THE MYSTIC MAORI PILLARS

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 772, 22 March 1910, Page 5

THE MYSTIC MAORI PILLARS

IN THE PAR NORTH. "A GLOOMY, CREEPY, PLACE." (By Telegraph-Special Correspondent.) Ghrlstchuroh, March 21. Mr. Frank Draytou, a resident of Limvood, who, years ago, visited the place in the Bay of Islands where Mr. Clement Wragge found what he believes to be the relics of prehistoric man, told a reporter that the place in which the stones lie was, called Boney Gully. He could not understand how ' anyone who saw the pillars which seemed to have fallen from the hillside could come to any other conclusion than that they were the remains of an ancient building. The stones wero of different shapes —some being long rough columns, and some square, and they were of different lengths. They were mostly hidden by tea-tree and overgrowth, as they rested in a kind of ravine. The light was to a certain extent obscured, and this gave the place a weird appearance. "There is-no doubt," Mr. Drayton added, "that it has been used as a Native burial place, as there is plenty of evidence, in the form of bones. I did not see any skulls, but probably that was my own fault, as I was not very anxious to linger. The place gave me a creepy feeling. There were several long narrow boxes resembling coffins on a small scale, but they were quite empty. It has been suggested, on account of the rotundity of the columns, that they may have been petrified trees. I think not, though it seems wonderful how the pillars could have been made into that shape. The marking, if any, must be the important evidence to the scientist, but I do not remember seeing, any or looking for anything like that, and I do not suppose that anyone in that part had enough knowledge to understand tho importance of the stones. "Another, interesting thing which I saw was'the remains of an old whaling camp, with' the frame of the old shanties, and two huge iron boilers set in the rocks. There is a stone building in the district with barred windows, • now a general store, but once a refuge for the white people. The first house built in New Zealand stood in that part of the country, and an old-church, with its walls showing the bullet-holes of the rebel Maoris. j; ,.' ,