Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1878.] TUESDAY, JANUARY 9, 1894. THE MAKURI GORGE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4614, 9 January 1894, Page 2

Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1878.] TUESDAY, JANUARY 9, 1894. THE MAKURI GORGE.

For piotureeque beauty the Makuri Gorge it, said to far surpass the far famed Manaw«tu merits are known to but few pi op'le. Now that it is traversed by an excellent road it may lie expected to attract, the attention of globe trotters ami excursionists. Ilie pnoipitous heights abovo the road are reputed to he clad with luxuriant musses of foliage of varied Lues and forms, while in the sheer depths below may bo discerned tbefoamiug waters of the stream whioh rushes through the narrow cleit in the rocks, The scene is said to be one of almost magic beauty, and we are glbd to learn from the member lor Masterton, who is familiar with the spot, that he is quite alive to the expediency of 1 preset ying tho natural features of I (he Gorge from deseorutioh by the hand of man. If is often the case in this colony that the most beautiful objects in thelandscape aio obliterated by the advance of civilisation. We can recall man; charming nooks, bowers of delight, where rippling streams, lined by fern trees and nikan palpw,once ran, which are now arid prosaip pastures, from which every picturesque feature lias departed, We trust the Makuri Gorge with its myriads of uikau palms and ferns will be spared this fate, and that the authorities in Wellington will see that it be kept in all its luxuriant beauty for the delight.of future generations. Places like the Makuri Gorge ppce marred hj ibe axe, the bill-hook anil the fire stick.are destroyed for al) time. In this instance the sides of the Gorge are so precipitous that there is not much encouragement for settlers to clear and stock them, but even it there were in the fntprest of the rpnity us a whole, find for t)ie preservation of the road line the place should be tabooed from destriiolipn,

It has heen suggested that because Sunday trains are run on jibe Manawaiu line, they should be offered for the convenience of the Wairarapa public. If jjhey wero likely to pay, the Department wpujd, no doubt, in its own interests, run them; but as far as we are aware there is no general wish fpr them. Jn the Wairarapa towqabtpa any person can. in the course .of a few minutes, stroll ipto the 'country, This ja pot the case ju Wellington, and. there, railway facilities on Sunday may be a decided advantage to the health and comfort of the inhabitants, In Masterton, there is no necessity of this kind, and weshould regard a Sunday train as an unmitigated nuisance,