A SUBTERRANEAN PARADISE.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 463, 16 April 1890, Page 4

A SUBTERRANEAN PARADISE.

THE WAITOMO CAVES. FAIRYLAND IN THE KING COUNTRY. No. 11. Leaving Mace’s Cavern, we ascended a light incline traversing a distance of seventy feet, and then climbed a ladder of somewhat primitive construction some ten feet in height. This brought us to a higher level, and a change was at once apparent in the colour of the roof and walls of the caves. Instead of the earthen colour

in the lower chambers, due to discoloration from the rising of occasional flood waters, the limestone encrustations were now of a pale yellow or a creamy whiteness, and the improvement in colour continued as we progressed on our journeyings. From the head

of the ladder, a narrow corridor, m winch two of us walked abreast, brought us to the entrance of THE GRAND CAVERN. We were, one and all, impressed with the grandeur of this gigantic chamber, of which it would .be difficult without the aid of the artists pencil to give anything like a graphic description. To some of us, the place was suggestive of tho interior of a vast Gothic cathedral, while the imaginative faculties of others pictured it as the abode of giants in the prehistoric ages. The chamber is an immense one of some 250 feet in length,

while the height in some parts is 50 feet, and in others 40, though at either end it gradually lessens. The width also varies, being as much as forty feet in one place, and C ab another only fifteen. _ There is a grandeur and impressiveness in the whole surroundings and associations of the cavern, and one is charmed by the splendour and magnificence evolved by the hand of Nature. Indeed, it is difficult to comprehend thab the chamber is Nature’s rude handiwork, and has not been fashioned by the hand of man. The interior, from its appearance, might have been hewn from A MOUNTAIN OF MARBLE, and its interior ornamentations carved from the loveliest crystal. The walls are smoothcut, while the roof would be considered almost faultless as a specimen of Gothic masonry. There are two domes at short distance from each other, and these are almost as correct in their outline as if they had been cub by a mason’s chisel. Handsome columns of opaque crystal-like substance adorn the sides, a fitting substitute for statuary, while the immense masses of deposit and the tapering stalactites depending from the roof contribute an effect at once grand and impressive. Here and there, rising from the floor, in picturesque array are the stalagmites which "are formed by the drippings from the stalactites above, and which, gradually increasing by the concretion of the liquid, rise towards the pendants, eventually meeting them midway, and forming lovely This cavern is unquestionably a splendid sight, and to the devotional mind would be inseparably associated with ideas of “ the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault ’ of the abbey or cathedral. Before leaving the chamber, our admiration was excited by a pretty formation at the extreme end, where there is a scene somewhat similar to one we afterwards see in the fairy grotto. From the roof depend an immense number of stalactibies of lovely symmetry of form, but nob so pure in colour as those above. THE GLOWWORM GROTTO.

Descending a sloping bank, we suddenly find ourselves in the glowworm grotto, and it would be difficult to imagine a more romantic spot, or one in which the peculiaritiesaremoreunique. Theriverflowspast our feet with a stillness and coldness suggestive almost of the river of death. Above the stream the roof is vaulted in shape, and on tho outer side it descends gradually to the water. The roof is somewhat rugged, bub its appearance is improved by numbers of stalactites of varying size, which hang gracefully in clusters. Obedient to the instruction of our guides, we extinguished our lights, and immediately the small black canopy ovei-spreading the river was illumined by the radiations of light from millions of glowworms which cover its surface. The scene was enchanting, and in fact a glimpse of fairyland. The effect was quite unique, though a somewhat similar scene might be reproduced by millions of tiny electric lights. “ Heaven’s ebon vault studded with stars unutterably bright” was before us on a miniature scale. Or, again, we might have fancied ourselves in a mine whose roof was siudded with millions of gems sending forth radiations of light from their own centres. Lovely though the scene overhead undoubtedly was, it was even surpassed in beauty by the scintillations of the countless tiny lights on the clear surface of the stream, reproducing the miniature canopy of heaven os if in a mirror. We lingered long in this charming spot, and some of the party wero nob satisfied until they had captured specimens of the glowworm as trophies of their visit. Then we retraced our steps through the grand cavern, and ascending a twenty-feet ladder, hollowed from half the trunk of a tree, reached

THE ORGAN GALLERY,

Here we were surprised on every hand by new wonders. Our attention was first attracted by the fact that the deposits are of purer colour than on the lower levels, and in appearance more nearly approach marble in their finer textures. The entrance to the organ gallery is supported by three immense encrusted pillars of remarkable appearance, which _ have apparently been formed by the junction of the descending stalactites and ascending stalagmites. They are circular in shape, and somewhat irregular in form, and the one to the right is much thicker than the others, and has a thin column supporting its inner side. . The colour is similar to that of bath-brick, or might perhaps be described as a warm grey. We follow the gallery or corridor for a distance of about twenty yards, the only features of interest on the way . being the occasional stalactites and stalagmites, which assume many quaint and grotesque forms. En route is a tiny cave in which seven or eight-stalagmites rise from the floor like attenuated figures of clay. There is something almost ridiculous in the absurd solemnity of the group, and probably the native mind saw it in the same light, for the happy title of the Native Land Court has been bestowed on the chamber. Away at the end of the gallery is the organ, which is another of the natural wonders of the caves. Ascending to the roof, which is of a dark, fleecy appearance at this spot, is a square formation not unlike an It is of remarkable construction, the body and the lower portion of the -front apparently being composed of successive layers of deposit. Small circular pillars or tubes represent the pipes, but in detail the resemblance to an instrument is not easily apparent; The front is composed of _a lovely alabaster-like substance, which in the bright light thrown upon it looked

beautifully clear and transparent, and reflected a shade of the lightest blue. The surface is as smooth as polished marble, and of the finest texture. The other part is darker in colour, being a light grey with a warm tinge, and is formed of a close-grained encrustation, not unlike a fine coral in some places. Behind the organ are some wonderfully pretty specimens of the stalactite and stalagmite growing towards each other. (To be Continued. )