THROUGH THE JUNGLE

Hokitika Guardian, 19 July 1928, Page 4

THROUGH THE JUNGLE

BIRTLE’S GREAT FEAT. PERILS OF THE NIGHT. Sydney, June 21 . It seems strange that Francis Birtles. who is motoring from London to Melbourne, should meet with his greatest anxiety on arrival in Australia. It was a case of Government red tape. When he reached Darwin by steamer the Customs officials impounded his motor ear, and stated that they would not release it until lie paid the duty. Dirties pretested that the car was not subject to duty, as it was the same one he took away with him for his long journey. Tiie officials were adamant, and if was only after intervention of the Minister of Customs at Canberra that he gained possession of the car which iias stood him in such good stead. Birtles is now crossing Australia, an experience by no means new to him, and one holding no terrors for him. for ho understands the great outback and the blacks better, perhaps, than any other Australian.

On his arrival at Darwin alter months of weary plodding and many adventures he talked freely of his experiences, and was obviously glad i--■be once again on his native soil. “Yes, as you say, I am looking thin on it,” he stated, “hut you know ? lived on nothing hut boiled rice for a month, with no meat hut an occasional monkey we managed to shoo!. But I would not recommend monkey to my friends, and while I was eating it T felt like a cannibal. We made headway through the dense jungle at the rate of about a mile a day. The roadless journey through upper India presents difficulties wh.ch aro not easily described. It passes under ranges of mountains, many of which rise up thousands of feet, and the descent through some of the gorges presented difficulties which were almost appalling. I wenthrough Turkey with a tomahawk :ir a protection, firearms being prohibited but passed through without molestation. There was cause for gravefears as Turkey is full of brigands, and they will murder anyone to get

a gun. “The wolves in Persia were t: source of danger. The country was covered with snow, and wolves, perishing with hunger, came down in numbers from tho higher country One night in camp, well off the caravan route, two of them came within fifteen yards. The only thing that we could do was to cover up the ear with a tarpaulin and camp inside. Tho cold was intense, and we were almost perishing with it. We were conn polled to burn small alcohol wont! blocks to prevent being frozen to

death. The country is devoid of timber for firewood, and the wolves howled close around all night, making sleep impossible. Some nights the cold was so intense that '/c travelled all night to prevent ourselves from freezing,.

“Then we came into the Buhmdjungles, and the other extreme in temperature was felt. Rain was failing gently all the time, and it was steaming hot. Mosquitoes, centipedes, and cobra snakes wionc everywhere, and it was suffocating under mosquito nets, with lamps burning to scare away wild animals, the most dangerous of which were the wild elephant;-. A fearless, inquisitive brute bumped around tho car all night, knocking trunk on the ground and making a noise very much like the bopping of a largo kangaroo. Tho .light we ha.d was not too strong for some of the panthers, which jumped right into the camp at night.

“Striking south through Burmnh a remarkable sight is the existence o, 13,000 pagodas spread over tho country. Thousands of natives there had never before seen a, motor car, and they looked upon the vehicle propelling itself with a sort of superstitious awe. We had a wonderful reception at Rangoon, where everyone thought that the trip was a physical impossibility. From there w-e went through Lower Burmali and Siam, and caught the steamer at Singapore for Darwin.”