MOUNTAIN DISCOVERY UNIQUE POINT

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 59, 11 March 1937, Page 17

MOUNTAIN DISCOVERY

UNIQUE POINT

\ SOURCE OF RIVER

•RUAPE'HU. CRATER LAKE

By diving into .the crater lake of Mount Ruapehu and swimming at the end of a rope some 50 yards, down a subterranean'passage under ..the ice cliffs, the chief guide at the Chateau Tongawro, Mr.'R. Sheffield, recently confirmed a very interesting discovery of two years ago—the. possible location of the source of a large North Island river, the Wangaehu.

Early Maori legend records the fact that the W.angaehu River, even down to' the sea,'is strong to the taste, and carries no eels, whereas the Wanganui and Turakina Rivers following parallel courses,, are good to drink and, well stocked with "tuna." The early explorers who followed the Wangaehu to its: source found that the river rose in\ a mineralised sulphurous spring, high up on Mount Ruapehu and divided lonly by a ridge of fused black rock from the iresh springs feeding the famous trout river, the Tongariro, and later the Waikato; This ridge, which sent the two streams in diametrically opposite directions and probably kept the Tongariro pure,- is known to the Maoris as Nukuhau, translated ,by Cowan as "Waving in the Wind," and explained as being-probably a place .where a tuahu was set up by an early Maori explorer as a place of sacred ceremonies, .when a new country- was trodden by man for the first time.;

It has'generally been believed that the Wangaehu River was formed by sulphurous waters seeping out, deep down in the crater of the volcano. The recent exploration of the crater, however, suggests that the Wangaehu spring is really the overflow from the crater, escaping through a tunnel under the glacial ice surrounding it and ■finding its way downwards, via the Ridge, to the, surface :at the riverhead.. . ; . ; .' . : . ;■

The ice-walled crate~r lake' of Mount Ruapehu is like a huge bowl of thick green turtle soup, with steam and bubbles frequently rising in the centre, 1 and discoloured chunks of melting ice, like lumps of fat, floating near the : edges. In March, 1935, an enthusiastic young mountaineer then residing .in Taumarunui, Mr. J. H. Bryan, of Wellington, discovered: something not previously recorded —a 25-foot high cave in the ice wall''of the crater-lake, with a stream flowing out of it. He descended iinto the lake, swam through the -thick soupy waters and went some distance into the mouth of the cave. Lacking proper equipment, • however, . he was unable to explore very far.

■ Recently a party of five,, including Mr. Bryan and Guide Sheffield, climbed the .9000' foot summit of Mount 'Rua-;penu:-'-fbr' the purpose of exploring 'again the stream that Bryan had found flowing from the crater lake. The very heavy snowfall this season had apparently caused much greater encroachment of glacier ice into the crater than in the drier season of 1935. No large ice cave was found, but in its stead a stream of sulphurous water flowing under the ice,1 the surface of thei;water being' only six inches or so below the. roof of the tunnel. .

Bryan and Sheffield attached themselves to the two ends of the climbingrope, and worked around the crater.lake to the passage under the ice. Bryan played out the rope while Sheffield dived' underwater and swam into the passage. He came up some eight feet in, under the ice, where the steam from, .the stream had melted the ice roof. higher,- giving him room .to breathe. He .continued*. partly, swimming, partly crawling, some fifty yards further. The tunnel mouth was on the south side of the crater, but the stream curved to the east, in the direction of the "Wangaehu spring. A booming noise warned Sheffield that he was approaching a waterfall. He found the stream dropped out of sight over a rock ledge, the roar indicating a fall of at least 50 feet. Bryan had reached this !spot on the previous exploring trip,'' and with daylight—let in by the high: cave-mouth—had seen this underground waterfall, estimated by him as being about 50 feet high. Sheffield did not possess any illuminant sufficient "to pierce the well of .darkness to the foot of the fall. As further exploration was impossible.'ihe guide returned.the way he had come,'his .eyes-smarting with the chemicals of the crater-lake.

:, It is intended to .make rfurther explorations of the course' of'the "underground stream, and, if possible, to descend the side of the waterfall. Tests will also be made by tipping confetti into the stream and watching the Wangaehu spring to ascertain whether this,crater lake.stream is, as is believed, the true source of the Wangaehu River, ■'■;■■ , . -

DUKE OF WINDSOR

V Suggestions that the Duke of Windsor may return for an installation ceremony, in the Garter Chapel in the summer and reports that he wore the Order of the Garter ■at the Legation reception in Vienna, both appear.to be wide of, the mark, states the "Daily Telegraph." They illuminate, however, one of the many highly complicated problems arising out of the Abdication. As King, the Duke of Windsor was automatically Sovereign of the Garter, as of the other. Orders of Chivalry. It is not clearly established what his position, with regard to 'the Order now is. There being no precedents, the College of Arms find themselves on this, as on other questions, without guidance.

■ Had the difficulty arisen with regard to King George V the answer would have been relatively simple. As Prince George he was not expected to become heir apparent.

In accordance with the Statute of the Order which ordains that "the lineal ■ descendants of George I, such as may be elected" may become supernumerary Knight Companions, he was made a K.G. in 1884. He was therefore specifically a Knight in virtue of his 1884 nomination.

The Prince of Wales, on the other hand, is "a constituent part of the original institution" and becomes a K.G. automatically under the same Letters Patent which create him Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester. But in the case of the Duke of Windsor, who became a K.G. by Letters Patent of June 23, 1910, "his Honours created by Patent merged in the Crown" when he ascended the Throne.

It is clear, therefore, that his Abdication raises a point unique in the history of the Order.