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Chapter XI. Grim and Ghastly Caverns.

One morning some days after the events just recorded, Lode was missing from our whare. Nearly a week passed without any tidings of him, and we began to feel somewhat anxious as to his whereabouts. So far as we could ascertain, he had not taken anything with him.

Knowing his wide experience in the way of exploration, we comforted ourselves with the supposition that he had left quietly in the hope of discovering a means of getting away from the Maori territory, and would soon take steps to let us hear if he were successful.

As day followed day, however, and no farther knowledge was obtained, we naturally concluded that something serious had befallen him, and were just about to make enquiries, when Te Kahu came to us and enquired if we would like to join an expedition which was about to set out in quest of a Maori and his wife who had been absent from the pa for some days. This we readily agreed to do, and Gordon, Richards, and I soon had our preparations made.

On enquiring from Te Kahu, Gordon and I learned that page 94the missing Maori woman was the same who had shown a desire to follow Lode, and that she had been for some days kept a close prisoner by her husband in consequence of her conduct on that occasion. She had escaped from the confinement some nights previously, and the husband had left in search of her the following day without apprising any of her relatives of the circumstances, and some fear now existed that both had been met and destroyed by the Maoris we had seen when out on the fishing expedition.

The party then about to go out proposed to first explore some caves not far from the village where it was possible the fugitives might have taken shelter, and after that would pursue their enquiries further down the river, beyond where we had seen the cannibal camp.

We did not say anything about the absence of Lode, but I could not help connecting the double disappearance, and began to conjecture all kinds of ill. The expedition, however, might clear up matters, and I dismissed my forebodings in the excitement of the moment as we set out. We again proceeded down the river in the same canoe as on the fishing excursion, and, so far as I knew, with the same party of rowers.

We had not gone far when Te Kahu called a landing, and the rowers ran the canoe upon the bank. When we got out, Te Kahu led us forward without delay, and in a few minutes we entered a cave, the entrance to which was quite invisible from the river.

This was a huge cavern under the hill, with an opening towards the east, and consequently dry and well-lighted.

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The floor was smooth and sandy, and we all proceeded along this, following closely on the heels of our leader. When he had reached the further end of the cave, Te Kahu turned and faced us, and, as a smile lit up his dusky, good-natured face, he placed his hands to his mouth and emitted a series of loud shouts, which re-echoed around the cavern, seeming to gather intensity as they travelled in a most remarkable way. Struck with the wonder of this echo, we motioned to Te Kahu to continue his shouting, and, entering into the spirit of our request, he got his companions to join him in a deep-voiced chant, which was caught up by the echo and reverberated round and round the cave, until it appeared as if voices came from every part of the marvellous place. For some time we stood lost in wonder, content to contemplate with awe the grandeur of the sounds which continued long after the singers had ceased, and seemed loth to die away, as they did at last in the tiniest of echoes, but still complete, until the veriest whisper was all we could hear repeated. When this had ended, Te Kahu desired us to try our voices. We did so, but found there was not the faintest response to our sounds. Several attempts and failures led to the discovery that the echo was only produced by a certain modulation of tone, and it was some time before we could get the ghost of an echo to our calling, and when we did it seemed so uncertain and undecided that I could not help remarking to Gordon that it was evidently a fickle goddess, and not to be wooed by an unpractised voice.

At our request the Maoris again chanted the song to which the wonders of the echo responded, and we stood page 96in amazement while the echo proceeded, and until its finest murmurings died away.

The following is a translation of the song chanted by the Maoris:—

Gone is night, gone is night,
Now 'tis day, now 'tis day;
The morn is breaking,
The bird is singing,
The eye of day is coming;
It is day, it is day!
It is clear daylight!

On the wall of the cave opposite the entrance I saw some peculiar drawings, and what appeared to be writing. Directing Gordon's attention to these, we went over to examine them. The drawings consisted of three tolerably large pictures and several smaller ones. The first represented a gigantic bird, probably the moa, and was drawn in two different shades of red colour, with black outlines. In several places the colour had peeled off the stone, but otherwise the drawing was in fair preservation. This was the highest picture on the wall. What surprised us was that it was more than fifteen feet from the ground, and in size the drawing was five or six feet high, so that the head of the picture was fully twenty feet above where we stood. Below this was a quadruped drawn in black. We could not say what it resembled, and when we asked Te Kahu he merely shook his head, and indicated that it was very old. Alongside of the picture, also in black colour, was a drawing of a large fish, the tail of which had disappeared. Below these, in varying degrees of colour, from bright red to dull black, were pictures of small birds, insects, and page 97plants, interspersed with rude characters, evidently some form of writing. We could get no explanation of these from either Jars or Te Kahu, and from his manner we concluded that the latter regarded them in a sacred light.

After a hasty examination of the drawings, Gordon and I determined that we should seek another opportunity to further investigate them, and possibly copy some of the figures. Then the torches were lighted, and the work of exploring the caves began. We first entered a narrow, irregular passage, through which we could only walk in single file. Presently this led into a dark cave, about thirty feet wide at the broadest part, and running nearly double that distance in length. The darkness was so intense that we had to stand for some minutes before the light from the torches made any impression on the gloom within. Then I saw that we were in what appeared to be a vast limestone cavern. The roof was overhung with a great number of stalactites of varying degrees of size, and some of the most fantastic and irregular shapes. On the floor were many stalagmites, but the majority of them had been broken off, and lay crumbling and destroyed.

There was no water in the cave except at the extreme end, where the constant and monotonous drip, drip, resounded through and through the stillness within the cavern, and broke the silence which seemed so much in keeping with the intense darkness. On examining this part of the cave we found a deep well, into which the water evidently made its way, and from which it was carried in some mysterious underground channel.

I dropped a small stone into this, and found that it took page 98nearly thirty seconds to strike the water, so that the well must have been of great depth, and rather a dangerous place to fall into. There was no sign of life either in the cave or having recently visited it, so we shortly returned to the other cave by the way we came. Te Kahu then entered another and larger passage, along which we all followed him, and presently emerged into a long, narrow cavern somewhat similar in formation to the one we had left, except that in several places the stalagmites and stalactites had met and formed huge pillars of limestone deposit. We found that water was still flowing slowly down some of these pillars, and that in many places the floor was wet, although it was only towards the centre that any depth of water existed. Here a shallow channel carried the water slowly along the cave. Following this, we were led through a series of caverns, some of which had the floor strewn with bones of different kinds. These bones we did not stop to examine, but the thought went through me that possibly I was treading on the remains of many a cannibal feast, and that if these dismal walls could relate the history of events within their boundaries, many gruesome and blood-curdling stories would be the result. Here doubtless many a sacrifice had been made to the Deities of former days, many a dark deed of revenge had been consummated, and many a human soul had sighed out its latest breath while waiting in the agonies of suspense for the sacrificial knife of the priest, or the still more destructive mere of the captor in battle.

Here, we might well imagine, the clear waters of the little stream at our feet had sometime run red with the page 99blood of victims of some horrid carnival, and the pale walls of the cavern had grown more pale in sympathy with the shrieks of the doomed ere a period was put to their tortures. Perchance the owners of some of the bones that lay scattered in careless profusion on the floor, had, when strong with life and being, struggled long and bravely in many a bloody battle, and, being at last overcome, their bodies were brought here to whet the appetites and appease the awful hunger of their victors, the bones thereafter being cast to the not more savage dogs of the destroyers, whose faithfulness was rewarded by the remnants of the horrible meal. These thoughts were not likely to enhance my interest in the exploration on which we were engaged. Such reflections did not tend to increase my admiration for the noble men amongst whom we were then somewhat of the nature of prisoners! With difficulty I dismissed from my mind these enervating fancies, and sought a more congenial current in the surroundings of the moment. Presently in the darkness beyond us, and far away into the interior, I saw the faint glimmer of a light moving about in the darkness. Grasping the arm of Gordon, who was nearest me, I exclaimed—

"See, Gordon, a light 1" and pointed in the direction.

"So it is," he said quietly, as if in contrast to the excitement I had exhibited.

Evidently none of the others had seen it. As it seemed to be moving slowly away from us, I drew the attention of Te Kahu to it. He saw what I indicated at once, but said nothing. Peering away into the distance, he stood for some moments watching the light, which rose and fell page 100slightly as it moved over the floor of the cave. Then another light began to move in the same direction, the two crossing and re-crossing each other. After a moment we felt a slight current of air blow on oar faces, and the two lights began to move slowly back in the direction of where we stood. These two lights were both pale, soft, white luminous globes in appearance, as if a ray of moonlight had strayed into the cave and become broken up. Without, we knew it was broad daylight, but in the intense darkness of the cavern the strongest light caused not more than the faintest ray. The lights still continued to approach us, so that the bearers of them must soon see our torches. Nearer and still nearer they came, and then all at once seemed to waver and move about from side to side, like a small fire balloon, under the influence of a strong but uncertain air current.

We stood still watching' the lights, which now seemed to remain hovering about the same spot. After a few moments Te Kahu handed me his torch, and motioned that he would proceed alone in the darkness to see what these lights meant. At once he advanced, and presently was lost to view. The lights still remained about the same spot, and we knew that a minute would bring Te Kahu to them. The dull silence of the cave rendered our heart throbs audible as we stood there in awed expectancy as to the result of this bold advance of our companion. Presently we saw one of the lights break up and float away across the cave, and Te Kahu came rushing back fearful and trembling, exclaiming that they were the spirits of the dead. Those we sought must have been killed, and these page 101were their spirits, wandering about seeking the rest that could only be found when a knowledge of their fate was brought to their relatives.

I speedily concluded that these phosphorescent lights were mere ignis fatuus, due to the dampness and decay within the cave, and that we had been startled and perplexed by a will-o'-the-wisp. No persuasion on my part, however, could induce the Maoris to continue the journey, and we were compelled to return without further investigation of the caves.

Te Kami declared that he must go back and consult the Atua as to the fate of the fugitives. If they were dead, the seer would speedily tell them where to find their bodies.

There was nothing for it, therefore, but to accompany the Maoris to the village, and await future events.

How I longed for another opportunity to farther explore the caves!