STORIES OF THE PENINSULA.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume VI, Issue 565, 13 December 1881, Page 2

STORIES OF THE PENINSULA.

No. 11.—-Akaroa Spirits,

Te Terea, the son of a Maori chief, who used to live in a whare in Children's Bay, of which the chimney now only stands, informed some of the old residents that in his father's time a great number of Waikato Maoris made war against their Peninsula brethren, and, after a fearful and bloodthirsty struggle, completely conquered them. They took a large number of prisoners, and kept them on Dampier Island, well guarded, and, as food was required, killed, cooked, and ate them. To partly authenticate this as a fact, hundreds of Maori ovens, constructed of boulders, are to be found in tho immediate vicinity. It was at this time that a Maori chieftainess was most cruelly murdered, but it does not appear that the poor woman was treated in the same way as the other prisoners taken, for her body was removed to Robinson's Bush, and buried at the foot of a waterfall that is still running, and the very place where the body was interred can be pointed out. The waterfall is about 40 feet in height, and is amazingly picturesque ; the bush is very beautiful around this spot, and weird as it seems in the moonlight, there is a most impressive grandeur about the scene. Some residents in the neighborhood aver that the ghost of the Maori queen still haunts this place, and that a peculiar shriek, as from a human being in great agony, is heard at certain times of tlie year. There are many, too, who say they have seen the ghost of the poor slaughtered woman. Well-known and respectable people assert that they have seen the phantom, and a Frenchman woo resided in Akaroa, having occasion to visit the place, states that ho saw the apparition clothed from head to foot in white garments, and for hundreds of pounds that gentleman could never be induced to revisit the place. Had we to depend, however, on the word of our friend the Frenchman, who was known by the nickname of " Quest qu'il dit," we might doubt the fact of the ghost's existence, as he was somewhat inclined to be superstitious. " Quest qu' il dit " used to t dl a story of a haunted house in his native land, tiie ghost thatused to t rrify all intruders being a cocaterie (an animal of the lizard species, only of huge dimensions). The house was a handsome residence, and many people endeavored to take possession of it, bat when the cocaterio appeared they foil dead. The theory was that if a person could catch ■hefirsts : ght of the animal, he would have power to to destroy it, and a friend of'" Quest qu'il dit's " made a small hole in a cask, and crawiing into tho house with his cask, slipped into it, and awaited i tho coming of the terrible lizard. In due / course the coo terie appeared, but was not' quick enough, for he had been seen first j by the adventurous intruder, who was ;

immediately enabled thereby to destroy him and become of the house. "Quest qui'il dit" used to tell other Interesting tales of the same class, and was evidently a great teliever in the supernatural. But others say they have seen the ghost in Children's Bay, and thero is no doubt that either a material or spiritual body has chosen to take up a temporary abode in this beautiful place at stated intervals. The only clue that can be gained to clear away the mystery of the phantom, and the strange noise to be heard at the waterfall, is one that we will relate, and our readers can form their own opinion. At the time we are speaking of the Akaroans would number less than a hundred, and there was no police surveillance at all. The bush was dense and thick, nnd narrow bridle tracks were the only means of traffic. Thehatbor was a favorite one for French and American whalers, and as many as seven have been anchored here at a time, the population being considerably increased by the number of runaway sailors from these vessels. It was a benefit to the residents lo have these whalers call, as they used to buy vegetables and meat. D iy and night the trying out was going on, and the flimes from the deck gave many the impression that the vessels were on fire. At this period, then, a horrible murder was committed in Palmer's Gully, now better known as Murderer's Gully, the mime being changed after the tngedy happened. Tin's place was a wild, dense, dark spot, with a track through it, which has since been widened into what is now known as the Old German Bay road, and a great portion of the bush and underwood has been cleared away, so that now the place h much more open, the only remeniscence of the horrible crime that was committed there being the still standing broadloaf tree, under which the murdered man was found. It appears that a man who had been-a runaway sailor was employed in pit-sawing at Robinson's Bay, he used continually to be backwards and forwards between Akaroa and his place of. occupation, and consequently used to pass through Palmer's Gully. One night as usual, he started on his journey from Robinson's Eay to Akaroa and reached his destination safely, but he was doomed never to return home alive. He was stabbed in the side. He was speechless and life was nearly extinct when he was discovered, aud he died very shortly afterwards. At this time what appeared to be a ghost was frequently seen about the German Bay hill, clothed in white, and it is strange that this phantom is said to have entirely disappeared after tho murdered man was found. Whether there was any connection between the ghost and the murderer, or the two ghosts, of course cannot be known, as the prosecuter of this horrible deed wild never discovered, and there being no police in the place, no trace of the murderer was ever found. It was thought, however, that the m m who committed the crime, assumed the disguise of a phanton, so that he might have tlie advantage of his victim by t'rightcnimr him before he committed the crime. We cannot held thinking, however, that the apparition at the waterfall can be easily accoimtel for by natural causes, as tho spray rising from the water often assumes an extronic-ly weird shape, arid this seen in tho gleaming moonlight through the dense foliage, in a spot that h is a history, would bo sure to e.vite tho imaginative powers of either the superstitious or the artless.