our 

 western plains, which may be attributed to the want of an 

 abundance of food adapted to their requirements in the elevated 

 regions which they affect, but in habit they are as wild as the 

 cattle. The Wild Sheep, which are very limited in number, and 

 I met with few who had seen them, were small, gaunt, and long- 

 legged, with a scant and coarse pelage. 



The Wild Goats are very numerous, especially in the moun- 

 tainous regions of the eastern islands. During the afternoon 

 which I spent viewing the wonderful sights from the rim of the 

 great extinct crater, Haleakala, I saw two bands of Wild Goats 

 within the crater. I sat ten thousand feet above the sea. The 

 chasm before me was seven miles across and two thousand feet 

 deep. Its vertical walls in a few places had been partially 

 broken down, so that bunches of grass had taken root on the 

 shelves or steps formed in the disintegrated lava, and the Goats 

 were clambering about, leaping from shelf to shelf, seeking food. 

 Towards evening they descended to the floor of the crater and 

 disappeai'ed in its eastern arm. With the naked eye they could 

 not be identified, although one band was directly beneath me, but 

 a good field-glass revealed them very plainly. A large majority 



