80 
PACIFIC SCIENCE, Voi XIV, January I960 
knocked down and placed near me as I sat under 
a tree. Five or six dozen of the same kind came 
up, and I was able to take nearly the whole lot. 
The only traces of people we saw were those 
made by the 'Supply’s’ crew when they were 
first here. Among the different kinds of birds we 
met were some as big as a large fowl, and quite 
white. They had long yellow legs and a very 
strong red beak. I caught six of these by run- 
ning them down among the low bushes. The 
cock birds were very beautiful; their white 
feathers were tinged with azure blue. I saw also 
several birds that were not unlike peacocks, but 
caught none of them. At noon I returned to the 
beach and found the crew had collected cocoa- 
nuts, cabbages, birds, and a great quantity of 
fish. 
From these reports it is quite evident that the 
landings were very short and that nothing was 
transported ashore. From 1788 to 1830 there is 
not much information available, with only whal- 
ing vessels probably stopping there to get wood 
and water. 
In 1833 or 1834 the first actual settlement was 
made: three white men, two women, and two 
Maori boys. After several years’ stay the whole 
party returned to New Zealand. These first 
settlers had the opportunity to transport some 
domesticated animals to the island. 
The first survey was done by H. J. White, 
1835 (report of 1853); in the report we can 
read: "There are residing on the island four 
men, three N. Z. women and two children, sub- 
sisting upon birds and fish, which are caught in 
great abundance.” 
In the report from 1853, Capt. Denham writes 
that since 1843 three families (total community 
16 people) cultivated 44 acres on the island. 
This was practically a second colonisation, this 
time from the mainland of Australia. 
Dr. Foulis in his report of 1851 states: 
". . . sixty to 80 whaling vessels per year have 
called for provisions. . . 
M. Nicholls (1938-1953) in the different 
editions of his history of Lord Howe Island 
gives a lengthy report about vessels visiting the 
island from 1788 to 1949. 
The development of culture on the island 
since 1788 has had a very slow 5 progressive de- 
stroying influence on the native fauna, but in 
1918 there was a calamity which changed the 
whole face of the original fauna: in 2-5 years 
it became very poor and uniform, and many spe- 
cies of animals, including insects, became extinct. 
On 14 June 1918, the vessel "Makambo” 
struck a rock in the area of Admiralty Islands. 
Many cases of fruit and tons of copra were 
thrown overboard and this was the means by 
which rats got ashore. It was a tragedy especially 
for the birds. Within two years this paradise of 
birds had become a wilderness, and the quiet of 
death reigned where once all was melody. 
After a few months’ time rats began to visit 
the houses and soon spread over the whole island, 
even to the tops of the mountains, destroying all 
that was, edible. The smaller land birds soon 
disappeared and then it was found that the rats 
were attacking the palm seeds, which were at 
that period the basis of the most important in- 
dustry of the island. 
A bonus of 6d a tail was paid for several years, 
but was reduced later to 4d per tail. For the 
year 1936 about 20,000 tails were handed in. 
At the present time rats are not rare on the 
island, but their numbers have been reduced to 
an acceptable level. However, this was too late. 
The destruction of the birds was terrific, and 
their recovery from the rat invasion has been 
very slow. 
Another factor changing the fauna, although 
not directly, was the presence of wild goats and 
pigs. The year when goats were first brought to 
the island has not been recorded, but it must 
have been at a very early date, probably around 
1830. The damage caused by these animals was 
not very extensive, but the pigs, destroying the 
roots of some plants, are suspected by botanists 
to be the cause of the great rarity ( and probably 
extinction) of some plants. Naturally, with the 
destruction of the plants, those animals bio- 
logically closely connected with them were de- 
stroyed too. 
Today the goats and pigs do not play an im- 
portant role. They are very shy and avoid the 
presence of man as much as possible. 
It is necessary to note that the fauna does not 
have a strictly permanent character. From time 
to time some animals, especially water birds, 
visit the island and stay some time, for example, 
one species of parrot, the Indian turtle dove, 
black swan, crow, etc., but sooner or later, gen- 
