FOREST SKETCHES

Taranaki Daily News, 22 November 1930, Page 1 (Supplement)

FOREST SKETCHES

LIFE IN THE FAR NORTH

.(By

“Forester.”)'

The Poacher.— He came swinging down the path towards me with a long easy stride that covered the ground with surprising speed. By the thin light which filtered down through the leaves above I was able.to take stock of the man who had so -suddenly and noiselessly appeared out of th© depths of the forest in which he wa£ trespassing. His dungarees were old and torn; his boots gaped in places; and his shirt was ragged and dirty. He could only be what he seemed, one of the world’s outcasts. ' -x y He carried an axe on his shoulder. To my query he made a weak reply to the effect that he was looking for a deserted camp where he might secure some old shingles. I did not believe him, for the axe suggested to me that his intention was to bleed some kauris. .Yet I let him pass, for with the knowledge that I was not far away he would : surely scarcely dare to prepare for a raid on the forest’s wealth—the gum. He stood in the path watching me into the bush. An hour or so later I was startled by the sound of a rifle or gun shot in ths forest, the forest where no sportsman had the right of entry without, permission.- It could scarcely be the scarecrow I had met earlier in the day; he had no gun. And yet I had not liked :hig look?. . ~ i When two more shots sounded it was time to retrace my steps. I approached with' what stealth I could the little valley whence the gun reports appeared to have come. - But I must have heralded my coming. A distant crash-, ing on the other side of the glen told me-: that my quarry had? escaped. I found'the feathers of a native pigeon under a tree, but that was the only trace of the daring poacher who had entered the forest right under my hose. No wonder (he had kept, facing me’ in the hope that in thp dim light I ’ would noli, notice his arms were along a gun barrel instead pf /an axe ’shaft;, I would not be caught so' easily next time, The Gum Climbers.—

Driving their spiked boots into the bark they swarmed up th© straight smooth column of the massive kauri in a way that a fly would have envied. Then they circled round the giant bole as easily as if on th© ground. Having shown my friends their paces they separated, one going to another tree. Up in the fork of th© branches they set to work with a will, gathering the golden gum. When there was non© left they descended and' went calmly to the next forest giant as though their calling was no stranger than that of a city clerk. Their bags grew heavier, but th© facility of their movement never lessened. They were in their element. Bi" men they both were, ..but ©ven with° their stature their strength was surprising. Fastening '.each end of a short rope to the corners of hug© sacks filled with heavy gum and fastening the loop round the neck, they swung thejr burdens to their back and, with th© ease of long practice, tramped easily to where their, pack horse awaited, them,After a large supper they mad© their bed under the stars, as was their custom when the weather was fine. Theirs was a hard and wild life, but' withal a healthy one. The Bullocks.-—

Ar© working bullocks sagacious?., To see them engaged in the kauri country is to say yes, for there they do marvellous work. No road is top rough and no bush track is too strenuous for them. To the casual observer they merely pull. Yet, their labour is not as simple as that.

See them as they emerge from th© forest path on to the skidded road with its three forks ahead. Which will they take with no hand to guide them?

A sharp command from the driver, who does not need to us© his longhandled whip, and they cross the road up the slope to take the left hand route. Would a team of horses do that? If specially trained perhaps, but no better than the apparently dull bovines.

They move off the path of their own accord and then veer back to th© centre where the worn skids make the pulling easier. ‘ '

Their day’s work done the bullocks will wander along the river flats with their new rich pasture before withdrawing into the shelter of the scrub. But they will not wander far enough for ,their bells to fail to reveal their whereabouts.

But why, have those two been liberated with the. yoke on? Because one is a wanderer and without the restraint of his team-mate he might plod steadily on through the darkness. • For he yearns for a place where he will be free from the heavy toil of the day to come. They are like the bush they live in, these bullocks. Quiet and docile but with hidden strength;* useful when ruled by man for his own purposes but left to themselves content to sleep the days away; cunning and, in their own way of passive resistance, vengeful when harmed. Great simple animals they are, and yet their aid, freely given, is invaluable to the timber men. The* Adventurers.— • ,

Where the great wall of trees ended and the horizon broke in a wide clearing that was the boundary to common land a few small building were dwarfed in .the shadow of Nature s giants; ail.insignificant curl of smoke drifted upwards, harmless there, but among- the trees a nightmare vision, the clearing merged into the trees and the trees into a gathering dq.sk. The bells of cattle echoed, and the’distant sounds of human life came dimly through. A faint, increasing coo-ee echoed through the treebound valley i arid” back again! Nearer at hand an answer came, “coo-ee” again in the happy careless voices of youth. With supplejacks for their bows, clubbed roots for hockey sticks searched for and carefully cut and a handful of uncommon. fern, two bpys slid down a slope into sight, greeted and passed on. It was their day; Nature they loved, and her peculiar fruits they valued in a simple way, and with the falling shadows they bade their adventuring farewell.