THE CAVE OF MARAEKAKAHO.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 304, 19 December 1873, Page 2

THE CAVE OF MARAEKAKAHO.

A correspondent of tlie ' Hawke's Bay Herald » supplies that journal with the following account of a natural wonder in that province: — A rule of about six miles from Gienordiy—Captain M 'Lean's liomoste.il — across rich undulating country, frorn which tbe fern ia fast disappearing, and clover and rye grass take its place, brought ns to lhe boundary of Mr Mason'B run. There we alighted and tied up our horses. Afier walking about a hundred yards we came fo an indentation in the earth which presented the appearance of the print of an inverted cone. It was frorn twenty fo thirty feet in diameter at tho top, aDd about the same in depth. At the bottom was n clump of bushes, which, ifc nppearetl on closer inspection, covered a deeper cavity below. Having put them aside, we saw before us a hole some twelve feet in depth, and into thia we let ourselves down by the supplejacks which grew along its sideJ At the bottom was a rift in the iimestonef broad and high enough but not much more than enough, to admit us jn single file. There was water under foot, varying irom half a foot to a couple of feet in depth, and in parts disappearing altogether. After proceeding a few yards we came to a sharp turn, and then found ourselves in y utter darkness. We had taken the precaution to bring candles with us, and these we now lighted. Alter groping our way through the narrow intricate passage for about ten minutes we found ourselvcy at last in a chamber of irregular shape, which appeared to average ten feet in breadth. Here the gentleman who acted jib guide, and who had seen the caves before, told us tg put lho candles out. We did ao, and the effect was certainly a most extraordinary one. Through tho pitchy darkness, unredeemed by the faintest truce of daylight, there gleamed nbov us and" on every side of 113 myriads of lumi •-■•& points. It needed little stretch of imug. Nation to believe that what we beheld w/s a sort of Plutonic firmanent in the bofrels of the earth — a scene such as that \«nzch midnight might be expected to present iny Hades. A fanciful spectator would pav/ been able to trace out subterraneous fconstellations — Great and Littlo Bears! or Orions with their belts and swords—bearing more or less resemblance to the, super*. terre3tial ones. When we had amused ourselves for a few miuutes with this strange spectacle, we relit the candles in order to proceed on our journey. We were not long in discovering the cause of the luminous appearances. The walls and roof of the cove were covered, as I believe is tho case with many other caves— it is, at any rate, with the famous caves near Wells, in Somersetshire — with numberless little creatures something like slugs, but in general only about half or a quarter ot au inch in length, and in thickness about double that of an ordinary pin, possessed of phosphor-/ escent heads, which emitted a pale blufe light. They had webs, if one might chil them so, of a substance similar to a spider's but not reticulated, which hung in numberless lassies from the roof. The übc of the lights, I suppose, is fo enable them to direct their movements. Pa ley would have seen in the fact of their possessing them a fresh evidence of the wisdom of the Great Designer, and Huxley and Darwin, I suppose, would see in it another instance of tbe manner the distinctive peculiarities of every creature are evolved by the conditions of its existence. A half-share in the Break-o'-Day has recently been disposed of for £400. j Mr Shapter writes to the « Westport ! Times' aB follows:— "A report having been circulated, I know not by whorn^ that Mr O'Conor, not having been successful in the late election for Superintendent, it is my intention to resign my seat in the Provincial Council, I beg emphatically to deny that I have ever thought of so doing. A strong party of visitors to the Ngakawhau coal-mines, left Westport on Tuesday morning, including f=ir David Monro, Dr Hector, Captain Leech, and Messrs. Fodder, A. Munro, Cooper. Falla, and Field, the object of Sir David Monro and Mr Hodder being, as directors of the Albion Company, to inspect the river and mine specially on behalf of the company. The programme of the Dunedin, March 1874, races, appears in the Jiouthern papers. There are to be three days' sports. The " hig event" on the first day, the cup, is valued at £300 with a sweepstake of 10 sovs eacb, two miles and a distance. On the second day, the Jockey Club Handicap of 200 sovs, with a sweepstake of 5 sova each, will be run; and on the third day will be contested the Town Plate of 100 sovs, with a sweep of 5 sovs, aud the Handicap Steeplechase of 100 sovs with a like sweep. These, are the principal events. The money advertised amounts to £1495. A' correspondent, writing to a Southern contemporary, remarks, iu a recent letter from Adelaide, " that a large vessel was then daily expected there from Calcutta with about 1,000 hales of sacks, which had all been sold to arrive, and a similar parcel was due in Melbourne the following month from the same quarter, a portion of wbich," continues the writer, "has been sold to Adelaide merchuuls, with a view to transhipment to jour market! When will you be able to supply yourselves and us with this article?" Echo answers— When? Adelaide alone consumes 6,000 bales of sacks per annum, which, at tbe moderate price of 10s a dozen, represents ' a money value of £75,000 a year. And thia is irrespective of wool sacks. Add to this tha consumption of Victoria, New South Wakt?, and Now Zrnlund, aud there k> offered a prospect for the establishment, of a sack nnd bagging manufactory, * which should gladden the heart of any Bet of capitalists, and induce the establishment of a factory at the earliest possible date.— 'Herald.'