SOME ACCOUNT OF THE WILD CATTLE IN POLYNESIA
BEFORE we proceed further, a word or two concerning these wild cattle,
and the way they came on the island.
Some fifty years ago, Vancouver left several bullocks, sheep and
goats, at various places in the Society group. He instructed the
natives to look after the animals carefully; and by no means to
slaughter any until a considerable stock had accumulated.
The sheep must have died off: for I never saw a solitary fleece in any
part of Polynesia. The pair left were an ill-assorted couple,
perhaps; separated in disgust, and died without issue.
As for the goats, occasionally you come across a black, misanthropic
ram, nibbling the scant herbage of some height inaccessible to man,
in preference to the sweet grasses of the valley below. The goats are
not very numerous.
The bullocks, coming of a prolific ancestry, are a hearty set, racing
over the island of Imeeo in considerable numbers, though in Tahiti
but few of them are seen. At the former place, the original pair must
have scampered off to the interior since it is now so thickly
populated by their wild progeny. The herds are the private property
of Queen Pomaree; from whom the planters had obtained permission to
shoot for their own use as many as they pleased.
The natives stand in great awe of these cattle; and for this reason
are excessively timid in crossing the island, preferring rather to
sail round to an opposite village in their canoes.
