TE TATAUAHAPE WATERFALL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13096, 8 February 1906, Page 6

TE TATAUAHAPE WATERFALL.

I' DISAPPEARANCE OF TEE RIVER. i I INTERVIEW WITH MR. SETONKARR. | In" the course of a conversation w itu a j Hee.m.u reporter yesterday Mr. H. \' . ! Seton-Karr. the well-known English ex- ■ plorer and big game hunter, taid that the | Te Tatanahape waterfall, caused by the overj flow of Lake Tarawera. ha.-" now disappear- | ed. Mr. Seton-Karr, who has just returned J from Rotorua, explained that while he was in the thermal district he set out upon an. exploration ox the locality, being accompanied by two native guides specially provided for him by Mr. T. K. Donne, superintendent of the Tourist Department. After about a hour and a-lixlfs walk from the lake the party cutdo*u through the bush, -where the fall was supposed to be. but were surprised to find that the bed of the river at the top of the cliff was perfectly dry. The fall had disappeared. They immediately set about to ascertain the cause, and found that half-a-mile further up the river entered a cavern, and after pursuing a subterranean course emerged at the foot of the cliff that had made the fails. A strange phenomenon about this subterranean river." continued the explorer, "is thai its volume is seven tim-cs as great where it emerges as where it enters. The Maori version about the affair is that the river disappeared in a whirlpool."

Mr. Scton-Karr described the scenery at the fails as simply magnificent, and said that he descended the cliff in company with'his guides—a feat that is not kno-vn to have been attempted before. In doing so. however, said the explorer, they were somewhat fortunate in discovering a way down, but even so they had to cut their way for seme distance. A good track for subsequent visitors was thus formed. On leaching the bottom Mr. Seton-Karr discovered that the river " welled " up in immense springs and pools, which swarm with eels of great size. The river from this point is an exceptionally line one for stocking trout.

The Tarawera trout, says Mr. SetonKarr, are reported by the Maoris to be the finest in New Zealand, and after fishing there ho found this to be the case, the fish being extraordinarily fat and beautifully shaped. He intends sending some specimens to the Christehurch Exhibition.

Mr. Seton-Kan, 'who has been three months in New Zealand, sails for Sydney on Monday on his way to England. As regards sport in New Zealand bespeaks in terms of high praise. He suggests that the Acclimatisation Society should seriously consider the. question of introducing grayling into the New Zealand streams, they being a tine sporting fish. He also suggests that a fewblack bears should be introduced. They are, he said, quite harmless, being vegetarians.