The sign was found to be due to the bleaching of the rock face by
the drainage from a mass of stag's horn fern. Possessed of this
information, which proved in the long run to be trustworthy, several
exploratory trips were undertaken. To reach the locality from Brammo
Bay, one must cross the middle of the backbone of the island, and
descend some little distance on the Pacific slope.
I scaled and scrambled over and crawled upon huge rocks, peered into
gloomy crevices with daylight edges fringed with ferns and orchids,
squeezed through narrow tunnels, and groped in dark recesses without
finding any evidence of prehistoric art. Blacks do not care to venture
into places where twilight always reigns, though they are curious to
learn the experiences and sensations of other explorers of the gloom. At
last, however, patience was rewarded, and beneath a great granite rock,
which on three previous excursions had been overlooked, the paintings
were discovered. In their execution the artist must have lain on his
back, for the "cave" does not permit one to sit upright in it, except
towards the wide and expansive front, and the subjects are on the
ceiling, which is fairly flat.
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