FOOTPRINTS IN SNOW

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 167, 18 July 1939, Page 8

FOOTPRINTS IN SNOW

WERE THEY MADE BY THE KUMI OF LEGEND?

‘ REPTILE SEEN IN EARLY DAYS WAIPUKURAU, July 17. The discovery of mysterious footprints in the snow in the unexplored foothills of the ranges near Taihape has recalled earlier reports of the 1 discovery by a Maori bushfeller near Gisborne of the supposed legendary ■ reptile known to the . Maoris as a ' kumi. A Waipukurau resident, who ( has made a careful study of early newspaper files has now unearthed a still, earlier controversy over the alleged existence of a monster in Otaki Lake. 1 In January, 1869, the Rev. A. Stock ' wrote to the Wellington Independent as follows: "Last week 1 heard from Dr. Smith, of the Manawatu, of a I strange appearance in a Jake near Otaki. I wrote to Archdeacon Hadfield, and he replied that the natives had always told him that there was ‘ a large taniwha in Waitara Lake. About 1842, they positively asserted, they saw it upset a canoe in which one of the Ngr.titio, chief Rangihaeta’s slaves was drowned." Mr. Stock goes on to quote from ’ the archdeacon's letter: "They have constantly cautioned my nephew from bathing in the lake," L the archdeacon wrote. "About three j weeks ago they were together on a hill 400 or 500 yards off, looking down ; on lhe lake, when they saw a ripple on the water. The water was very ' muddy (the lake is always clear, being ■ deep), and they perceived an animal t like an alligator, whicii appeared to : have a ridge on its back or neck. One of them considered it to be 15 feet, the other 20 feet, in length. It shortly disappeared round a point of land in the lake. My nephews are not '■ imaginative, nor will they now bathe \ again in the lake. It was a calm, still L evening, and the Jake had nothing ■’ floating on it." This prompted the following com- ' ment in another Wellington daily of 0 February 25, 1869. J "We learn from a letter in lhe columns of a contemporary, that Mr. ’’ Swainson is busily engaged fishing for , J the taniwha in Otaki Lake. He uses ’ sharp hooks baited wfith sheep. If J these are sufficiently large to tempt the monster’s appetite, we may short--1 ly expect to see an account of the strange animal, reptile, or fish — t whichever it may be—forming a new page in our chapter of natural history." No further references could be ' found in the tiles to either Mr. Swainson or the objects of his search. Rec curring stories of the sighting of these creatures seem to suggest that New Zealand, too, may have its Loch ? Ness monster. If a specimen could be found and caught it would cero tainly form an additional attraction < to this Dominion in its Centennial . year. t