HUNTING WITHOUT THE GUN.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume IX, Issue 692, 11 June 1903, Page 18

HUNTING WITHOUT THE GUN.

To go on a wild goose hunt without a gun would seem a very singular proceeding anywhere, except in the Falkland Islands : but there such a weapon is not necessary, as the young men and boys use an equally effective projectile called the bird bolas, which is made of the knucklebones of cattle. That employed in the capture of wild horses is made of three stone balls, connected by twisted sinews four or live feet in lengtin A similar bolas is found among the Eskimos, the balls being of ivory carved from the tusk of a walrus. A sportsman thiis describes the method employed in taking wild fowl with the bolas. A young goose hunter crawled slowly along between the tilssocks. occasionally raising upon his hands and knees to glance cautiously at the big white geese which floated on the lake. There were at least fifty, some standing on a little spit that reached out into the lake, and against which, being of black bog, the white forms of the geese stood out, in Striking relief, while others were swimming idly about or plunging their wedgeshaped heads into the dark waters in search of the succulent roots and fibres which constitute, their food.

It was difficulty work stalking game in this wav. as the nearer the bolas thrower

approached the lake the softer the grouiad became. Step By step he crawled, crouching low, until, peering through the tussock grass, he found himself within 15® , feet of the flock. Between him and ths game was a large cluster of grass weeds, which he finally reached. The little island was found to be exactly suited for hia purpose, the grass being 6 or 7 feet in th® centre, while from! it, in the direction of the unsuspecting geese, the land extended for 20 or 30 feet, almost devoid off x vegetation. Wringing the black, wood stained water from his clothes, the hunter arranged his bolas, taking the small ball in his right hand and swinging the other over his left arm, already to throw, then plunged carefully into the grass. Slowly he worked his way until he could see the geese through the green and yellow screen, barely 100 feet away ; then dashed from his cover and ran down the little island shore at full speed, and before the astonished geese could recover he was almost amongst them. They scurried oS in every direction, some flapping furiously over the water in vain efforts to rise ; others circling laboriously into the air.

To the latter the young hunter devoted himself, and now stood leisurely swinging the two balls around his head, with a slightly upward angle. Faster they flew, until they finally disappeared from sight ; and then, the air being filled with! geese, he released the ball in his hand, and the remarkable weapon, with its three balls widely stretched in opposite directions, yet whirling violently round, went whistling into the air. Up it went, and with almost human intelligence seemed to glide in among the birds and wind about them like the coils of a snake. One bird was stunned by a blow from the ball, while two others, completely entangled in the cords, came fluttering down into the water, where they were easily secured, a little later being fastened to the horse and on their way to the home of the herders, miles out on the moorland. The bolas is the natural 1 weapon of the Spanish South Americans, who are remarkably proficient and skillful with it. They use it on the continent in taking the ostrich, following this swift bird on horseback, whirling the three or four balls in the air with very long cords, and sending them so swiftly that they rarely miss 1 , twirling tight around the legs of the bird and bringing it down. On the Falkland Islands the bone bolas is exclusively used by the young Scotch herders, particularly by boys, who in the chase of ducks and geese are very expert.—Breeder and Sportsman-