Proud Beasties

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31784, 14 September 1968, Page 4

Proud Beasties

Elghland Stags of Otago. By D. Bruce Banwell. Reed. 170 pp. Illustrated.

Even the deer in Otago have good Scots blood. Bruce Banwell begins with a fine flourish of Scots romanticism —Jacobite disasters, Highland clearances—all apparently in aid of his often-repeated assurance that all the red deer in the Otago mountains descend from the Black Mount stock roaming the baronial outskirts of Glencoe. Perhaps he protests too much on this theme of racial purity in what is otherwise a wellproportioned book. He gives a faithful and well-docu-mented account of the development of the herd, the conduct of the sport of stalking in Otago, and a great deal of detailed Information about the different beads, the excitements of their stalking, and the men and women who shot them.

With the help of skilled guides, a variety of people, local lads, well-heeled runholders and overseas visitors, nearly all English (a couple of German barons did creep in), penetrated the Otago mountains and secured memorable trophies. There are interesting but rather restrained stories about individuals. some of whom were characters. Among several English peers the only Gover-nor-General to go stalking in Otago was Lord Jellicoe (who also shot In the Rakaia). The visitors often found the country rough but their marksmanship was sound. The illustrations record the folklore of the sport with the artless profusion of an early settlers’ museum; but lovers of those golden valleys, the Matukituki, the Wilkin and the Landsborougb, may be disappointed that their scenic grandeur was not more impressively recaptured.