STRANGE TUNNELS

Taranaki Daily News, 2 December 1939, Page 6

STRANGE TUNNELS

TE HENUI RIVER BANKS NEAR SITE OF ANCIENT PA MYRIADS OF GLOW WORMS Investigations into what may be an interesting relic of the heyday of the Maori may shortly be made at Ntew Plymouth, where it is proposed to examine tunnels in the bank of Te Henui River below the site of an old pa abandoned before the coming of the white man. The mysterious galleries are ; now known, chiefly to young people, as the home of myriads of glow worms. Since firearms were unknown at the time the pa was occupied the galleries were not made for shelter, but it is suggested that they served important strategic purposes. Such tunnels are fouiid at ancient Maori strongholds, but are seldpm in such a good state of preservation. Because of their comparative inaccessibility the tunnels are not widely known. Those who have entered them knowing something of their origin have been greatly interested in thc way they have been cut through the gravel formation, the marks of the tools being plainly visible in the workings. Important Maori Centre. The old pa is only one of several in that locality, which apparentl / was an important Maori centre. To reach the tunnels the visitor must cut across from Lower Mangorei Road to the top of the cliffs overlooking Te Henui. The tunnels lie roughly half-way up the cliff face, and the path leading lo them clips in and out among a tangle of bush thick with gorse and stingingnettle. At night the track is slippery and even dangerous, foo in some places a false step may send the unwary hurtling down to the stream beneath, and lowhanging branches sprawl across the way to trip the careless. A fringe of fern hangs round .the tunnels' entrance and pongas lean against them. Inside a thousand little lights gleam unwinkingly in exquisite paiterns on roofs and walls and multiply themselves in reflection in pools on the clay-streaked floor.' All the six tunnel.1:, whieh rarige in sjze from two very small ones to the latgest, which branches and rebranches ir.to sub-passages and tunnels, exactly like the favourite caves of fiction, are covered with glow worms and trailing dewy cobwebs. Damp oozes from the v. alls. There is no sound save the soft dripping of water and even the wind is still.