WRAGGE'S DISCOVERIES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 357, 7 April 1910, Page 7

WRAGGE'S DISCOVERIES.

A WEIRD STORY. The claim made by Mr. Cement Wragge that he has discovered the remains of an ancient city or temple in tke neighbourhood of the Bay of Islands is, he states, supported by lurther evidence which he has collected as the result ot closer investigation. What he has discovered, are, in his opinion, not volcanic bombs, but huge blocks i standing out of the ground at all! angles, up to 10 feet high. Some of the stones stand upright, .some cant over at an angle of about 45 degrees, and otliers point nearly horizontally from the slope of the' hill, being similar in appearance to huge cannons on a man-of-war. What is difficult to account for by natural formation is what Mr. Wragge describes to be a. monumental arch with the appearance of the top of a doorway, the spring of the arch being oin or *6in deep and Ift 3in thick audi sft long by about Ift lOin across. | On the top of one block he found three distinct cups 'Jin apart, and alongside another three. They are each trom 2in to 3in in diameter, and from %in to' l'/ 2 in in depth. On an adjacent stone was another cup 2m to 2y 2 in in diameter and about lin deep, and Oin away was a right-angled cross, the main portion being Gin long and the arm 3iu each way, with one side blurred. Irregular crosses similar to those made by the natives, when they signea tne Treaty of Waitangi, were found on other stones. On another stone was a small triangle 2.7 in on one side and Sin on the others, with irregular ridges branching off it in one direction. It was hard to account for all this, he rri marked, by natural agencies. Mr. Wragge says that though the rocks are of Plutonic igneous or volcanic formation, the marks are by the hand «f man—and his opinion is that what he ! has discovered have been caused by 1 early man far anterior to the advent of the' Maori. A gully at the bottom of the slope on which he found the immense stones, contains rocks buried im I a chaotic mass on every angle, as though some tremendous upheaval had taken <place. Gee huge pillar, lying nearly horizontal, is circular in formation and has a girth measuring 12ft Oin. The portion showing out of the ground is Oft Sin long and 3ft 11 in in diameter at the base. There is a cage beneath fillnd with bones and broken coffins, probably a recent burying place used by the Maoris. The spot is hidden by thick manuka bush, and Mr. Wragge thinks the Government should take it over.