In the early days of the settlement（解决） of Australia, enterprising（企业） settlers（移居者） unwisely introduced the European rabbit. This rabbit had no natural enemies in the antipodes, so that it multiplied（乘） with that promiscuous abandoned（放弃） characteristic（特征） of rabbits. It overran（泛滥） a whole continent. It caused devastation（毁坏） by borrowing and by devouring（(尤指动物)吞吃） the herbage, which might have maintained（维持） millions of sheep and cattle（牛）. Scientists discovered that this particular variety of rabbit, and apparently（显然地） no other animal, was susceptible（易受影响的） to a fatal（致命的） virus disease, myxomatosis. By infecting（传染） animals and letting them loose（松的） in the boroughs, local epidemics（传染病） of this disease could be created.