CHALLENGED BY BULL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 15 December 1939, Page 17 (Supplement)

CHALLENGED BY BULL

I was telling m.v mates of the echoes I had heard from (lie top of Te Mara. Mundy gave il a go to see if he could hear anything, and he heard something. for not fur from us he was answered by a bull. Jackie was seared and said lie would not like to meet dial chap llwre as there wore no trees lo gel up. Although Jackie was a during pighunter < I've seen him jump rn Ei boar's back and knife him when

tile dogs had him bailed up) he .would bi- up Hie first tree when cattle were sighted and stop there till they were shot. Jackie fell in behind now. not taking the lead as he usually did. As we were nearly to the snow line we saw where the cattle had been camping the night before. We were going quickly and as we could see the south side of tile spur mid they were not there, we knew that they must be on the north side.

So Mundy, the hunter, crept up to Hie ridge mid looked over. Up went his hand. He crept a bit further along, then beckoned to us to stop and pointed to some rocks ahead. He came back from the brow and worked his way to the rocks. Resting his gun on the rocks he pulled the trigger. We then saw nine or ten cattle come up on to the spur about four or five chains from Mundy, then go off down Hie spur towards the Waingawa the same way we were going. We noticed that one of the young ones was very lame. Mundy told us that they were a bit far away but he had chanced a shot at the fattest looking calf. We followed their spoor into the bush. They had broken a good trail tor us through the snow line scrub and the route being on the cast side, it soon got into beech forest, with open undergrowth. The calf was bleeding freely, so I told Mundy to follow up and get a shot if he could, and Jackie was to stay with me and follow slowly. Gradually we worked our way down the spur, which became steeper and my knee more painful Jackie was looking about for something. I asked him what he was looking for. He said horopito (or Maori painkiller). I want to make your leg better tonight. After a while he found what he wanted. After filling our pockets with leaves. Xve resumed our way to the junction of the North Mitre Creek and Waingawa. There was Mundy waiting for us. He had followed the marks down the river for some way but had seen no calf so we decided to cross the river and camp. Mundy said there was a nice place a little further down just behind a big log close to the river so to that place we went.