{"id":"01KG8AKT6NCS1B06480CE1X7CS","cid":"bafkreihka75uydkdq745lnmzmyctnezikgil3aadwhrv2djzr5sxucoesm","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":7602,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:15.153Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 1","source_file":"01KG89J1H7Y803CZ7X80F0QFHZ","start_line":7531,"text":"CHAPTER LIV.\r\nSOME ACCOUNT OF THE WILD CATTLE IN POLYNESIA\r\n\r\n\r\nBefore we proceed further, a word or two concerning these wild cattle,\r\nand the way they came on the island.\r\n\r\nSome fifty years ago, Vancouver left several bullocks, sheep and goats,\r\nat various places in the Society group. He instructed the natives to\r\nlook after the animals carefully; and by no means to slaughter any\r\nuntil a considerable stock had accumulated.\r\n\r\nThe sheep must have died off: for I never saw a solitary fleece in any\r\npart of Polynesia. The pair left were an ill-assorted couple, perhaps;\r\nseparated in disgust, and died without issue.\r\n\r\nAs for the goats, occasionally you come across a black, misanthropic\r\nram, nibbling the scant herbage of some height inaccessible to man, in\r\npreference to the sweet grasses of the valley below. The goats are not\r\nvery numerous.\r\n\r\nThe bullocks, coming of a prolific ancestry, are a hearty set, racing\r\nover the island of Imeeo in considerable numbers, though in Tahiti but\r\nfew of them are seen. At the former place, the original pair must have\r\nscampered off to the interior since it is now so thickly populated by\r\ntheir wild progeny. The herds are the private property of Queen\r\nPomaree; from whom the planters had obtained permission to shoot for\r\ntheir own use as many as they pleased.\r\n\r\nThe natives stand in great awe of these cattle; and for this reason are\r\nexcessively timid in crossing the island, preferring rather to sail\r\nround to an opposite village in their canoes.\r\n\r\nTonoi abounded in bullock stories; most of which, by the bye, had a\r\nspice of the marvellous. The following is one of these.\r\n\r\nOnce upon a time, he was going over the hills with a brother—now no\r\nmore—when a great bull came bellowing out of a wood, and both took to\r\ntheir heels. The old chief sprang into a tree; his companion, flying in\r\nan opposite direction, was pursued, and, in the very act of reaching up\r\nto a bough, trampled underfoot. The unhappy man was then gored—tossed\r\nin the air—and finally run away with on the bull’s horns. More dead\r\nthan alive, Tonoi waited till all was over, and then made the best of\r\nhis way home. The neighbours, armed with two or three muskets, at once\r\nstarted to recover, if possible, his unfortunate brother’s remains. At\r\nnightfall, they returned without discovering any trace of him; but the\r\nnext morning, Tonoi himself caught a glimpse of the bullock, marching\r\nacross the mountain’s brow, with a long dark object borne aloft on his\r\nhorns.\r\n\r\nHaving referred to Vancouver’s attempts to colonize the islands with\r\nuseful quadrupeds, we may as well say something concerning his success\r\nupon Hawaii, one of the largest islands in the whole Polynesian\r\nArchipelago; and which gives the native name to the well-known cluster\r\nnamed by Cook in honour of Lord Sandwich.\r\n\r\nHawaii is some one hundred leagues in circuit, and covers an area of\r\nover four thousand miles. Until within a few years past, its interior\r\nwas almost unknown, even to the inhabitants themselves, who, for ages,\r\nhad been prevented from wandering thither by certain strange\r\nsuperstitions. Pelee, the terrific goddess of the volcanoes Mount Eoa\r\nand Mount Kea, was supposed to guard all the passes to the extensive\r\nvalleys lying round their base. There are legends of her having chased\r\nwith streams of fire several impious adventurers. Near Hilo, a\r\njet-black cliff is shown, with the vitreous torrent apparently pouring\r\nover into the sea: just as it cooled after one of these supernatural\r\neruptions.\r\n\r\nTo these inland valleys, and the adjoining hillsides, which are clothed\r\nin the most luxuriant vegetation, Vancouver’s bullocks soon wandered;\r\nand unmolested for a long period, multiplied in vast herds.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 1"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJM0X5X1TW97VPMKQ49XM","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1H7Y803CZ7X80F0QFHZ","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AKT6RMFHXY3TD9EBZQ05T","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:16.597Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:30.206Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}