THE KARAMEA CAVES.

Greymouth Evening Star, 3 February 1909, Page 3

THE KARAMEA CAVES.

near Karamea, the SmYwmdent of the Wcstport Hmte Mr John iour miles from theW w i^ no Epnian track —a«»«,6 ul » „ . to the digging days of of a £ The cavelaro particularly easy .cess, being within .track and their great natural beauty snakes them wll worth a visit limy ■mb ¥ery numerous and extend ovei an ;£ four miles in lengh and SoS one and a-half nuT-:»JggJ The discoverers have expired eighteen of them but there many more which they have not as yet had time £ penetote. Geologically the: country consists of a Cap of limestone some X feet in thickness overlying a gSniteted, and it is through> fij, aevisited by thVexcursion nartv was a superb spectacle. it, « as Sect not unlike one might imagine a mighty subterranean cathedral to . be, being over eight chains in length Si measuring half a cham froms«le to side. ■ From the limestone • vault above hung stalacltes of. darting i whiteness and.infinite variety. Their "size, beauty and magnificence could scarcely be surpassed. A corresponding number of equally lovely stalagmites rose from the floor of the cave. The remaining seventeen, explored caves are declared by the discoverers to be replicas in sue and beauty ot that visited by the party. ■ A very interesting feature ot the outing was the discovery ..of the roniains of a moa in the cavo. by Mr Glen Jones. There could bo noques-

ti'on as to the nature of the find, its the bird's beak was unearthed in a state of good preservation, whilei numbers of the party secured leg bones, vertebrae and other parts its mementoes of the day. . ;.„•.„..... ' ' In one of the caves, situated towards the east of the formation, the broken stalactites and stalagmites, etc., give evidence of human habitation. 1 robablv this cave was discovered ami the creek "worked" in the- Oparara cold rush of the early days. Before leaving the party christened the cave visited' "The Ma." attar Mr Johnson's daughter, who was the hist ladv to enter it. It is to be hoped that the Govern-

ment will take steps to safeguard these natural beauties, which, according to some of the party who have visited caves in different parts of the world, are comparable to anything they have seen. A track con hi be made to the caves' entrance at a trilling expenditure and would well repay its cost in the delights which the caves would afford to all who visited them.