STRAY ELEPHANTS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22723, 8 May 1937, Page 15

STRAY ELEPHANTS

MOTORIST'S TROUBLES INCIDENT ON THE ROAD MONKEYS FALL OVER A BANK In the solitudes of the Awakino Valley an Auckland motorist this week encountered two elephants. Further 011 he found a cage full of shrieking monkeys, which had almost fallen into I the river and was temporarily placed j 011 the roadside, and a few minutes j later he overtook some lions in an iron , trailer that to his startled eyes seemed j very insecurely fastened to its chassis. When he related his experience yesterday this motorist said he hoped ho would never again drive round a sharp bend in the road and find two elephants broadside across his path cropping the young foliage of the overhanging trees. He said two elephants were not objects anybody might expect to find in the middle of a New Zealand countryside, especially when they were completely unescorted and when he did not know! exactly how a motorist asks an elephant to yield him the right-of-way. He said he thought of the snakes which had been found at Pokeno and wondered if ho was really in New Zealand. Voluble Monkeys He then remembered having passed a pedestrian some minutes before and so went back to ask him if ho had anything to do with two stray elephants that were busily engaged in eating Now Zealand's forests. The pedestrian owned to a knowledge of the elephants and persuaded them to walk 011 what might have been the footpath, while the bewildered motorist manoeuvred past them. Still thinking of the elephants, the motorist drove slowly through the valley and then, when ho had gone about a milo further 011, ho made the acquaintance of the monkeys. They were blaspheming merrily from the side of the road, having just been dragged back to safety from the bank of the river 20ft. below. The trailer 011 which they wore being towed behind a lorry had cast the bolt, slipped back to the edge of the road, and fallen oh to the only patch of safe ground in the whole valley, coming to rest within inches of the river. The Last Straw With two elephants and a cage full of monkeys in his mind, the motorist drove on. He was approaching Te Kuiti when ho met the lions. The lorry by which they were being towed occupied most of the road and he had perforce. t,o follow them for a considerable distance, meanwhile noticing with some alarm that the trailer containing the lions did not seem to possess one of the Hon. R. Semple's warrants of fitness. It sagged to one, side and the manner in which the cage was fastened on to its chassis was not one calculated to reassure the motorist that lie could follow them in safety for very far. Having .at last liegotiilted the lions, the motorist continued on his way to Auckland and yesterday, as a result of his experience, he wanted to know if the authorities kept' a cheek on the animals brought into the country so they could toll if none had been left straying around New Zealand when their circus departed from the Dominion; if their keepers carried firearms to deal with any escapees; and if their carriages were subject to the inspection imposed on ordinary holidaymakers' caravans.