A LOST ATLANTIS

Otago Witness, Issue 2804, 11 December 1907, Page 89

A LOST ATLANTIS

NEW ZEALAND'S SUBMERGED CONTINENT. DR MARSHALL INTERVIEWED. A Toogh estimate of the extent of that 'greater New Zealand of prehistoric times, now submerged, is one of the many important results that may be expecKnlto accrue from the recent scientific expedition to the Auckland and otter southern islands. Such is the opinion of Dr Marshall, who has made exhaustive geological research at Campbell Island and elsewhere, with the recently-returned expedition. When interviewed yesterday, Dr Marshall began with Campbell Island, where he and his party spent seven days. Campbell Island, he said, was 10 miles long by about five acrosa, with man.y outlying rocks, situated 100 miles south-east of the Auckland Islands. It consisted of four different classes of rock. First, there was ,the old land surface of Plutonic rock, and over this were sediments of the Tertiary age. Fossils o r marine shell-fish were found in the limestone. This was a matter of peculiar interest, as the fossils found"; frequently corresponded with these discovered in parts of New Zealand r and by the finding of deep and shallow water molluscs, it was ersy to compute the depth and the period of the submersion of these formations. Some of these proved to be the same age as the coal beck near Dunedin, and others -dentical with the Milburn limestone. Over these sediments, again, were vast structures of volcanic rock, and here indications were found showing that siuce the cessation of volcanic action the surface had been worn down by glacial pressure. Since then a dense growth of peat had covered the whole island to a thickness of from 10ft to 40ft. ' Dr Marshall went on to say that the island had previously been explored by FilhoU a Frenchman, who went there in 1874 .to observe the transit df Venus. Filhol gave much information to the scientific world about these islands, but the researches of the Hinemoa expedition were for the most part new. RAVAGES OF OCEAN. Campbell Island was being profoundly affected by the action of the sea, which had washed away the West Coast for a great distance inland. Here monstrous cliffs towered sheer and forbidding a thousand feet high, from which the land practically sloped downwards -to the east coast. These .cliffs formed the watershed from which, streams . ran down. The valleys Teached right up to.- .these ocean ramparts forming at their eastern extremities harbours. ... Questioned concerning these harbours, Dr Mai-shall said they were good, and quoted Perseverance Inlet as an instance. If it were only here, he said, instead of there, .if would be appreciated. The depth was 20 fathoms and it was deep close up to the shores t There were no mud flate to speak of. Dr Marshall, continuing, said : " I have no doubt Campbell Island and the Auckiande were once joined to, and formed a part of, New Zealand. Tbe flora we found there bears a very clear relationship to that found on the mainland. Imagine an upland district of New Zealand and you have Campbell Island, as far as flora is concerned., The space between the two i » 500 miles, and, of course, that is a good ' distance. How, when, and why did the submersion of greater New Zealand take place?. Well, that opens up rather a wide , field, but I_ believ? this expedition, when . the members have *iibulated their evidence, ' will throw a good deal of light on all these impoitant questions." SCIENTISTS IN CAMP. A noticeable feature on this island was the absence of native land birds; but they found linnets, . which had migrated from New Zealand. They, were told that sparrows and starlings were also found there, but they saw none. While on Campbell Island they were most unfortunate in their weather, which was either cold, wit]j blustering, pitiless showers, or else thick with mists that obscured everything. This <madfr cliff-scaling extremely dangerous and observation* difficult. Owing to mists two days' exploration turned out^to be only so much lost time, and the party had to retrace their steps and wait patiently till the weather cleared. Camping proved neither romantic nor comforting. It was ' difficult to get shelter. If a spot under | the- lee of rocks was selected a blast of i Tain and wind would come howling round i the corner, taking them in flank. Then the tent-pegs could not get a grip in the i peat, into which a pole could -be pushed to a. 'depth of 12ft with ease. There were no trees on, Campbell Island— only scrub , Bft high, — but there was any amount of water. As on the West Coast of New Zealand, the glacial Deriod had been 6O recent that the streams had not hadafcime to wear channels for themselves. Keeping a campfire going all night was out of the question, and after the evening meal the party would cTeep into their blankets and write up their notes before darkness fell. "^Still," aaid Dr Marshall, " it was, luckily perhaps for some of us, not what you might call roughing it. We brought plenty of provisions, and lived in comparative comfort. There was nothing like the privation and hardship we undergo in our New Zealand explorations." In a party of scientists the picture of a learned professor solemnly boiling a billy over a. refractory fire would doubtless prove interesting; but in reply to the question. "Who did the cookinsr?" Dr Marshall replied : " Oh, we had one of the castaways, ■who volunteered to place his vast experience- as Robinson Crusoo at oar disposal. He was not only an excellent cook, but one- of tbe cheeriest and most genial fellows I have ever met. His seven months' exile had made no inroads^ on his good tumour." THE ALBATROSS AT HOME. There were 10,000 sheep on the island belonging to Captain Tucker, of Gisborne. jThe inhabitants crnsfeted of three permanent shepherds, who were engaged for *b long aa they liked to stay. At the time of the expedition five shearers bad arrived, §nd, brought the census up to eight. The arrival of the wool ship was the great event in <jhe calendar. Albatross were pestling all over the island, and it was Bomicdl tfi JJfie these huge white birds

fraternising with the «hf>ep. Flocks of many storks. One vsas that she was a albatross and flocks of shecy feeding to- [ gether was by no means an uncommon sight. There were occasional quarrels. A sheep' would lower its head and stamp, and the albatrose would snap its bill and flap its wings ; but matters never went any further. An albatross poised threateningly over a drowning man far out at sea was a formidable object ; but on shore it was a most gentle and lovable bird, and so tame that one could walk right up to it before it would take the trouble to waddle away. It was a very easy matter to tip an albatross on. to its back, when it could not recover its footing again without assistance.

A WOMAN'S HUT.

The head" shepherd had been on the island for two years. Excepting the ?heep, there were no signs of animal life, but there were seabirds in abundance and plenty of sea lions. The only memories were an old hut and the graves of two or three of Filhol's Frenchmen. There was not a woman on the island, but there had been once. She lived in the ruined hut mentioned above, and concerning her are Royal Princess < related to Prince Charlie; but another, less romantic and. alas, more probable, states that she was the associate of some old-time whaler. She left the island, and probably the world, many years ago, and only her hut and the stories remain.

THROUGH THE SCRUB.

Dr Marshall 6pcnt four days on the Auckland Wands," where the formations were similar to those of Campbell Island, except in that the sediments were absent and the peat surface was less thick. The main island was double the size of Campbell Island, and the big fiords on the east coast showed every evidence of the action of ice. On the west coa^st older rock formations were found together with indications of an old land -surface. Rata forest was here in abundance, while in Campbell Island there wa6 only scrub in the valleys. Travelling was extremely difficult. The peat had been burrowed into by petrels, making a series of pitfalls, whilf the scrub was so thick that the best way was to crawl over the top of it. The disadvantage of this mode of " progression," however, was the suddenness of the descent to earth in places where the growth thinned. Crawling through the butts clcse to the ground was tried, but with unsatisfactory results. Another bar to progress were tho tussocks, which grew 4ft high.

SUCCESSFUL RESEARCH.

Plepty of specimens have been brought back with the expedition. The information gatheied will naturally take some time to g^t into shape, but all the results will he published shortly, in scientific form. Dr Marshall considers the researches made to be mest valuable and of extreme intereet, as among other things they will indicate the extent of prehistoric New Zealand before its submersion Dr Marshall also stated that from evidence collected it is anparent that though the depression in the past has been co enormous the mest recent movement in these islands has been one of elevation.

Dr Marshall spoke in glowing terms of the valuable assistance rendered to them by Captain Bollons, who took a scientific and sympathetic interest in what was going * forward, and did all in his power to make the expedition what it had proved to be — a great success.