THE RIETPAN CAVES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 264, 7 November 1931, Page 9

THE RIETPAN CAVES.

NORTHERN TRANSVAAL MYSTERY. . TRAIL OF IVOEY STICKS. (Prom Our Own Correspondent.) CAPE TOWN, October 5. Mr. Liebenberg, the owner of the farm '"Rietpan," in tho Lichtemberg district, Northern Transvaal, discovered some years back what are to-day called the Rietpan caves. Some years ago he started opening up these caves, the entrance to which was

cemented with a kind of concrete unknown to the builders of to-day.

A passage, or rather a. crack in the rocks, about two feet wide, leads into the main cave. This is about 50 by 20 yards and a good 20ft high. From the main cave Mr. Liebenberg started operations, as his theory is that these were used by some Eastern nations in their expeditions to Africa thousands of years back. Here he found in a small cavity in the rock> and closed with flat stone ceme nted with concrete, a human skull, The skull is said to be that of a woman; not of an of our African natives, but „ ra( , p ' n f liio-her intellect skufound a round t witil a hole in the centre, sometM Hk the 60 . called bus bman's stone; through it was an ivory stick, sharpened one end and a bout six inches lonw J?" „ , , ~ ~ T . i i 11118 find strengthens Mr. Liebenberg* t}ieor y* Numerous openings in the walls of the main cave were found to be closcd concrete. One after another the investigator opened these, only to find himself in a small cave or chamber leading nowhere. Just lately, he opened a " c ? t^ er sueh do ° r ami came .o a passage which was filled with earth that must i l^"6 been carried down from the sur- ' a ,? , wa ? ft A? y * ound at some distance fl '° m the CaveS< After clearing away the loose soil, Mr. Liebenberg came to another closed door, a few feet from which he fornd another of the round stones fitted with the ivory s^ After opening tnis door he found at re gu lar distances similar ivory sticks. By folio-wing them he now came to an opening, closed by stones jacked one on top of the other, but in-such a way that none could be removed. .Finally, by sheer luck, he pulled out one stone, which proved to be the key stone, and after it had been removed the others could also be removed quite easily, though it was impossible to remove any before the key. stone was taken out. The excavators are now busily engaged in removing loose soil from what they think is the last chamber and to the secret to the Rietpan caves.