Mr 'Explorer' Douglas (1840-1916) Kiwis for Bush Tucker:

I risk again exposing my ignorance by telling you how I only discovered Charlie Douglas last week in an old 2005 'Fish & Game' magazine in a hospital waiting room!

- No I'm fine - I'd driven my 'ex' in for a check-up appointment and subsequently I up-cycled and re-homed the magazine - and managed to later buy a rare copy of an old book from our NZ on-line auction site 'Trademe'.

'Charlie' Washing clothes in a river - Using Mountain Rivers as a route into the peaks is known as "Boulder Hopping".

The 1957 book 'Mr Explorer Douglas' edited by John Pascoe tells of Charlies work exploring, map making, and living off the land while bush-bashing. - If you're interested - there were several copies of the book offered for sale.

What grabbed me first was his use of local birdlife for food - his faithful dog Betsy would roam the bush and daily bring into camp native ground dwelling birds (now protected & endangered) that would be gratefully added into the stew-pot.

The second attraction was his witty writing style - here are some quotes:

" The barometer doesn't affect the weather much on the Coast" (South Westland rain forest, where Mr Explorer Douglas worked is notorious for its high rainfall and sand-flies).

"The hot spring near the Fox (Glacier) smelled badly enough to cure anything".

- Talking about our National Emblem - the Kiwi - "The best definition I ever heard about roast or boiled kiwi was that it tasted 'like a piece of pork boiled in an old coffin"

Scots born 'Mr Explorer Douglas' seems to be not well known - but deserves to be included with the better known pioneers like Brunner, Haast, Hooker, Godley & 'Arawata Bill' for his explorations of this wild, wet, and dangerous terrain of Southern Westland.

Eels, native fish and birds like the bush-hen (Weka) all went into the pot - and his recipes for eating kiwi seem to have involved boiling for two - four hours - and tell the story of hard going and hunger. There are several lakes, passes, glaciers and peaks named Douglas after him.

Note: Charlie Douglas is recorded as saying that NOT being able to swim had often saved his life - by making him more cautious crossing rivers. - Drowning at river crossings was so frequent a cause of death in early NZ that it was known as "The New Zealand Death"

I'm looking forward to a slow read of this book of his early days in New Zealand.

Marty K.