A TREASURE CAVE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2817, 4 March 1908, Page 17

A TREASURE CAVE.

TALES AND LEGENDS. (From Oub Own Correspondent.} AUCKLAND, February 26. An old man of the sea has been telling' a Star reporter some astonishing things about the cascades of the West Coast. After stating" that the cascades are not approachable by land, owing' to the high ranges of the Southern Alps, he goes on to tell of a wonderful treasure caw'of gold 'in a whirlpool. He said: "It ia iust loveliest spot in New Zealand. There, isan ancient Maori pa there, but no Bigrij&t .••the Maoris havihg resided in .the loeaifty, for many year* About this seU-same" pa' are told many stories and '"'traditions. " Then there is the cascade lagoon form^dl, by natural reefs. The lagoon is exposedl to the roLTof the ocean, and the formation, is such that there is always a continual! "booming. At night the noises are qriSta eerie and- uncanny. Sometimes they re-i semble the boom of thunder ; other times* they crack like artillery. Likewise there* is no end of the varieties of wild fowl( which come on to the lagoon &t/ nignt, »nd^ the combination of noises is something alto- 1 gether out of the common. Now and- -theni' rumours have gained currency of vftluabW gold and mineral deposits, and it is believed*, that more than one treasure-hunting partyij has endeavoured to reach the cascade by, fording- the rivers which intervene. Fur-, ther.. there are stories of more than, onei life being: lost in the attempt. As too country runs back, the fertile valley gives place to undulating red hills., and. thesa appeared to me to give strong indications' of being diamonddferous,, being much tho. same as what I have -*eea at Kimberley. I Adjoining the cascade is Bam Bay, into which the Hope River flows. About this , Barn Bay many strange gold legends aio told. It is stated thai there are occasions" when the complications of the elements, together with natural conditions, bring) about a situation which would 1 make thai mining speculator's- hair stand on end.According to the popular story, the formation of the reefs and the exit of the stream." running from the fertile valley of the oas- ' cade hay© the effect when the wind is in the right direction of workinsr the water., up into a seething, boiling cauldron, a fciikf of migbtly gold-washing pan or crucible,', and then at the crit icaP moment the pold ia lifted up on the beach pure and unalloyed 1 .. The yarn may seem iperedible, but I priva it you for what it is worth, but subsequently I met an old man at Hokiiika, who told me a story which was confirmatory in as far as the surroundings- j»o. He told mo that he bad witnessed this process of thft ocean, this natural treatment of the gold l washed down from the valley and th«| mountains, and saw the pare article tossed up a* his feet from the churning, boiling; cauldron of the sea. He was not alto-, gether surprised, for he had heard tha legend, and he straightway carried the gold! high up on to the beach, burying it in tha sand. Wild dreams of sudden riches wero his. and he hastened back to Okuru for food! and assistance. When he returned h« found that the gold vanished, that tba sea which gave it uo had reclaimed it in, his absence. For 18 months he watched' for a recurrence pf-the strange phenomena, but without avail, and at the end of that: period he was starved out. He tried sluicing, with some success, but the great haul entirely disappeared, and bis waiting was in vain. The cascade is the last and tho only rookery in New Zealand for seals," added the mariner. " They are ensconced in large numbers in a cove which is almost inaccessible, and it would be difficult to find a more suitable place for their preservation. Unfortunately, hunger prevailed! upon me and my shipwrecked crew TirhiTo there to kill a couple of the seals for food, and I was foolish enough to retain, possession of the skins, with the result that on coming to Auckland I was prosecuted for seal peaching a week or two ago and fined heavily."

While playing in a room ah his father* residence at Mudgee, New South Wales, Frederick Roberts, 10 years of age, reached a pea, rifle from a shelf, and, pointing it at his brother, aged three y«asa and six months, pulled the trigger. The rifle proved to be loaded, and the bullet, passing through the eye of the younger boy; killed biro- aimest instantly. The f&the* of the children had put away tho rifle some weeks previously, and had for* gotten, it was loaded*