BIG GAME HUNTING.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 February 1921, Page 9

BIG GAME HUNTING.

AUCKLANDERS IN AFRICA. FINE BAGS OBTAINED. GREAT VARIETY OF ANIMALS. An interesting account of a big game shooting trip in Central Africa was given by Mr. H. H. Ostler, who returned to Auckland by the Seadla. Mr r *stler was accompanied by Mr. F. E. McKenzie, who returned a week or two ago. “We had a most -wonderful journey,” said Mr. Ostler, “travelling right through the heart of Central Africa, starting at Capetown and! finishing at Mombasa, a distance, counting all deviations from the direct route, of over 5000 miles. Of this distance 2800 miles >were accomplished by railway, 300 miles in a small steamer up Lake Tanganyika, and the remainder on foot or on bicycles. We kept an accurate record by pedometer of the, distance covered on foot for the first 15 days after leaving the railway, and it came to 330 miles. After that we kept no record, but we averaged at least 20 miles a day, and we must have covered nearly 1700 miles on foot.

“Most of our hunting was done in that portion of Central Africa known as North-eastern Rhodesia a vast and undeveloped country lying between the 16th and 10th parallels of latitude, and about 450 miles from north to south and from east to west—about five times the size of the North Island of New Zealand. We hunted in this country from July 8 to September 30. The country is nearly all a vast upland forest from 4000 ft to 5000 ft above sea level, with large grass clearings interspersed, called ‘dambos/ A WONDERFUI TRANSFORMATION. “It is in these dambos, or rouhd their edges, that the game is mostly to be found. The forest is only about ' onethird as high as New Zealand bush, and not nearly so thick in undergrowth. The trees are not so close, and coarse natural grasses flourish underneath, growing to a height sometimes of 10ft. The country has a rainfall of 45in. a year, but it all comes in the summer months—from November to April. Then, in the winter season, there are six months in which never so much as a thunder shower falls. The grass grows thick and high through the rainy season, and is then slowly scorched dry by the hob sun. By the middle of July the whole country is as inflammable as tinder, and from then on for the next six weeks grass fires rage, through the country, leaving the ground black and the trees leafless and charred, apparently past recovery. “The whole aspect of the forest is one of mournful desolation. Within two or three weeks after the fire, however, and without any rain to help it, a wonderful transformation has come over the forest. A vivid green carpet of new grass springs up, and every tree puts out leaves of varied greens and delicate pinks and browns; and a most delightful spring touches all nature. The fire, far from injuring the forest, seems to be the purifying and revivifying element, by which it puts off its age, and renews its youth and beauty, and everyday in the forest is one of enchanting beauty. We were fortunate enough to see this transformation. We had timed our arrival just as the fires were taking place, because we knew that hunting woqld be useless until the long grass was burned off, and so, besides seeing the country at its most beautiful time, we had the very best of hunting. ) GOOD FORTUNE ATTENDS HUNTERS ‘Tn our hunting we were extremely fortunate, getting between us specimens of some 27 different kinds of animals, including elephant, hippopotamus, lion, buffalo, eland, roan, sable, zebra, hartebeeste, waterbuck, leche, puku, rcedbuck, kudu, imnalla, gazelle, warthog, bush pig. and giraffe. We got no records, but some very fair heads, and we hardly had one day in which we did not have a chance at game of one sort or another. We got five elephants between us, and they yielded: over 6001 b of

“We were exceedingly lucky in getting five big tuskers, my friend getting the best, with tusks of 75 and 721 b. my best being 721 b and 701 b. We were allowed between us eight elephants on our license, and could easily have procured the other three had we 'been content to take smaller tusks. Again and again we let chances go. thinking we could fill up with larger tusks, and the chance finally slipped away without our seeing any more big ones. “Elephant hunting is undoubtedly the king of sports, and we devoted at least a third of our time to that alone. We both had some excitement and my friend especially had some narrow escapes, but we came through without a scratch.

DESIRABLE TROPHIES OBTAINED. “Next to my ivory I regard my best trophy as a fine kudu head, which I was "lucky enough to procure. The kudu is a very rare antelope, and justly regarded as the most beautiful in Africa. Many men spend three months or more and regard themselves as fortunate if rewarded by one head. I was lucky enough to get mine the first day I went out after them, and he is a very fine 4 specimen indeed. “The only desirable trophies we failed to get were rhinoceros and leopard. We saw tracks of rhinocerous on several occasions, and we occasionally heard the snarling call of a leopard, but we never were fortunate enough to see either.” The last month of the travellers’ time in Africa was spent in Tanganyika territory, formerly German East Africa, a vast undeveloped country alive with game, and full of potential wealth.