RIVER EROSION

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 July 1939, Page 8

RIVER EROSION

SERIOUS DAMAGE DONE AT WAI ROA. OLD BURYING GROUND LAID BARE. ' (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WAIROA, This Day. Gruesome relics of a former burying ground have been laid bare by erosion at the mouth of the Wairoa River, which has scoured for itself a new outlet to the sea. The new channel has moved approximately 200 yards from the original outlet, on the protection of which nearly £3O 000 was spent some years ago, and at present is threatening to obliterate the whole of the Wairoa Beach. Already a bridge has been so endangered by the erosion taking place that it has been necessary to dismantle the structure, while a considerable portion of the roadway has been destroyed. In its course, the river has eaten deep into large shingle banks and has uncovered fairly large quantities of human remains. In one instance a portion of a coffin was also brought to light. It is interesting to note that this locality was once the scene of a long battle between Maoris of the Wairoa district and raiding parties from Taranaki. Older- residents among the Maori community deplore the desecration of their burying ground, but an aspect even more unpleasant than the vagaries of the river has been the action of several persons in securing bones and skulls and using them to play practical jokes and to display as souvenirs.