THE MYSTERY OF A QUEENSLAND CAVE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3149, 22 July 1914, Page 82

THE MYSTERY OF A QUEENSLAND CAVE.

Ev William Spieii

I used to assert that I could not, recall any circumstance in my life, however strange, which could not be accounted ioi in a reasonable and rational manner, i -always used to scoff at the idea of the supernatural. I laughed at the so-called authentic instances of unaccountable happenings. It was, therefore, with considerable amusement I listened to ray friend, Frank Barton, who was recounting an experience he had had which more than bordered on the supernatural. My apparent scepticism rather nettled him, and as he finished his narration,, of the affair he jumped up, exclaiming, “You annoy me, old man, with your priggish air of superior intelligence. Do you think I’m an old woman, ready to imagine every strange occurrence a superhuman event? You ought to give me credit for something better than that.” He spoke -with more heat than I had ever seen him exhibit, and seemed really put out at my silent ridicule. I rather regretted I had so thonghlessly allowed him to see my amusement, but as a matter of fact I could not possibly help it, so I hastened to say: -“Look here. Barton, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings; but it is so unusual to hear anything but matter of fact practical sentiments from you, that I felt tickled when I heard you in another role.” “That’s just it. You seem to consider that a man must all his life stick in one mental groove. He must have a cast, iron mind, and be as unimpressionable as a fish. Can’t you see that we are sometimes forced out of the groove. That has been the case with me. I’m not the thickheaded ass I used to be; I know now there are many things quite beyond my ken, and. yet are as real as other and more material things.” Barton and I were camped on the bank of one of the Northern Queensland rivers. We had been prospecting for about nine months, and had been fairly successful in locating some marvellously rich-looking reefs. We calculated that with ordinary luck we should be able to dispose of these discoveries at big figures upon our return to Sydney. This was a big. consideration to me, ,for my exchequer was pretty low, and I hoped that my financial troubles would in consequence be removed. Barton, however, Avas not at all dependent upon the result of our work. He had. private means, and although he took a keen interest in the work, he did so more to gratify his love for geological research than to make money. W r e were old school chums, and had been jointly interested in a number of mining ventures during past years. We had Avorked our Avay cloavia from Cape York, and had some rather startling adventures travelling through the wild parts of the Northern Territory. About two miles from our camp there Avas a long range of mountains, and in the course of our prospecting Ave had disco\-ered in this range a number of caves. Some of these Avere \-ery large and beautiful. We had not ventured very far into them for fear of losing our Avay, but Ave had seen sufficient of some of the larger ones to realise their beauty and immensity. The stalagmites and stalactites Avere the finest I had seen in any part of Australia. In the distance we could hear the rush of Avater. Barton’s scientific training made these caves much more interesting to him than to me, and he often paid a visit to them when I Avas engaged at some assay Avork. Occasionally he would spend the whole day there, and Avould return full of the fresh discoveries he had made. Fresh chambers, larger and Avhiter stalagmites, tortuous passages, deep Avater courses would be his report. On this particular occasion he had returned with an account of. something still more extraordinary. He had started early in the morning and had proAuded himself Avith a very long piece of string. This he had fastened to a tree stump at the entrance to one of the caA r es. Unwinding the ball of string he carried in, his hand as he gradually made his \A r ay through the cave, he Avas proAuded Avith an unerring guide back to the starting point in the event of his becoming confused Avith the many passages AA'hich he avouM meet in his explorations. He had passed through a long, tortuous passage and had entered an immense chamber, the gloom of which was only partially dispelled by the light of the flickering candle Avliich he carried. The stalagmites rising from the floor looked Aveird and ghostly in the dim, uncertain light, and the movement of their shadows as he Avalked along presented a strange spectacle. The silence Avas oppressive, and Avhen, as a relief to • his feelings, he shouted out, the sound echoed heavily. The bats Avhich had surrounded him through the A'arious passages seemed to be in thousands where he now stood, and flew about his face and almost into the flame of the candle. He sat down on one of the broken stalagmites and held the candle aloft as he tried to peer into the gloom above and around him. The sound of water which Ave had heard on the occasion of our first visit he could now hear much more distinctly, and he Avas tempted to carry his exploration a little further to discover the cause of it. He had come to the end of his string, and he hesitated about venturing very far Avithput a safeguard. It then occurred to him to light one of the other candles he carried Avith him and fix it on one of the stalagmites. This Avould at least be something of a guide to him if he did not go very far. “ He went cautiously along, looking back repeatedly to see that he Avas within visAV of the fight he had left. !le reached a narrow passage and hesitated about entering it, for he saw that if he did so he would be unable to see his guiding light; but he at last yielded to his curiosity, and felt his way along, determining to retrace his steps if he found it too long

or came upon any cross passages. lie held his light well before him, and carefully scrutinised every foot of the way. He had not proceeded far when he noticed that the passage widened out. It opened into another immense vault, which was almost devoid of stalagmites, and stalactites. He dared not go far from the passage lest he should be unable to - find it again. So he stood there trying to see its dimensions, but the feeble" light of the candle only illumined a comparatively small space around him; He w'as about to retrace his steps when he felt something touch his shoulder. The silence and loneliness of the place had got somewhat on his nerves, and as he felt the touch he started. Then, realising that he was still in an atmosphere of bats, he smiled at the scare • it had given him: hut- all the same he turned and made for the passage. Once more he felt that touch, this time a firm distinct impression. He experienced an uncomfortable sensation, but at the same time concluded that it- had been caused by a larger bat coming in contact with him. He paused, and holding up the candle, looked round. The little creatines were fluttering all about him. He was not at all a nervous man, but all the same he now felt disinclined to loiter, and turned towards the opening of the passage. He suddenly felt a distinct blow on the arm, and he experienced a thrill of fear that almost unmanned him. His only thought now was to get through that passage and once more into the light of day. He had almost reached the passage when a hand grasped his wrist. He swung round with an exclamation which died on his lips as he realised that he was standing alone, but the unseen h&nd still tightly grasped his wrist. For the moment he seemed paralysed, then wildly shaking his arm he tried to shake the thing off. He was horrified to feel it was drawing him firmly hack into the chamber. He knew he must fight to free himself of the awful thing, and in bis terror he fought like a madman with his invisible assailant. He felt a sense of relief as he discovered that the strength which was drawing mm into the cave was less than his own. He was able to reach the passage, into which he rushed, hut still unable to free himself from that awful grip. Then he suddenly felt it release him. He rushed on- and in his terror forgot the lowering roj? of the passage, against which he struck his head a violent blow. He reached at last the chamber where he had left the candle, and, seizing it and the end of the string, he made his way with feverish haste to the entrance of the cave and daylight. lie still felt considerably unnerved, and sea rely able to collect his thoughts. His experience had been so extraordinary that he felt confused; but now, in lire glaring sunlight, he was inclined to critically and calmly review everything in connection with the affair. He had no doubts as to the knocks he had received, nor could he doubt the grip on his wrist. He could feci the pressure of it still, and, looking down, he was startled to observe the distinct red marks of four fingers, such as would be left on the flesh by the firm grasp of a hand. Ho was bewildered. What could it all mean? He was not given to believing anything that would not bear mental analysis. His experience in life had been of an eminently practical character —nothing weird or uncanny had, until the present moment, ever entered into it. He retraced his steps to our camp with his thoughts centred on what Pad occurred. He recalled now that it was not until he was about to leave the chamber that any force was exercised by the hand. When he allowed himself to be drawn back, although the grasp was still on his wrist, the sensation he experienced was that of being led somewhere. It was when he resisted that leading influence that the additional force was used. He reached the camp, and was silent for some time, answering very laconically any question I addressed to him. It was then, in answer to my question whether anything was the matter with him, that he bad told me all that had occurred. When he exhibited so much irritation at my incredulity, I abandoned my intention to chaff him about his adventure. Personally, I was convinced that the whole affair was caused by his catching his wrist in the tendrils of some of the plants which in Queensland often penetrate through the roofs of the numerous caves that exist there. I have frequently seen them ranging in thickness from an inch to two inches, and it was not difficult to understand his mistaking in the gloom, and perhaps in his excitement, one or two of these for the grasp of a hand. I even ventured to suggest such an explanation, to him, but it called forth such a burst of ridicule and irritation that I relapsed into silence. Nothing more was said, nut I saw he was brooding over the matter. The next morning, however, ne voluntarily referred to it. “I -am afraid I was a bit of a bear yesterday,” he said ; “but I was annoyed at your doubt. I have thought it over quietly since then, and I feel I should like to investigate the affair. Will you come with me? I will admit myself to be the victim of some hallucination if my experience of yesterday be not repeated to-day. I somehow regret I did not allow the thing to lead me wherever it wanted to.” I readily assented; but I knew how it would end, and I looked forward to the enjoyment of some chaff at his exponsb when he had discovered the cause of his scare to be some trifle such as I imagined it to be. So we arranged to go early that afternoon. We took a much larger piece of string for further exploration. We fastened the string, as he had done, to the stump outside the entrance, and commenced our investigation. We went on carefully to the passage leading into thevault which had been the scene of Barton’s weird adventure. We had been unconsciously silent almost all the way up to this point, only occasionally remarking some exceptionally fine stalagmites here and there "as we passed them. Barton paused and said: “This is the place, through here.” Wo entered the passage, and at last

reached the chamber. I was struck, as Barton had been the previous day, with the immensity of the place and its freedom from stalagrnitic formations. There was a constant whirr of flying bats, while an occasional squeak could be heard. L felt my face on more than one occasion brushed by them, and felt them come in contact with other parts of my body. We went further in and stood in the centre, holding up our caudles and trying to see the dome, but it was hidden in dense gloom. We walked towards the opposite wall and examined some of the fantastic forms projecting from it. We both instinctively avoided all reference to the object of our visit. It suddenly occurred to me to try the peculiar -acoustic properties of the place, and commenced singing a well-known melody. Barton joined in the song. We both had fairly good voices, and the effect was distinctly pleasing. The sound seemed to round us and reverberate from the dome. Still singing, we walked towards the passage. I was a little in advance of Barton, and had not taken many steps when I felt a distinct tan on the back. I looked round, thinking that Barton had touched me, but, finding he was too far behind to have reached mo,, I concluded that it was a bat. I walked on again, and felt a firm touch on the shoulder. This time I ceased singing, and turned round. Barton, too, had ftopped, and was standing motionless and staring at me. “Have you felt it?” he asked in a low tone. “Yes,” I replied. I was mentally fighting against the scared feeling that was taking possession of me. I turned resolutely towards the passage and continued my walk. I felt two smart knocks oh the back. I could hear Barton close behind me. Suddenly I heard him exclaim, “By Jove!” and as he uttered it I, too, gave expression to an exclamation, for I felt my wrist grasped in the manner described bv Barton. I tried to shake it off, but it was no use; it held me fast, and each time I tried to regain the entrance to the passage it tried to pull mo back. I had dropped my candle in the excitement of the moment, and, as I stepped back to recover it, I felt the grip of that unseen hand lessen. Toe Agtu of Barton’s candle shone full on his face, winch wore a look of determination; but even in the dim light I could see the beads of perspiration gathering on his forehead, as he would doubtless have seen them on mine had he looked. “It wants to lead ns somewhere,” he whispered; “Shall we go?” “Yes,” I briefly assented. i We turned, and instantly the pressure on our wrists relaxed, although wo were both conscious of a sensation there which indicated wo were still under its influence and direction. Now, after many years, I often recall with wonder the transition from fear to a feeling of interested curiosity which took place. I had no desire to flee from the thing; I was only conscious of anxiety to probe the mystery. In the few minutes that it was leading ns I became aware—and the knowledge caused me no surprise—that in some mysterious manner we were in direct communication with a being of another world. All my vaunted scepticism had disappeared, nor did the experience I was passing through appear to be opposed to reason. We had crossed the chamber under the direction of our unseen guide, and had reached the opening to - another passage through which we became aware we were desired to no. We made no resistance —we had no wish to. The passage was not more than twenty feet in length, but it opened out into another chamber about half the size of the one we had just left. As we entered we became conscious of the disapearance of the compelling influence which had brought us. We looked about with eager- curiosity, but could see nothing unusual; we went farther in, and walked towards the other side. An exclamation from Barton caused me to turn to him. . , . “Look!” he said, pointing towards the side of the cave. There, lying in the natural pose of sleep, lay the body of a man Half embedded in the guano, ins peculiar atmospheric and chemical conditions of the cave had prevented decomposition, and its appearance was that of a mummy. T . , . It gave us no shock. It seemed to be the natural sequence to what had recently befallen us, and -we approached it without the slightest feeling of compunction. “Poor beggar,” muttered Barton. I wonder what his history is.' ’ We looked more closely, and observed something in his hand. It proved to be a note-book. We took possession of it, ana after a further examinatin of the surroundings, without discovering anything else, we turned away and retraced our steps. We felt no restraining influence now. We were allowed to continue our way without interference. When we reached daylight at the entrance to the cave we sat down and eagerly opened the note-book, for we knew it contained something of the history of the slumbering inmate of the cave. This is what it told: The writer had bemi travelling overland from the Northern Territory, and had discovered the entrance to the caves, which happened to be close to his camp. He entered with the intention merely of inspecting the interior near the entrance. He had only a bundle of resinous rushes which grew close by for lighting him. His curiosity led him farther than he intended to go, and when he tried to retrace Ins steps he was appalled to find he could not regain tlie entrance. Ho ■walked for hours., und frequently found himself going over the s-mie ground. Wearied and scared, he lav down and resolutely fa.ced the serious possibilities of his position. He had still two of the rushes unused, and he determined to utilise the light of these for writing in his note-book a brief account of what had occurred, and . also writing what was of more importance—namely, a few lines respecting his antecedents, so

that should his fate be as he feared it would, the contents of his note-book might, if it were ever found, prevent an injustice being done to the members of his family. Briefly, he was the only of a wellknown English baronet. He had been guilty of a serious demeanour many years ago which had caused a breach with his father. He left England and came-ro Australia under an assumed name, and had married. His wife was unaware of las real name, and did not know of his English connections. He bad one son, who upon his death became heir to tha baronetcy and the family estates. I have purposely omitted to mention the name of the family, for the present baronet occupies just now a very prominent place in political circles in England. The book contained a request that should his body ever be discovered, the finders should communicate with a certain firm of solicitors who were directed to apply to the London and County Bank for a packet which would be found to contain certain documents’ and letters dealing with the whole matter. We returned to our camp and discussed the question of supernatural influances. and, rightly or wrongly, we are both convinced of their reality. The date in the note-book showed that the body had been undisturbed for fifteen years? We notified the authorities in the nearest township, a hundred and fifty miles away, about our discovery, and the body was recovered, and, after a magisterial inquiry, buried. We communicated with the solicitors mentioned, and hv the course of about a year were advisee! bv them of the final end of the affair. They had found that the old baronet was dead, and the estate in chancery. Their inquiries for the widow and. son of the dead man had resulted in their being found in Melbourne in rather straitened circumstances, and, after the usual foimalities had been complied with, the son assumed the title and succeeded to the estates. I have confined myself to a bare statement of the actual facts as they occurred. I have embellished nothing, and although some of my people listen to me when I refer to the matter, they do so with an incredulity they do not always try to hide. My friend. Sir o—L—-,0 —L—-, who is a student of such things, tells me, however, that there is nothing strange in it, as generations will be ready to admit. He" also asserts that we were led to the dead man by his materialised spirit hand. I do not profess to know whether he is right or wrong; I only know that the events recorded in the foregoing actually occurred as they are set down.