A few days ago, Malta lost one of its veteran politicians, Dr Michael Refalo. I will not commemorate Dr Refalo for his political contribution, nor for his journalistic career but for his translation of Herbert Ganado’s book Rajt Malta Tinbidel.
Like Refalo, Ganado was a journalist of great success. Ganado could be considered one of the pioneers of Maltese journalism. He was a practising Catholic who suffered exile for his political views and beliefs. More importantly, he struggled so that the Catholic Church could continue having her voice heard in a rapidly changing society in Malta. Perhaps, what is less known is that he was one of the first to have voiced his opinion against hunting. In his book Rajt Malta Tinbidel, he spoke about his love of nature more than once. It is extremely revealing of a person, as Herbert Ganado, who was so much in favour of supporting and upholding the Maltese Christian traditions, that he would express such a strong objection to hunting.
Since the Maltese will be asked to voice their preference in a referendum, I would like to propose what Ganado had to say. I quote from Dr Refalo’s translation of Ganado’s work, thus, this extract may also serve as a literary tribute to Dr Refalo’s work and Ganado’s acumen regarding hunting when most of Maltese society considered it part and parcel of Malta’s daily life. I will quote from My Century. Herbert Ganado: Rajt Malta Tinbidel translated and adapted by Michael Refalo, vol. 4, Malta, 2007, pp. 226-7, the description of a migratory flock of turtledoves that Herbert Ganado and the rest of the Maltese internees saw while being transported by train from Egypt to Uganda. It confirms Ganado’s love and admiration of natural habitats.
‘As we set on the ferry we saw in the distance ahead what initially had looked like a dark cloud. We shielded our eyes against the sun and tried to discover what it was. “They look like birds to me”, someone exclaimed. Another internee who was quite knowledgeable about birds and hunting looked intently at the moving cloud and said, “That is definitely a flight of turtledoves! I will put my head on the block. They must be turtledoves!”
Bertu Gauci was a keen shot and confirmed the cloud consisted in millions of turtledoves on their way north to escape the arid, summer heat of the tropics for the mild sunny European weather. The black cloud of turtledoves never seemed to end. Turtledoves and other avian species follow nature’s clock and discovered their almanac well before the Egyptians had found their way to Europe.
Man has for thousands of years followed and studied bird migration. Instinct and self-preservation constrain birds to undertake an annual pilgrimage northwards and after a time return south in search of more congenial locations. In spring and autumn birds that live on insects fly northwards in search of food, hatch their chicks, rear their fledglings and when bad winter weather approaches and fewer insects are about, fly back to Africa.
Birds fly to every destination and migrate as far as they need. Some species fly at high altitude and mainly at night to avoid being caught by larger birds. The sun and the stars help birds find their bearings. Their instinct serves as nature’s compass.
Turtledoves and other species seek the shortest route between Africa and Europe. The shortest migratory routes between the continents are through Egypt and Asia Minor in the east and Morocco and Spain in the west. Malta is in the centre of the Mediterranean and like St Paul only birds that encounter inclement weather stop and shelter on the island. The islanders welcomed St Paul but gave birds a totally different reception. They shoot at them from all directions. There will come a time when instinct will tell the birds to avoid and not stop in Malta’.