When I had gazed with admiration at the beauty of the Huka, I determined to ascertain whether it would be possible to pass underneath the shoot of water from one side to the other. I had done this under the Falls of Niagara, and it seemed to me that the same thing might be accomplished at the Huka, only on a smaller scale. When I suggested to my guide that we should make this trial at the risk of our necks, he did not hesitate, but, on the contrary, entered with spirit into what appeared an almost impossible undertaking. To get down on a level with the seething pool below, it was necessary for us to descend a perpendicular precipice of rock of some sixty feet in height. The only way down was by clinging on to the roots of the trees, and in this way we gained the rugged rocks beneath. Once on the margin of the river, we crept through the thick growth of fern and _manuka_, and then along steep, slippery, moss-grown boulders that bordered the eddying whirlpool. There was just sufficient room at each step to put the toes of our boots. One false step and all was over. As we crept cautiously along towards the fall, and looked upwards, it appeared much higher and grander than when we had beheld it from the precipice above, and as it came thundering towards us from a cloud of spray the effect was not only beautiful, but thrilling to a degree. With the cautious tread of a couple of cats, we crawled round the edge of the fall, so close that the outside water of the grand cascade caught us and drenched us to the skin, but it soon became apparent as we progressed under the fall that our way was barred by a barrier of rock which rose vertically up under the centre of the shoot. We discovered, however, a small cave, which extended right under the bed of the rocky channel over which the river passed, and, as we squatted down inside, the vibration caused by the terrific flow of water over our heads was so great that not only did the rocks above and around us shake, but the delicate and beautiful ferns which grew about the walls of the cave trembled like aspen leaves as they grew. As we gazed from the recesses of the cave through the falling water the effect produced by the sunlight was very beautiful, as it lit up the foaming cataract in all the colours of the rainbow.