LOST ON MOUNT EGMONT.

Otago Witness, Issue 3596, 13 February 1923, Page 58

LOST ON MOUNT EGMONT.

RUGGED AND DANGEROUS COUNTRY. WANGANUI, February 9. Tarries are stiil fruitlessly searching for Mr William T. Murray, who has been lost on Mount Egmont since Tuesday last, and at times over 100 people have been engaged looking for tracks, and the ground covered has been some of Egmont’s most rugged and dangerous localities, to which there was at times the added discomfort of stormy weather. One of the party, discussing the position with a News reporter, points out that Mr Murray persisted in descending a precipitous gorge on the western side of the summit, against the advice of his friends, and that they had great difficulty in getting clear from'this point. The missing man travelled in a west by northerly direction for a little over a mile until he struck the Kahui track to Bells Falls, just about -where it crosses the moss line. Footprints show that he followed this track down to the 2940 ft level marked on the map, where the track divides, the northern fork going to Bells Falls and the southern one to Stony River. At this point he made the first night’s camp. Searchers who tracked him down this far found remains of a huge fire, and also a bed of tussocks bearing the impression of a man having rested there in a recumbent position. Next day, Wednesday, January 31, Mr Murray apparently retraced his steps for almost three-quarters of a mile along the track, and struck off again towards the summit, holding a more or less closely direct line, until he came under turtle over 60COft above sea level. He then bore in an easterly direction for a little way, then northwest again, on a course almost parallel with that he had previously traversed. This last turn was a fatal one. Had he proceeded 20 or 30 yards in an easterly direction he would have passed round a bluff, and from this point he would have seen the North Egmont Hostel. Proceeding in a northeasterly direction, more north than west, Mr Murray apparently found himself between two small streams, and at a point where these joined he made his second camp. It was here that two searchers discovered the heel of a hoot on which were scratched the initials “W. M.,” and the date, “31-1-23,” From this point the tracks were subsequently followed down the river to where it turns to tumble over Bells Fails. The tracks entered the river here, and they have not been discovered coming out. The Stony River above and below the falls has been thoroughly searched, in case the unfortunate man may have been washed down the river; while the tracks have been retraced along the route of his third day’s journey in a vain hope that he might have come hack or have deviated from his previous paths. Below the falls is a deep pool, and one or two shots of gelignite have been fired in this to dislodge the body should it have been caught there.