SPORTS IN NEW ZEALAND.

Press, Volume XXI, Issue 2381, 22 March 1873, Page 2

SPORTS IN NEW ZEALAND.

L» he* Field.'H Sir—l am an old admirer reader of your journal, not only £ but while in America, Australasia, „ glfl H parts of the world. My objit ?£* «< you at present is to inform your reftß % other friends and admirers of th« „_ lero '»B which is to be enjoyed in the Zealand, where lam now serving n \? * c*e* of the Governor, Sir George Bowen n n Btaf * About twenty years ago a few I(J * Shanghai pheasants were turned Pmrs of Auckland, and they have already -° Ut near so fast and spread so much that e^ reaß(!(i sant shooting is to be had throu«£?s_* province. By law, shooting begins j bat the Ist May, corresponding to the htr 0: * ber in the northern hemisphere and **■ i three months. The New Zealand Pari' ts has shown a laudable anxiety to prot Dt imported and also all native km* al! several Acts have been passed with thu The Government House bag this seas™*' 618 pheasants, 439 rabbits, and 99 wi'lav? besides numbers of plover, wild piiW'* 1 * very fine bird in this country), and ( 8 laneous." We were three guns—the (Sir G. Bowen), myself, and Major (late of the 23rd Welsh Fusiliers)-^p shot, in all, on about thirty days. p Qe * c shooting here is somewhat like grouse sh^ 0 ' ing at home, the birds being scattered hf\ manuka, a sort of gigantic heather .!l generally over the face of the count!. Beaters are not much required, but point?'' and setters are necessary, Wt3

It is well known that the Shanghai rA sant does not differ materially from the R lish pheasant in plumage, size, and hato?' It is found in New Zealand to be more hard and prolific. But the English pheasant h also been introduced in several parts of th colony, aud the two species breed top; e tvV freely. Hares, partridges, grouse, California,! and other quail, as well as English rook? starlings, thrushes, larks, and other eingm birds, kc, have also been imported byV* acclimatisation societies founded in all \h principal centres of population throughout the colony. In short, in the course of twenty or thirty years more, the settler in this country will enjoy alf thp English field sports amid beautiful scenery' resembling that of northern Italy, and in » climate which has all the advantages without the discomforts of that of England. In th» annual circular compiled by Her Majesty. Emigration Commissioners in London, it j s remarked as follows :—"lt is the opinion of persons who have sojourned in different parts of the world that the Anglo-Saxon raw can work and expose themselves to ths climate of New Zealand without injury dup* ing more days in the year, and for'dio*. hours in the day, than in any other countrr," It will be further remembered that a lark garrison of British troops was maintained in New Zealand for a quarter of a century, Now the statistics of the Army Medical Department show that the yearly deaths ptr thousand of the soldiers quartered in New Zealand were less than half the mortality among each thousand of the soldiers quartered at home ,- in other words, New Zealand is much more healthy for Englishmen than England itself. To show how'completely peace has been established in this colony, I may mention that some of the best bags have been made by the" Governor's party at Mauku and elsewhere; ou the ground where some of the sharpest;fights of tbe late war took place. It has oftca been observed that the Maoris of the present day closely resemble in many respects the Scotch Highlanders of the times ot Montrose aud Dundee. The traveller irons Europa will be interested to find Maori chiefs now letting their shootings to English sportsm® after the fashion of the Highland chiefs of the nineteeth century.

As for large game the mountains aad forests of New Zealand abound with wild boars, the descendants of those turned ontby Captain Cook a hundred years ago. Theyarc quiet as the animals and give as good sport as the wild boars of Albania, so well known to English sportsmen from the garrison of Corfu while the lonian Islands were under British protection. Numbers of cattle asd goats have also run wild, especially m .to mountains near Wellington. Sir Georgi, Bowen and I, in two days shooting there recently, stalked and killed 16 wild goats, 7 wild boars, and 2 wild bulls. About twentyfive years ago some red deer from. Balmoral were presented to the colony by the late Prince Consort. Already there are large herds in the mountains near Nelson and Wellington, forty-seven having been lately counted together. Deerstalking will soon begin. Fallow and roe deer have also been introduced with success in the provinces oi Canterbury and Otago.

There are magnificent seal shooting and sea fishing on many parts of the coosts ot New Zealand. In his visit to the Sounds (resembling the fiords of Norway) on th? west coast of the South Island in H.M.B. Olio, in 1871, Sir George Bowen shot several seals, which have been decided by Dr Grey, of the British Museum, to belong to. a hitherto undescribed species, named by him Ar otocephalus Ciuereus. The New Zealand rivers are somewhat destitute of fish, but trout have already beea. M* troduced successfully, and it is hoped that Balmon will also be acclimatised here before long.

It is believed that the facts referred to above should make New Zealand peculiarly attractive to intending immigrants of the upper and middle classes, who may feel embarrassed by the wide field for selection presented by the long list of British colonies. The grand tour of the world, inclnding New Zealand, is now an easier matter than was the grand tour of Europe fifty or sixty years ago. In seven or eight weeks the traveller can reach this colony from England by steamer from Liverpool to New York, proceeding thence by railway across the North American continent to San Francisco, and thence by the steamers across tbe Pacific to New Zeafand. After spending two months here, and seeing the wonderful hot lakes and geysers of the North Island (surpassing those of Iceland), and the glaciers ia th** Southern Alps of the South Island, the tourist can return to England by the stea* mers of the Peninsula and Oriental Conipanj seeing en route Sydney and Melbourne, the chief cities of Australia, and slf-V Ceylon, Aden, the Red Sea, Egypt, Malta, &c. The entire tour thus shadowed forth need not occupy more than six or sann months. Sir George Bowen has already, through the Secretary of State for the Colonies, drawn the attention of the Royal Geographical Society and of the Alpine Club to the fresh field for exploration afforded by the mountains and glaciers of the Southern Alps, the highest peak of which is Mom Cook, which rises to 13,200 feet abovo the sea level. Members of the Alpine Club haw already been to the Caucasus, and they may with much greater ease, safety, and comfort explore the mountains of a British colony. They would receive every aid and encouragement from the Colonial Government, ana could make their start from the hospitaW houses of .?ettlers at the foot of the principal ranges.

R. S. Maciiell, A.D.C., late Capt. 62nd Begt. Government House, Wellington, New Zealand, Oct. 20. __