[By Gamebag.]

Evening Post, Volume LXIII, Issue 87, 12 April 1902, Page 6 (Supplement)

[By Gamebag.]

The following items are extracted from a letter received by Mr. W. H. Tiidull from Bulls, Rangitikei, the writer of which is in a position to speak with authority : —"We will have a fair timo, this shooting season, as ducks, swamp 1 hens, etc., seem very plentiful. Now that the fishing season is nearly over it is interesting to note that I know of 136 fish being caught in the neighbourhood of Bulls, the smallest being 31b and the largest 10£lb. I know at present where there are several very large fish that want shifting out of the river, as they feed on the very large number of small fish of which the Rangitikei is full. / The good fish are rather shy of artificial bait." Some three months ago Lieut. -Colonel Patterson, of Queensland, visited New Zealand, one of his objects being to test the groat reputation of our rivers as a fishing domain. A portion of his experiences the Lieut. -Colonel has been communicating to his friends in Gvmpie, and from a local paper we learn that he • is greatly enamoured of this country, which he regards as a perfect paradise for sportsmen. He is also hifcfcly impressed with the enthusiastic manner in" which the acclimatisation societies are endeavouring to' foster sport and the conveniences they afford to visitors to pursue their pleasure — conveniences which no considers ore much in advance of I what is found in Australia. : "I was fairly successful," says Mr. Patterson, "with the trout during the three days I fished, but lost several large fish of from 41b tq, 71b through having too fine a tackle, and was not prepared for the grand fighting quality of the rainbow, which, so far as my experience goes, is the gameat fish I ever struck, and as they rise splendidly to Vhe artificial fly, they may, I think, in. .the Waihou river at all events, be pronounced the best sporting fish known." Fishing in the Opihl last week, Mr. P. Sealey landed a beautiful trout which turned the scale at 131 b. The Hawea Flat correspondent of the Cromwell Argus reports that Lake Hawea is simply teeming with beautiful fish. At this time of the year (says Country Life) the hare* havo selected their partners — the females apparently exercising their right to choose, and being guided in their judgment by* iSo aorobatic activity of their several suitors — and you may. often, on peeping over a fence, sco an engaged coupV quietly doipg nothing in particular but iquattii?g close together, back to back. Like almost every other habit of the hare, this attitude looks ridiculous, as if they had had a tiff and had just determined to have nothing more to do with each other. So sometimes in publio parks you may see young human couples sitting on the some garden seat looking disconsolately at tho opposite landscapes. But there is no^ parallel between the two oases, and when we are tempted to smile at the hares wo should remember tho reply of the old shepherd, to tho laird, who was surprised to see the sheep lying o«t In the storm. "If I were a sheep," said tho laird, "I should shelter down there." "Gin ye were a •heep," replied tho shepherd, (l y© wad hae mail" sense." For the hares are by no means so silly as they look. This wicked world is full of stoats and other unpleasant surprises ; but from the moment that each hare has secured a compiitlion in life he or she is much better equipped for guarding against them, simply because they are now two pairs of eyes to look after their common safety. But

of what use would the extra pair be if, when the hares were doing nothing in particular except enjoying each other's company, they sat side by side? It is all very well for human couples to go blindly honeymooning about the lanes together with both their heads under one umbreHa, but they would not be no if thero were lions in the hedges. The stoat is the hares' lion ; and so, whether you think that they look ridiculous or not, they prefer to sit back to back, and so command all quarters of the laudsoap© at once. Four young deer obtained at Martinborough havo been sent to Stewart Island, four others to Waikareinoana, and four to Pahnerston. j Many sportsmen think the Government should bo urged to secure the whole of Kapiti Island as a preserve. Natives have lately been over the island and have burned off a large quantity of scrub. The shooting season in Otago opened on the Ist in real earnest (says the Taleri Advocate). The birds this year ape very plentiful, and they are moro scattered than usual. This is accounted for by tho recent floods. There are patches of water lying about the plains. The ponds and lagoons, especially in West Toieri, are all swollen, and feed is plentiful. Every morning, from 4 o'clock onwards, the noise of the guns from the swamps and lagoons around Outram would put the sham fight at Forbury Park into the shade. The swamp turkeys or pukakis have evidently benefited by the last two closo seasons, and they are very numerous. Some big bags aTe reported. Some of the sawmillers in the Grey valley are in trouble owing to their operations being retarded through the action of the Acclimatisation Society in taking steps to prevent the streams being polluted with sawdust. It is reported that some of the mill sites will have to be shifted. It is reported that pigeons, ducks, etc., will be plentiful this season in the Forty Mile Bush. Mr. L. Price, the chief ranger for the Wellington Acclimatisation Society, has furnished a report upon the condition of tho Manawatu River, during the course of which he says: — "On the occasion of my visit I inspected the sewer outfall aiiid rubbish tips. I found that the sewer from the town was running into the river, aud around the outfall was washed up a quantity of rubbish, amongst which everything from a shoulder of mutton to a circulating boiler could bo found." Mr. Price then enumerates the number of kerosene tins, colonial ovens, etc., which he saw there, and concludes by expressing the opinion that if the other towns along the river are following Palrnorston's example the Mnuawatu River, instead of being a splendid fishing, river and a thing of beauty, will become an open sewer, and nothing moro than an effervescing fever bed. The Tourist Department is looking ahead to make Stewart Island an attractive holiday resort (says a Southland contemporary). Inapootor Moorhouse, of that Department, has just returned from the island after liberating fifteen young red deer. Some of those were bred in Wairarapa, but the majority were imported from Victoria. *They were liberated on the Freshwator river, which runs into Caerlowel Arm of Paterson's Inlet. This should make that part of the island especially attractive^ to sportsmen, as the river already abounds in trout. Mr. 1 Saundcrs, the local agent, reports that over 400 visited tho island last week.