The drawings illustrated on this page are from South Island rock shelters. The Kaingaroa Forest drawings which are the subject of the poem depict canoes. On Viewing Ancient Maori Drawings in a Cave Kaingaroa Forest by Susi Robinson Collins Wind from Taupo cooler than this roof of umbrella pines cannot stir the mystery in the air of this recess in rocks, this mossed and marbled ledge where hands from ancient times wrought their symbols in gentle lines. Warriors? Hunters? Or were they merely sheltering from some demoniac storm under the flutings of this fine ledge? Who will know this secret of lines, this entombed utterance of Man? We can only surmise that they were travellers hungry, dog-tired who sought harbour for an hour or two using fingers to while away that time. Some Maori rock drawings date from very early times, but others are comparatively recent.