THROUGH THE JUNGLE

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 11, 14 July 1928, Page 18

THROUGH THE JUNGLE

BIRTLES' GREAT FEAT PERILS OF THE NIGHT (From "The Post's" Representative.) SYDNEY,;2Ist Juno., It seems strange that' Francis Birtle3, who is motoring from London to Melbourne, should meet with his greatest anxiety on arrival in, Australia. It •was a case of Government red tape. When he reached Darwin by steamer the Customs officials impounded his motor-car, and stated that they would not release it until he paid the duty. Birtles protested that' the car was not subject to duty, as" it was the same one he took away With'> him' for his long journey. Tho.officials were adamant, and it was only after intervention of the Minister of Customs at Canborra that he gained possession of the car which'has stood him in such good stead. Birtles is now, crossing Australia, an experience by ,no means new to him, and one holding no terrors ior him, for he understands "tire great outback and the blacks bettdr,, perhaps, than any other Australian; On his arrival at Darwin after months of weary plodding and many adventures he talked freely of his experiences, and was obviously glad to be once again on his native soil. "Yes, as you say, I am looking thin on it," he stated, "but you know I lived on nothing but boiled rice for a month, with no meat but an occasional monkey we managed to shoot. But I would not recommend monkey to my friends, and while I was eating it I felt like a cannibal. We made headway through the; dense jungle at the rate of about a mile a day. The roadloss journey through upper India presents difficulties which are not easily described. It passes under ranges of mountains, many of which rise up thousands of feet,-knd the descent through some of the gorges presented difficulties which were almost appalling. I went through Turkey with a tomahawk as a protection, firearms being prohibited, but passed through without molestation. There was cause for grave fears ' as Turkey is full of brigands, and they > will murder anyone to get a gun. "The wolvs in Persia were a source of, ganger. The country was covered lyfth snow, and wolves, perishing with hunger, camo dpwn in numbers' from /tho higher couittry.',: One night in camp, -well* off. the caravan route, two of them came, within fifteen yards. The only thing that we could do was to cover up the car with a tarpaulin and camp inside. The cold was intense, and we were almost perishing with it. We were compelled to burn small alcoKol wood blocks prevent being frozen to death. The''country is devoid of timber,for firewOod, and the wolves howled; close around all night, making sleep impossible. Some nighis the cold was so intense ,that we travelled all nigh p t to prevent ourselves from freezing."' - "Then we came into the Buhmah jungles, and. the other extreme in temperature was felt. Bain was falling gently all the, time,' and it was steaming hot. Mosquitoes, centipedes, and cobra >nakes were. everywhere, and it was suffocating,-under 'mosquito nets, with 'lamps burning to scare away wild animal*, the most dangerous of which were tho wild elephants'. A fearless, inquisitive brute bumped around the car all night, knocking his trunk on tho ground and making a noise very much like the hopping of a large kangaroo. The light wo had was not too strong for some of the panthers, which jumped right into the camp at night. '' Striking south through Burmah a remarkable sight is tho existence of 13,000 pagodas spread over the country. Thousands of natives there had never before seen a motor-car, and they looked upon the vehicle propelling itself with a sort of superstitious awe. had a wonderful reception in Rangoon, where everyone thought that tho trip was a physical impossibility. From there we went through Lower Burmah and Siam, and caught the steamer at Singapore for Darwin."