NEW ZEALAND AS A SPORTING COUNTRY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11692, 29 June 1901, Page 4 (Supplement)

NEW ZEALAND AS A SPORTING COUNTRY.

The writer of Kennel Notes in the Sydney . Morning Herald seems to have thought that. the Duke of York would have ample time; ; while in New Zealand to attend to sport. He • says:—The Duke should have some good shooting in Now Zealand, and it is to ha hoped that hospitable Motutapu may _ entertain tha distinguished personage. It is possible that better deer-stalking may not t>e ..... found in any place in the world so close to a capital, for we take Auckland to be the chie . town of the North Island. And as the Duke of York proceeds to the thermal district, he will, with the instinct of a, devotee of the . . gentle art, observe the river that, meanders by the railway. For our late Royal visitor* like his eldest sister, is a disciple of -^ at Walton. There is also game in New Zealand that is not to be found on this continent. We refer to pheasants, and in thai? wonderful goree and fern country they mus' flourish even as the bay r tree. Then, again* the lakes are full of game fish, and the neighbourhood of Okoroire, about 130 miles on the way to that modern Hades, Whakarewa- : , , rewa, puts one in mind oj: its antipodes, E n S* ;... . laud. It would appeal to be a good sporting country, of a, somewhat undulating character. It reminded me of that garden of England, Leicestershire. Especially was this noticeable about Taumangi, where there were excellent sheep and some wonderfully good Herefords. The spinneys here made one's thoughts run away to the Quorn coun- ' ; try; .indeed, .there was little'to distinguish one place from the other both ends of • . the —save an abundantly raventressed Maori damsel who cooled her heels by V sitting on the stoep of the railway carriage. ■ •The cold wind that almost crimpled up some of us poor hothouse plants appeared to have no terrors for the bare legs of it might be a-.. descendant of Te Kooti himself. My com- ■ panion was a native, and he must have been • - "somebdy," for ho wore a turkey's feather . : in his hat. We were discussing the war, and ho said he and his fellows would like to go. Ho told me a great deal about their dogs, and thai they venerated them, and we know - . - it is dog's hair that decorates the staff of ' " Maoris of high degree. %£