A DANGEROUS EXPEDITION

Taranaki Daily News, 16 June 1931, Page 9

A DANGEROUS EXPEDITION

PARITUTU VERY MANY YEARS AGO.

VETERAN RESIDENT’S MEMORIES.

An ascent of tho seaward side of Paritutu in his early years was recalled to the memory of Mr. R. C. Hughes by the rescue performed yesterday morning and was related by him at the final meeting of the Paritutu Protection League, which, by a strange coincidence, was held in New Plymouth yesterday to wind up the activities of that body and dispose of surplus funds. , “I was reminded of this incident tins' morning by Mr. R. Cock, who was one of the party,” Mr. Hughes said. “I remember we went out one afternoon with no particular objective. There were about five of us, all young fellows. We went around the base of the rock on the seaward side until our progress was barred by. a big cavern. We made our way backhand .began to climb. “Worn rough by the fierce attack of the ocean, the surface of' Paritutu was ragged and broken, and plenty of good footholds were provided for us in the face of the cliff. We' ascended a little way, but progress became difficult. One of the party said ;ve could not go any further and, if I remember rightly, Mr. Cock wanted us to turn back. ’ “Mr. Cock said to me this morning: ‘I remember you went on up a chimney, pressing your back against one side and staying yourself with your feet against the other, in one long wriggle. I stayed behind and would not follow.’ “The rest,” Mr. Hughes said, “was comparatively easy. Others followed me up- : the chimney, down which one could look almost vertically into the sea below. We reached the top safely, though we saw afterwards it was a very dangerous thing to do.”