Nebraska advertiser. [volume] (Brownville, Nemaha County, N.T. [Neb.]) 1856-1882, 1865-02-23


d Us through the passage, and dashed mi
. bleeding and nearly senseless on th,
E rocks. l grasped the sea-weed, AM
crawling up to the face of the rock, wa
fortunate enough to get OUT of the reacl
of the surge; out casting look down
wards l saw poor Manwi's bleeding bod7
; amongst the fragments Of the boat
swept about in the depths below.
again crawled along the s.. till
reached level port, where s6rer foot
ing was to be had; after which exer.
ton fell senseless with pain and ex.
hauStion, occasioned by loss Of blood.
When I recovered found it getting
dark, so that l must have lain about
four hours in faint. The evening was
evidently far advanced, and the ,moen
was shining with great brilliancy, l
was thankful for this last blessing, as
otherwise l could not have explored the
-recesses of the rocks for path of de-
liverance. The gale, is as usual with
northeasters, had abated as suddenly as
ii had arisen, and the night was quite
calm and still, the only sound that was
heard being the sullen moan of the swell
as it swept the rocks below immedfa-
tely began to look about fora means of
exit from my position, and found that the
ledge of rocks or which 1 stood extend
ed backward for some distance. went
back few feet, and perceived a hole in
the rocks, about three feet wide, and
= six in height. The idea at once
that this was the cave dedica-
- 0SA No ~anoos to the worship of
The sea.deitv N,ptL L-nkurko or Maun-
wirrirO (Or he that holds 1' %a'e' az :. :
his hands). The appearance Of
trance agreed with the description CIV
me by the Maories-I being but few
inches above the highest sweep of iheIl
surf, and the tide being at It's lowest ebb. /.
also remembered that this was abouts
the time of the half-yearly visits Of the
Nooranoos to the temple and as il was
only accessible for one day IN the half
year, expected every moment tozee the
sacred gallery sweep around the point
and land is crew Of yorshipEsgs.
was now III fearful position, and saw
no method of escape, for there was a
law among the Maoris, that only those
set apart for the purpose of Offering the
sacrifices for the tribes should approach
this cavern. all others being condemned
to instant drath, if found there, Irres-
pective of this, however, the hated Pa
heka of the Tatemungas was surely |
doomed to destruction, if found by his
foes.
carefully searched every recess of
the rocks, guided by the light of the
moon, but could find no egress-nothing
but preclpitous' walls of rock on three
sides, and the boundless ocean on the
fourth. l returned in despair to the
temple entrance, determined to enter,
and there await the coming of the Moo
ranoos. did so, and CROPPED along its
rough walls for some wav. | then took I
out my flint and steel, which l carried |
with me on all occasions, and striking
light of some cotton which had fortu-
nately remained dry In my-inside pock-
ct, l was enabled to see my way.
found the cavern of considerable length
extendihgII / should i'm agine, about one
thousand yards in length, with breadth
of two hundred. / reached the altar
where stood the idol, urrounded by the
offerings Of its .devotees, consisting OF
various marine curiosilies and other val
uables. | did not, however, take much /
note of them, my anxiety regarding the
arrival of the natives being too great to
think of satisfying curiosity. | knew
that they might come at any moment,
and were sure to come, at all events, IN
the course OF twenty-four hours.
| looked for place 20 conceal myself,
and creeping round behind The idol,
found that if the priests did not remove
it, might possibly escape their sight
The idol was not situated at the extreme,
end of the cavern, but only about two
hundred yards from its entrance, so that |
behind it there wasa considerable space,
which apparently was not much intruded
upon, all the deyotions being paid 10
front of The altar. hoped that, as they'I
would net pass beyond the idol, ! might
possibly remain concealed. for l knew
that they would have no time, to waste,
the returning tide compelling thom to
quicken their deVotions but when | re-
fected that, even should be successful
enough to escape their notice, misera'-
BILE death awaRed me, left as | would be
10 die of hunger in that lonesome cav
ern, various schemes fitted through my
mind, one of which was to escape their