The Secret of Honeycomb Valley

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 116, 6 August 1927, Page 24

The Secret of Honeycomb Valley

How Old Are the Qmieer Designs On the Walls of its Limestone Cav®?

(Written tor THE SUN by

H. N. HUFFADINE.)

A LITTLE-KNOWN valley tucked away in the foothills inland from Timaru contains the remains of a cave, a cave that was once much larger, and perched high up in a cliff side. On the walls of the cave are strange friezes, designs indelibly painted on the stone in black. So far as is known, the valley has never received the attention of archaeologists; it might reward such notice. The Craigmoor Soldier Settlement is situated between 20 and 30 miles back from Timaru, and 10 miles from the nearest township, which is Cave, on the Fairlie railway branch- The Settlement runs close up to the flanks of the Hunter Hills on the coast side, and is bounded roughly north and south by lower hills, Cave being over the ridge on the southern side. On the west, there are yet again hills, but these are farther away from the actual settlement than any of the other ranges. In effect, then, Craigmoor Settlement consists of a few farms scattered about a hugs hilly basin, itself more than a thousand feet above sea level. On the east, the farm of Mr H. D. Webb runs back over the foothills on that side, and one of its boundaries is formed by Honeycomb Valley, as it is known. This is a strange place. The walls on one hand are sheer cliffs of limestone, in which the weathering of the ages has produced the comblike formation that gives the valley its name. The cliffs tower hundreds of feet into the air, and scattered all along their base are masses of detritus, slabs fallen from the face, and huge boulder blocks over which bush grows profusely, making many corners and nooks of sweet beauty. The other side of the valley is more gentle, a steep grassy slope leading up to a hump-backed ridge that in turn descends and rises again to a tableland. On the valley side of the ridge, the white teeth of the limestone underneath burst the turfy hide of the slope in many places, while perched on the very lip of the descent in one spot is a gigantic rock, solitary and enormous, bigger than many big houses put together- The floor of the valley is grassy, and contains the remains of a road, once, it is understood, a coaching road, though the right of way has long since been closed. Honeycomb Valley is some two miles long, and at its eastern end runs into the land of a big station which backs the property of Mr Webb. At the other end, the central track joins the private road from the Settlement road to the farm, and he tall flanks of the valley fall back to the hills on right and left. On the left hand as one enters the Valley is a scarp of limestone jutting from the turf of the slope, and one towering pillar stands apart from the base, wrought and fretted into strange shape, and known in the Settlement as The Sentinel. It is a peculiar place, Honeycomb Valley. What few trees can be seen there grow singly along the top of the ridge and the cliff, spaced by long intervals, and their total number could be ticked off on the fingers of both hands. By daylight, with a

warm sun flooding down, the place is well enough and wildly beautiful, but as dusk falls and the light dies in the sky, the atmosphere grows eerie, try as one may to shake off the impression. Dusk comes quickly in the Valley once the sun has slid behind the encircling hills, and a tingling interest grips anyone who sits alone there waiting. The clear outlines of the cabbage-palms on the skyline make it peculiarly reminiscent of the scenes in the picturisation of Conan Doyle’s story, “The Lost World.” Except for a wheeling hawk, perhaps, for the

locality abounds in these birds, there is no sound or sign of life. The place is haunting, and despite the doadness of the silence, it seems that whispers of things long past sift to and froA strange place for one watching alone, as evening speeds from the hilltops to the crags and from the crags drops visibly to the valley floor. And this is why the cave in the limestone cliffs grips the imagination. The cave is to be found at what must be the highest part of the honeycombed cliffs, and is so situated that the casual passer would not notice it. Here a wide section juts out at right angles to the main wall from top to bottom of the cliff, the sheering face continuing in its new alignment for the remaining length of the Valley. At the base of the cliff here the valley floor forms a remarkably flat surface 50 or 60 feet wide, perhaps, bush-

grown and strewn with weathered stone. This w, ot sweeps back into the cliff side, and drop, in front down actual valley bottom some di»' Ule lower. It is. in fact, a rising up from the valley and d'? against the foot of the cliff this little plateau a scramble grass-grown and bush-tangled ~P * leads to the cave, which is in T the 6 cliff. thS riSht ‘ anBW « The cave is plainly only the hart of what at one time was a very larger cavity. Both faces of the in the angle rise sheer and s»raiek“ and indicate that in times past great vertical slip sent the f ore f limestone face sliding and crashba down to the plateau-like little erahf ence. That, too, explains the mT sence of the overgrown slide „. which the cave can be reached- th, slide contains, smashed away rh* walls and floor and roof of the ork inal cave- The cave reaches seven or eight feet back into the limestone h is perhaps twice as wide, and the root hardly clears the head ot a tall mar standing on the sloping floor. Th. peak of the slide reaches right up to the broken edge of the floor. The walls and roof of this indentation tha* was once the head of a far greater cavern are covered with strange designs, designs rudely simple, but not without an elementary artistry. Ther sweep round the curving face ot tht stone in well-defined friezes. The continuity of the patterns breaks abruptly at the mouth of the cave, and eri dentlv did not originally stop hern The three patterns shown are the most prominent in the scheme, and get larger and larger as the designs rise from the floor to the roof. The greatest size of the figures is about two feet high. One figure is like 5 winged monster with a round bullet head and long sprawling legs; another resembles a human form with 5 flattened head, and varying some weapon in one hand; while the third form looks like a vessel or seat oi some kind. All are made in the same way, apparently painted on the stone in a black substance resembling tar in a thin film; the medium is inert stable. The figures are drawn in outline only, the bodies not being filled ic. There is no other sign of human occupation of the cave, but what secrets might the great rock-slide cotceal? Were there ever pre-Maori ia. habitants of the valley, people 0! 1 bygone age who are not remembered even in myth? Standing on the rubble slide, one can see away to the mouth of the valley and beyond, where the flat stretches to the farther hills. Did ever other watchers stand thus, looking out from the greater cave, while behind them in the cavern women and children waited. It is a strange place. Honeycomb Valley, and in 1 c grey of evening the soft winds breathe unutterable things so that a man walki 'g 're aioneis ashamedly glad . the shot-gun under his arm, and the dog- that race ahead, eager for their kennels, and not at all disturbed by eerie associations and a brooding, boding sac silence.