ROTOMAHANA; 
 
 AND 
 
 THE BOILING SPRINGS 
 
 OF 
 
 NEW ZEALAND. 
 
ROTOMAHAN 
 
 AND 
 
 THE BOILING SPRINGS 
 
 OF 
 
 NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 A PHOTOGRAPHIC SERIES OF SIXTEEN VIEWS 
 
 D. L. MUNDY. 
 
 WITH DESCRIPTIVE NOTES 
 
 FERDINAND VON HOCHSTETTER, 
 
 PROFESSOR OF THE POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTION OF VIENNA. 
 
 "O ye Fire and Heat, bless ye the Lord; 
 Praise him, and magnify him for ever!" 
 
 LONDON: 
 SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, LOW, AND SEARLE, 
 
 CROWN BUILDINGS, FLEET STREET. 
 1875. 
 
 {All Rights reserved.) 
 
CHISWTCK press: — PRINTED BY WHITTINGHAM AND WILKINS, 
 TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE. 
 
HONOURABLE JULIUS VOGEL, 
 
 PRIME MINISTER OF NEW ZEALAND, 
 
 THIS ACCOUNT OF THE SOUTHERN WONDERLAND, ROTOMAHANA, 
 
 AND THE BOILING SPRINGS OF NEW ZEALAND, 
 
 IS DEDICATED 
 
 D. L. MUNDY. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 I. 
 
 ^HE ROTOMAHANA, OR HOT LaKE. NoRTH-EaST ViF.W, WITH THE 
 
 Tarawera Mountain. 
 11. The Rotomahana. South-West View, with the Oruakorako 
 Mountain. 
 
 III. Te Tar-Ata, or the White Terrace Cascade. Front View. 
 
 IV. Te Tarata. Mouth of the Boiling Geyser. 
 
 V. Te Tarata. Terraces and Cascade From the Edge of the Crater. 
 VI. Te Tarat.'V, Side View, showing the Hot B.aths. 
 VII. Waikanapanapa, or the Boiling Mud Lake. 
 
 VIII. ROTOPOUNAMU, or THE GrEEN L.AKE, WITH THE StEAMING RaNGES. 
 
 IX. Rua Kiwi, or the Boiling Cascade Geyser. 
 
 X. Otukapuarangi, or the Pink. Terrace Cascade. 
 
 XI. Otukapuarangi. Side View of one of the Terraces. 
 
 XII. Lake Rotorua, and the Maori Village Ohinemutu. 
 
 XIII. Lake Taupo. South View, with the Volcanoes Tongariro and Ruapahu in 
 
 the distance. 
 
 XIV. Lake Taupo. North End at Tapuaeharuru, with its Outlet into the 
 
 Waikato River. 
 
 XV. Lake Taupo, Boiling Geysers of Tokanu. General View looking North- 
 West. 
 
 XVI. Mouth of the Pirori Geyser, at Tokanu. 
 
 The Photographs are reproduced for this publication by the Autotype Process, 
 which renders the Pictures permanent . 
 
THE HOT SPRINGS DISTRICT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 HE official Government papers of New Zealand contain a letter from the 
 Hon. W. Fox, of Wellington, to the Prime Minister (now Sir Julius 
 Vogel, K. C. M. G.), dated August i, 1874, in which he recommends that 
 the Colonial Government should take steps for the acquisition of the 
 Hot Springs District, as a public domain, with a view to utilizing this 
 wonderful provision of nature for sanitary purposes. Mr. Fox, after minutely describing 
 the lakes and springs, goes on to observe : — 
 
 " It is not my intention to dilate on the wonderful and beautiful which abound in 
 connection with Rotomahana and its terraces. A day spent among them is a new 
 sensation, and must be felt to be understood. I wish rather to draw attention to the 
 different groups of springs, with a view to their sanitary use. At the same time, the idea 
 that these majestic scenes may one day be desecrated by all the constituents of a common 
 watering-place, has something in it bordering on profanity. I would not suggest that 
 their healing waters should be withheld from the weary invalid or feeble valetudinarian. 
 Doubtless their sanitary properties were given them for the good of suffering humanity, 
 and that they should become the Bethesda of New Zealand would detract nothing from 
 the sanctity and grandeur. But that they should be surrounded with pretentious hotels 
 and scarcely less offensive tea-gardens ; that they should be strewed with orange-peel, 
 with walnut shells, and the capsules of bitter-beer bottles (as the Great Pyramid and even 
 the summit of Mount Sinai are), is a consummation from the very idea of which the soul 
 of every lover of nature must recoil. The Government of the United States had hardly 
 become acquainted with the fact that they possessed a territory comprising similar 
 volcanic wonders at the forks of the Yellow River and Missouri, than an Act of Congress 
 was passed reserving a block of land of sixty miles square, within which the geysers and 
 hot springs are, as public parks, to be for ever under the protection of the States ; and it 
 will doubtless take care that they shall not become the prey of private speculators, or of 
 men to whom a few dollars may present more charms than all the finest works of 
 creation. 
 
 " I beg to suggest to the Government of New Zealand that as soon as the Native title 
 may be extinguished, some such step should be taken with regard to Rotomahana, its 
 terraces, and other volcanic wonders. It is to the credit of the Maoris that they have 
 hitherto done all in their power to protect them, and express no measured indignation at 
 the sacrilegious act of some European barbarians who, impelled by scientific zeal or 
 vulgar curiosity, have chipped off several handsbreadths of the lovely salmon-coloured 
 surface of the Pink Terrace. 
 
 " I have endeavoured in this imperfect sketch which I have given (and for the details 
 of which I am much indebted to Hochstetter, correcting my own less careful observation,) 
 to draw the attention of the Government to the great value of the sanitary provision which 
 nature has made in the district described. I think the time has come when something 
 practical might be done to utilize that provision. At present, the difficulty of travelling 
 in the Hot Spring country, and the almost entire absence of accommodation for invalids, 
 prevents more than a very small number of persons from visiting it, either for health, 
 recreation, or curiosity. Yet it might be, and is probably destined to be, the sanatorium 
 not only of the Australian Colonies, but of India and other portions of the globe. 
 
 " I have, &c., 
 
 " The Hon. the Premier." "William Fox." 
 
THE HOT SPRINGS DISTRICT OF 
 NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 HE two large islands which, together with one of insignificant size, 
 constitute New Zealand, perhaps the most attractive and most 
 flourishing of British Colonies, differ considerably in their natural 
 aspects. Both are traversed lengthwise by great mountain ranges, 
 from south-west to north-east, which would form one continuous range 
 but for Cook's Strait between the two islands. The mountain scenery, 
 indeed, of the South or Middle Island, has an Alpine character, with its lofty snow- 
 covered peaks, its immense glaciers, its profound and precipitous ravines, and beds of 
 shattered rock. On the west side of this mighty range, the sea-coast is overhung with 
 dense dark forests ; on the east side lie the open plains of Canterbury and of Otago. 
 In the North Island, on the contrary, the upheaved mass of stratified rocks forming 
 the backbone of the country, while it still pursues the same general line of direction, 
 approaches the eastern shore, declining to half the height of the Southern Alps. A 
 broad tableland is left in the middle width of this island, to the west of the backbone 
 range, and is buttressed near the western sea-coast by Mount Egmont. This ground, 
 from Cook's Strait to the Bay of Plenty, is chiefly of volcanic formation, consisting of 
 pumice-stone, tufa, trachyte and rhyoiite lava, at first formed by submarine eruptions, but 
 afterwards gradually lifted above the sea. Legends still current among the Maoris, or native 
 people, who call their land Te Ika a Maui, *' The Fish of Maui," would seem to be derived 
 from a mythical tradition of its rising from the ocean. This is only one of three distinct 
 volcanic zones in the North Island ; and the other two, which lie across the narrow 
 northern peninsula, at Auckland and at the Bay of Islands, are of more recent origin; 
 but their volcanic action is extinct. The region above mentioned, within which is 
 comprised the Hot Springs district, exhibits some of the grandest and rarest volcanic 
 phenomena to be seen on earth. It will suffice, in this introductory chapter, to give 
 the mere outline of a general description. 
 
 From the opposite south-west and north-east shores of this territory — that is to 
 say, from Cook's Strait on the one hand, and from the Bay of Plenty on the other, 
 the land gradually rises to an elevation of 2,000 feet. Here stand two high mountains, 
 Ruapahu and Tongariro ; the former being an extinct volcano, 9,200 feet in height ; the 
 latter, about 6,500 feet, one that is still active. Away to the west, upon a parallel 
 
THE HOT SPRINGS DISTRICT 
 
 but different line, stands Taranal-ci or Mount Egmont, 8,270 feet, a tliird volcano, but, 
 like Ruapahu, now extinct. From the yet burning crater of Tongariro, in a straight line 
 drawn to the north-east for 200 miles as far as Whakari or White Island, an active 
 volcano twenty-eiglit miles from the shore in the Bay of Plenty, extends the present 
 range of igneous forces beneath the surface of land and sea. The Maori legend may 
 here again be cited, which relates that a celestial personage, Ngatiroirangi, or the 
 " Runner of the Sky," having alighted upon the snowy summit of Tongariro, felt himself 
 suffering from the cold ; he shouted to his sisters, who remained on Whakari, to send him 
 some fire which they had brought from Hawaiki, the mystic home of gods and men. 
 They did so, by the agency of the two Taniwhas, the Earth Spirit and the Water Spirit, 
 who dwell underground. The fire thus transmitted is still current through the long 
 subterranean passage, and bursts forth in a thousand places, from the soil of the plain, 
 the side of the mountain, or the boiling depths of streams and lakes. Another story 
 is, that the national demigod Maui, when he saw the mighty " Fish," as this land is 
 called, emerge out of the sea, was alarmed by its strange fires, and kicked or tossed them 
 along from Tongariro to the Bay of Plenty, in order to quench them. These fables, as 
 poetical as those of the ancient Greeks which professed to account for marvellous physical 
 phenomena, are based also upon correct observation of the line of volcanic action in 
 New Zealand. 
 
 Of the wonderful and beautiful effects of such action, as faithfully illustrated by the 
 series of Sixteen Photographic Views presented in this publication, the reader will pre- 
 sently judge for himself They are similar in kind to others long since renowned, such as 
 the geysers, the solfataras, the steam jets, and other remarkable features of Iceland ; as well 
 as the grander display of these natural miracles, lately discovered and examined by a 
 scientific expedition in America, at the head waters of the Yellowstone River. But the 
 more characteristic and peculiar features of the New Zealand Hot Springs region, such as 
 the Cascade Terraces of Rotomahana, have no rival in any part of the globe. The system 
 to which they belong, regarded in general, surpasses every other in variety and extent. 
 We must remark, too, the manifest unity which it possesses, from Lake Taupo, a 
 stupendous central reservoir of .water at a great elevation, down to the Rotorua, the 
 Rotoiti, and the Rotoehu, near the sea coast of the Bay of Plenty. To comprehend 
 this system as a whole, throughout the survey of many diverse effects of its subterranean 
 volcanic forces in the disturbance of land and water, it is needful that we should first 
 view Lake Taupo as its actual head. The same lake has another bearing of great 
 importance on the physical geography of the island, from its connexion with the large 
 river Waikato. Few things, indeed, are more singular than the position of Lake Taupo 
 itself, in relation to the general structure of the country where it holds a central place. 
 
 The Maori name of Taupo, which means " Darkness," seems to express the sense 
 of mystery that ever invests, to their superstitious imagination, this bottomless Moana, 
 or inland sea, around which yet linger the remnants of the nation, preserving their 
 genuine customs and manner of life. In the centre of the land, 160 miles from 
 the coast of the Bay of Plenty, the lake fills a cavity of unknown depth, a huge hole 
 in the midst of the elevated plateau of volcanic formation. Its water stands at the 
 level of 1250 feet above the sea, yet no soundings have been reached at 200 fathoms. 
 The lake may probably, in former ages, have stood several hundred feet higher, as the 
 Maoris assert that it did ; for its shores exhibit three successive terraces or plains, the 
 lower being alluvial, which rise above one another to the general level of the surrounding 
 table-land, 700 feet or 800 feet above the present water. Its area is about 248 square 
 miles, and the length of its coasts nearly 150 miles. The extreme length, N.N.E. to 
 S.S.W., from Tapuehararu to Waihi, is 25 statute miles ; the breadth, from Hamaria, 
 on the east side, to Maungahara, on the west, is 20 miles. At its southern extremity. 
 
OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 Lake Taupo receives, in the delta about Tokanu, tlie four branches of the upper Walliato, 
 having their sources at the feet of Tongariro and Ruapahu and neighbouring mountains. 
 Several other rivers enter the lake on its eastern side. But its only visible outlet is the 
 exit of the Waikato at the north end of the lake, through which that river flows like 
 the Rhine flowing through the Lake of Constance, or the Rhone through the Lake of 
 Geneva. It may, however, be conjectured that a large portion of the water of this vast 
 reservoir is carried off northward by subterranean channels, reappearing in the innumerable 
 hot springs and the many smaller lakes between Taupo and the Bay of Plenty coast. 
 The actual volume of water discharged by the Waikato, as well as the dunensions of 
 the lake, were ascertained at my request by Mr. C. Maling, the government surveyor. 
 It is computed to be 245-I millions of gallons .per hour during the lowest summer level 
 of the lake ; but in the winter months, July, August, and September, it amounts to 
 280 million gallons. 
 
 The volcanic rocks around Lake Taupo consist of quartzous trachytic lavas, now 
 called rhyolite, in a variety of modifications, crystalline and vitreous, such as obsidian. 
 Together with masses of pumice-stone, they form cliffs on the western shore, to the 
 height of 1,000 feet and more at the promontory of Karangahape ; and beyond those 
 tall bluffs rise, in the distance, the wooded ranges of Rangitoto and Tahua, 3,000 feet 
 high, with the pyramidal summit of Titiraupenga. The eastern shore, on the contrary, 
 is mostly flat, with a broad beach of pumice stone, sand, or gravel, across which the 
 Waimarino, the Tauranga, the Hinemau, and the Waitanui flow into the lake. Its most 
 striking features are the rocky peninsula Motuoapa, the wooded island of Motutaiko, 
 with its precipitous northward front, and the steep banks near Motutere. But still 
 more worthy of inspection are the cliffs at Totara, which are curiously variegated, and 
 of a very regular columnar formation, consisting of thin laminated sheets of various 
 rocks, fused together in a streaky mass. Farther north, the visitor's attention is caught 
 by the deep channels which rivers have cut in the pumice-stone tableland above. 
 The Tauhara mountain, an extinct volcano, lifts its graceful head above the outlet of 
 the Waikato. It is, however, by looking southwards up Lake Taupo, that a prospect 
 is gained of the crowning eminences of this region. To the left hand, beyond the 
 wooded range of Kaimanawa, which is ten or fifteen miles east of the lake, are 
 the towering Alpine peaks of the backbone mountains of New Zealand, so different 
 in their aspect from the volcanic cones ; these mountains continuing the Ruahine chain 
 from the south, but assuming as they become lower the name of Te Whaiti. But 
 immediately before the spectator, at the south end of the lake (see View XIII.) the 
 giant forms of Tongariro, breathing forth a cloud of steam from its principal crater, 
 and of Ruapahu, clad with perpetual snows, arise behind a group of lesser volcanic 
 mountains. These are Pihanga, called the wife of Tongariro, with Kakaramea, Kuhaua, 
 and one or two others, which the Maoris have fancied to be Tongariro's children. 
 They say that Taranaki was kicked by Tongariro as far off as New Plymouth for his 
 insolence in making love to Pihanga. There is no record of any eruption of lava from 
 the still active craters of Tongariro, the chief of which, called Ngauruhoe, is at the top 
 of a cinder-cone surrounded by a circular wall of cliff, 1,000 feet high, with but one 
 opening, to the west. Cinders and ashes, and hot mud, have been thrown up now and 
 then, breaking the lip of the crater ; but its ordinary discharges consist of steam, or 
 sulphurous vapour. It stands about twelve miles from the south end of Lake Taupo. 
 
 Such as we have described is the head of the Hot Springs region ; and here, in the 
 neighbourhood of Tokanu, at the southern or upper end of Lake Taupo, are found 
 numerous places where the subterranean forces break through the ground, as shown in the 
 Views. But from this locality to the sea-coast, in a direction 36 degrees E. of N., three 
 parallel lines of similar volcanic action, not far apart, may be distinctly traced. One is 
 
HOT SPRINGS DISTRICT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 the line drawn from Tongariro to the marine volcano Whakari ; and this line includes 
 the hot springs at the head of Lake Taupo, and those of Rotomahana, a long way farther 
 on beyond the Kaingaroa plain. The second line, which follows, to some length, the 
 outflow of the river Waikato from Lake Taupo, is marked by the hot springs and steam 
 jets of Otumaheke and Orakeikorako, on the river's banks, and those of the Pairoa 
 mountain range. The third line of action forming eruptions of this kind is exhibited in 
 the hot springs of Rotorua and the solfataras of Rotoiti, which terminate the notable 
 specimens of volcanic phenomena on land, being situated near the sea coast. It is at 
 Rotomahana, more especially, that the most beautiful and marvellous effects of this action 
 are displayed. 
 
 The cause and mode of their production may be explained with brevity in general 
 terms. Water, having descended through fissures into the earth, is heated by volcanic 
 fires, and generates high-pressure steam. This rises, accompanied by sulphurous acid and 
 other gases of volcanic origin, which decompose the nether surface of the lava or other rock 
 that overspreads the neighbouring region. The steam is, meanwhile, partly condensed to 
 hot water ; and this, impregnated with acid gases and soluble substances, forms, at the 
 surface, the springs. All the New Zealand hot springs, hke those of Iceland, are to be 
 divided into two distinct classes, the one alkaline, the other acid. To the latter belong all 
 the sulphurous hot springs on the Rotomahana, Rotorua, and Rotoiti, characterized by 
 deposits of sulphur or frequent incrustations of alum, which having no periodical eruptions, 
 are either tranquil or in a uniform state of ebullition. This first class of thermal springs 
 is called by the Maoris, Ngawhas, corresponding with those in lelcand called Namur. 
 The second class of alkaline springs is that which bears in Iceland the designation of 
 Hverjar, and to which belong the Geyser and Strokkur ; but in New Zealand these 
 intermittent fountains are called Puias, or bursting craters. This word is especially used 
 in the Taupo country to designate the intermittent, geyser-like fountains of Tokanu, of 
 Orakeikorako on the Waikato, and of Whakarewarewa on Lake Rotorua. All the 
 intermittent springs belong to the alkaline class, which, on the cooling and evaporation 
 of the water, deposit great quantities of silica. Springs suited to bathing purposes, the 
 water of which never reaches the boiling point, and all naturally warm baths, are called 
 Waiariki, corresponding to the Laugar of Iceland. 
 
 I am indebted to Professor Ferdinand von Hochstettcr for much of the information 
 contained in this general account of the Hot Springs district of New Zealand, and he has 
 also kindly furnished the Descriptive Notes, which follow, upon the particular subjects of 
 m)^ Photographic Views. 
 
 D. L. MUNDY. 
 
 London, March nth, 1875. 
 
I. 
 
 THE ROTOMAHANA, OR HOT LAKE. 
 
 NORTH-EAST VIEW, WITH THE TARAWERA MOUNTAIN. 
 
 H E Rotomahana is one of the smallest lakes, being scarcely a mile in length 
 from north to south, and only a quarter of a mile in breadth. Yet it is the 
 most marvellous of all, being fed by boiling springs, which keep the whole 
 volume of its water at a high temperature. They deposit an enamel-like 
 white siliceous crust or coating over the margin, which gives to the entire 
 region a fantastic and Fairyland-like appearance. The Rotomahana is situated i.oSS feet 
 above the level of the sea. 
 
 The shape of the lake is very irregular. On the southern side, where the shore is 
 formed by swamps overgrown with bulrushes, warm water gushes forth ; hot mud-pools 
 are seen here and there ; small rivulets flow into the lake ; and from projecting points 
 muddy shallows, covered with svvamp-grass, extend almost to the middle of the lake. At 
 its northern end the lake narrows, and, where the Kaiwaka rivulet flows out, there are 
 again grass-swamps and shallows. In the middle, however, the water is deeper, and the 
 shores to the east and to the west are steep and rocky. The Rotomahana is correctlj- 
 named " The Hot Lake ;" for the quantity of boiling water issuing from underground, 
 both on the shores and at the bottom of the lake, is truly astonishing. The temperature, 
 however, is not uniform, but differs in various places. Wherever the rising of gas-bubbles 
 indicates a hot spring at the bottom of the lake, the thermometer will frequently rise 
 to 90° or 100° Fahr. Near the mouths of the cold rivulets, the water of which shows 
 a temperature of 50° to 52° Fahr., the temperature of the lake water has been found to 
 be only from So° to 70° Fahr. But in the middle of the lake, and near its outlet, the 
 Kaiwaka channel, at the north-east end, it rises to 80° Fahr., which may be considered 
 the mean temperature of the lake. In bathing or swimming in different parts of the 
 lake, the variation of temperature is easily noticed, and care must be taken to avoid 
 approaching too near to any of the hot springs. The water is muddy and of a turbid 
 green colour. Neither fish nor mussels live in it; on the other hand, this lake is a favourite 
 haunt of countless water-fowl and morass-fowl. Various kinds of ducks, water hens, the 
 magnificent Porphyria mclanotus, and the graceful oyster-catcher, Heematopus picatus, 
 frequent Rotomahana, and make these warm shores their breeding-place, while they 
 resort for their food to the neighbouring cold-water lakes. 
 
THE ROTOMAHANA, OR HOT LAKE. 
 
 The main interest attaches to the eastern shore. Here are the principal springs to 
 which this lake owes its fame. They are shown in the accompanying view, ranging in 
 the direction from north-east to south-west, in the following order, beginning on the left- 
 hand side of the view : Te Tarata, Ngahapu, Te Takapo, the Steaming Ranges, and the 
 Rua Kiwi, with the two islands Pukura and Puai. The foreground of this view is 
 the foot of the Pink Terrace, called Otukapuarangi, on the south-west side of the lake ; in 
 front of which, on a promontory in the middle of the view, is the great sulphur lake 
 or solfatara, called Te Whakataratara. 
 
 First, there is the Te Tarata, or the White Terrace, at the north-east end of the lake, 
 with terraced marble steps projecting into the water. This is the most remarkable of the 
 Rotomahana wonders. From the foot of the Te Tarata a path leads by the slope of the 
 hill to the Great Ngahapu or Ohapu. This fountain, shut in by a thicket of shrubs, lies 
 close to the margin of the shore, about ten feet above the level of the lake. The huge 
 columns of steam continually ascending from it show its locality from afar. Its basin is 
 forty feet long by thirty feet wide ; the water is clear and transparent, but almost always in 
 a terrific state of ebullition. The seething foam rises to a height of eight or ten feet, and 
 a surf of hot waves lashes the walls of the basin. The elevated margin of siliceous deposit 
 prevents the free overflow of the water ; the natives have, therefore, constructed an artifi- 
 cial outlet, conducting the water to several bathing basins. The thermometer rises in the 
 hot spring to 210° Fahr. The siliceous deposits are of a dirty brown colour. Farther 
 up on the'hill lies the Little Ngahapu, a basin in which turbid, muddy water seethes ; but 
 this is difficult of access. 
 
 Near to the Great Ngahapu, but more to the south and close to the shore, is Te 
 Takapo, an incrusted basin, ten feet long by eight feet wide, with clear, gently-boiling 
 water of 206° Fahr. This geyser is said to rise occasionally in a jet from thirty to 
 forty feet high. There are numerous smaller springs, bubbling mud pools, and lightly 
 incrusted hofes along the shore, between Te Tarata and Te Takapo ; several deserted 
 huts stand here. A few yards further is a ravine, called Waikanapanapa, or Boiling Mud 
 Lake, extending in the north-east direction a quarter of a mile. Some distance back, 
 and about a hundred feet above the level of the Rotomahana, lies the Rotopounamu, 
 or Green Lake, a dirty green-looking water-basin about forty feet in diameter. 
 SouthAvards, at the mouth of the ravine, lies the fountain Rua Kiwi (Kiwi Hole). From 
 the Waikanapanapa valley, opposite the two islands -Pukura and Puai, the shores of the 
 lake become steep and rocky ; hot springs gush out from below, under the surface of 
 the lake ; while above, on the side of the hill, are the huts of Ngawhana or Ohana, 
 scattered near the spring which bears that name. 
 
 To the Ngawhana group belong several hot springs which have all contributed to the 
 siliceous deposTts covering the slope of the hills. The Ngawhana itself is a basin of hot 
 but still water. Farther up, about a hundred feet above the lake, is the Koingo (sighing), 
 so called from the sighing sound echoed by the water replunging into the basin. This is 
 an intermittent fountain, from which discharges of water take place three or four times 
 a day, alternating— as the natives say— with those of the neighbouring Whatapoho. This 
 What'apoho is one of the most remarkable springs on the borders of Rotomahana Lake- 
 being partly a fountain, partly solfatara, and pardy fumarole, or, strictly speaking, all three 
 in one. From a deep shaft-like aperture between britde, ash-coloured rocks, ascend, as 
 from a steam boiler, volumes of hot steam and sulphurous gas, with a dismal, moaning 
 sound. It is dangerous to approach the basin too closely. 
 
II. 
 
 THE ROTOMAHANA. 
 
 SOUTH-WEST VIEW, WITH THE ORUAKORAKO MOUNTAIN. 
 
 HE south side of the lake does not present a single spring of any size, 
 wortliy of note ; but on the western shore, on the right-hand side of 
 the view, is the great Pink Terrace Cascade, Otukapuarangi, or " Cloudy 
 Sky," which takes that name from the immense cloud of steam always 
 rising above it. This is a counterpart of the Te Tarata cascade. On the left-hand 
 side of the view in the middle ground appear the islands Pukura and Puai, Alto- 
 gether about twenty-five large Ngawhas (the native name for hot springs) may be 
 counted on the Rotomahana. The smaller springs, which bubble up at innumerable 
 places over an area of about two square miles, are beyond counting. 
 
 It is gratifying to learn that these hot springs, according to the experience of the 
 natives and European visitors, have proved very effective in curing chronic cutaneous 
 diseases and rheumatic pains. There is little doubt but at no distant period the 
 Rotomahana, with its genial climate, its wonderful cascades, hot medicinal springs, 
 and ready-made warm baths, will become, not only an attractive resort for tourists, but 
 also the sanatorium of Australia, and a place of cure for invalids from all parts of the 
 world. 
 
in. 
 
 TE TARATA, OR THE WHITE 
 TERRACE CASCADE. 
 
 FRONT VIEW. 
 
 HE name of Te Tarata, or tattooed rock, is derived from the peculiar 
 forms or figures presented by the sihceous deposits and stalactites on 
 the terraces over which the water descends in front of the geyser crater. 
 This cascade is situated at the north-eastern extremity of the Rotomahana 
 lake, and forms one of the most remarkable natural phenomena in existence. At an 
 elevation of about lOO feet above the level of the lake, on the fern-covered slope 
 of a hill, from which fiot vapours ascend in various places, lies an immense crater- 
 shaped boiling cauldron, with steep side-walls of a glaring red colour from thirty to 
 forty feet in height, and open only on its western side towards the lake. The size of 
 the basin is about eighty feet in length and sixty in width. It is fUIed to the brim 
 with perfectly clear and transparent boiling water, of a beautiful turquoise-blue colour. 
 At the margin of the basin the temperature of the water was found to be 183° 
 Fahr. ; but in the centre, where the water is in a state of constant ebullition, rising 
 with a foaming crest several feet high, it probably reaches seething point. Thick clouds 
 of steam curl up, generally obstructing in part the view of the surface of the water ; 
 but the hissing noise of boiling and seething is always distinctly audible. 
 
IV. 
 
 TE TARATA, MOUTH OF THE BOILING 
 GEYSER. 
 
 R. MUNDY, during his visit to Rotomahana, had the good fortune to be 
 enabled to see the crater empty, and to take a photograph of it. He 
 had been told, by the Maori chief Parakia, who accompanied him, 
 that few natives had ever seen the crater empty. This, in fact, takes 
 
 place but rarely, and there is a notion that it occurs only during violent easterly gales. 
 The whole mass of water is then suddenly thrown out with immense force. On such 
 occasions the empty basin is open to sight to a depth of about thirty feet ; but it fills 
 again very quickly. Mr. Mundy was just in time, before the boiling water rose 
 again in the frightful aperture of this geyser, to secure the accompanying view of it. 
 It was with difficulty that his attendant and interpreter could be persuaded to descend 
 and figure in the representation. Ten minutes after the photograph was taken, the 
 geyser, with a dull hissing noise, filled up its whole crater. The violent eruptions of 
 this geyser, at long intervals, can only be compared in grandeur to those of the 
 famous Great Geyser in Iceland. The Te Tarata basin, however, is larger than 
 the Icelandic geyser basin, and the mass of water thrown out therefore must be 
 immense. 
 
V. 
 
 TE TARATA, TERRACES AND CASCADE. 
 
 FROM THE EDGE OF THE CRATER. 
 
 HE formation of these terraces is very remarkable. The water possesses 
 in a high degree petrifying or rather incrusting qualities. The deposit is 
 like that of the Iceland geysers^ siliceous, not calcareous. 
 
 By the accumulation of these siliceous deposits and incrustations, a 
 series of terraces has been formed on the slope of the hill ; these terraces being white, 
 as if cut from marble, present a spectacle of superb magnificence. The overflowing 
 water looks like a cataract plunging over natural steps, and in its fall suddenly 
 transformed to stone. To realize the full effect of this strange and wonderful display 
 of nature's creative power, one must have climbed those steps, and studied the details 
 of their marvellous structure. 
 
 The siliceous deposits cover an area of about three acres, and in the formation of 
 these terraces such as they are seen at the present day, thousands of years have doubtless 
 left the traces of their unremitting work. 
 
 The level part at the foot of the terraces extends far into Rotomahana Lake. They 
 commence from that level with low steps, containing shallow water-basins; Farther up, 
 the terraces increase in height from two or three to four and even eight feet. They are 
 formed by a number of semicircular stages, no two of which are of equal height ; each 
 of these stages has a small raised margin, from which slender stalactites hang down upon 
 the lower stage. Each platform contains one or more basins, sometimes five or six, 
 resplendent with beautiful blue water. These form natural baths, such as no human art 
 could have constructed, or fitted in a more luxurious and commodious style. 
 
VI. 
 
 TE TARATA, SIDE VIEW, SHOWING THE 
 HOT BATHS. 
 
 H E natural bathing basins of Te Tarata, as here represented, are of every 
 variety of size and form, and differ in temperature ; they may be chosen 
 large or small, shallow or deep, or of any degree of warmth : on one 
 terrace the visitor may enjoy a tepid bath ; on another, one of a higher 
 temperature, and so on to almost boiling heat. The basins upon the higher stages, nearer 
 the crater, contain hotter water, of course, than those upon the lower terraces ; some of 
 the basins are so large and deep, that several persons at once can easily swim in them. 
 The bather can have his choice ; he must take care, however, to do so under the guidance 
 of a Maori. 
 
 In ascending the steps of the terraces of the Te Tarata, one has, of course, to walk 
 round the basins and step through the tepid water that flows over their edges upon the 
 platform, but this is rarely above the ankle. During violent emissions of water from the 
 crater, steaming cascades are pouring down. At ordinary times but very little water 
 ripples over the terraces, and only the discharges on the southern side form a hot 
 steaming waterfall. 
 
 Beyond the highest terrace is an e.xtensive platform with a number of basins five 
 or six feet deep; the water in them is of a temperature of from 90° to 100° Fahr. 
 In the middle of this platform, close to the brink of the crater, is a sort of island rock, 
 about 12 feet high, overgrown with manuka scrub, mosses, lycopodium, fern and other 
 vegetation. This can be reached sometimes without danger; and from its summit the 
 traveller has a fair and full view into the boiling and steaming cauldron. 
 
 Such is the famous Te Tarata, which is quite a unique object on the face of the 
 earth. The pure white of the siliceous deposit, in contrast with the blue colour of the 
 water, seen when the steam blows off, and the green reflection of the surrounding foliage 
 and the intense red glare of the bare earth walls of the crater, surrounded by the whirling 
 clouds of steam, afford a scene of unequalled grandeur and beauty. The scientific ob- 
 server too may here collect an abundance of exquisite specimens of delicate stalactites, 
 of incrusted branches, leaves, and other matters, for whatever lies upon the terraces 
 becomes incrusted in a very short time. 
 
1 
 
VII. 
 
 WAIKANAPANAPA OR THE BOILING 
 MUD LAKE. 
 
 S already mentioned in tlie description of Rotomaliana, the Waikanapanapa, 
 in tlie neighbourhood of Te Takapo, is a ravine on the eastern shore of 
 the lake, extending in a north-easterly direction for a quarter of a mile. 
 
 The entrance to this ravine, overgrown with brushwood and manuka 
 trees, is rather difficult of access. It also requires great caution to pass through it, because 
 of the many unsafe places, where the traveller runs danger of being swallowed up in 
 hot mud. This may even be the fate of a dog, as Sir G. Bowen told Mr. Mundy 
 happened to a valuable retriever of his own, which here got off the track. But the Maoris 
 have laid brushwood for the traveller to step upon, and he must be careful in walking 
 behind his native guide alongside the morass. The inside of the ravine is much fissured 
 and torn ; odd-looking rocky serratures, threatening every moment to break loose, loom 
 up like dismal spectres from the red, white, and blue clay, the last remains, evidently, of 
 decomposed rocks. The bottom of the ravine consists chiefly of mud in a fluid state, 
 with thick, flat fragments of layers of siliceous deposit lying scattered about, like cakes of 
 floating ice after a thaw. In one place, a big cauldron of mud is seen simmering ; in 
 another, a deep basin of boiling water is bubbling ; next to this gapes a terrible hole, 
 emitting hissing jets of steam ; and farther on are numerous small mud cones, from two 
 to five feet in height, some of which, like miniature volcanoes, throw up hot mud from 
 their craters, with a deadened rumbling sound. Others send forth volumes of sul- 
 phurous gases. On looking into their apertures, beautiful crystals of sulphur are seen 
 hanging from their edges. 
 
VIII. 
 
 ROTOPOUNAMU, OR THE GREEN LAKE, WITH 
 THE STEAMING RANGES. 
 
 OME distance beyond the boiling mud-pool at the head of the ravine 
 already described, and lOO feet above the level of Rotomahana, lies the 
 Green Lake, or Rotopounamu, which is also called Rotomakariri, or Cold 
 Lake, on account of its temperature, being only 60° Fahr, This circum- 
 stance is remarkable, since it has in its vicinity boiling springs of water, solfataras and 
 fumaroles ; and from the surrounding ranges, composed of pipeclay and rocks of various 
 colours, innumerable jets of steam are constantly discharged, with a terrific hissing noise ; 
 yet on these steaming ranges, around and beside the jets of hot vapour, the manuka 
 scrub flourishes with great luxuriance. 
 
 The water basin of Rotopounamu is forty feet in diameter, and of an oval shape. 
 The water itself appears in the lake of a dirty green colour, which, being opaque, reflects, 
 as in a mirror, the wonderful spectacle of the steaming ranges. But any portion of this 
 water taken up from the lake is perfectly clear, and not unpleasant in taste, being slightly 
 acid. Rotopounamu is probably an extinct spring. This lake is surrounded by flat 
 detached slabs of siliceous deposit, several inches thick, in every conceivable position ; 
 which seem to be fragments of the broken terrace of a former geyser now extinct. 
 
IX. 
 
 RUA KIWI, OR THE BOILING CASCADE GEYSER. 
 
 T the foot of the Waikanapanapa ravine, and on the shore of Rotomahana, 
 amidst rocks and bushes, about forty feet above the level of the lake, is 
 the Rua Kiwi or Kiwi-Hole. This is a basin si.xteen feet long and twelve 
 wide, with clear water of 210° Fahr., which is in a constant state of gentle ebullition. 
 The hot water continually overflows and pours down the slope, forming a perfect 
 cascade, which is every now and then hidden by its own steam. 
 
 The stony deposit around the crater is of a dirty brown colour, instead of being 
 white, as in the Te Tarata and other geysers. It extends as far down as the edge 
 of the lake, where there is another and smaller hot spring, Te Kapiti. 
 
 Mr. Mundy was told by his native guide that a sad accident happened here a 
 few years ago; a little girl, carrying a baby on her back, was looking into the Kiwi 
 boiling geyser, when she overbalanced herself and fell into the cauldron. Death must 
 have been instantaneous. 
 
OTUKAPUARANGI, OR THE PINK TERRACE 
 CASCADE. 
 
 ARVELLOUS as is the Te Tarata fountain with its wonderfully constructed 
 marble-like terraces and natural bathing basins, at the north-eastern end of 
 the Rotomahana Lake, not less resplendent in natural beauties is its com- 
 panion on the western shore, the great terrace-fountain Otukapuarangi {i.e. 
 Cloudy Atmosphere), so called from the continually ascending steam-clouds. Its terraces, 
 formed of a peculiar pink-coloured siliceous deposit, extend by gentle descents, one below 
 the other, down to the edge of the lake. On each side, the whole of the adjoining 
 hill is thickly overgrown with manuka, manuwai, and tumingi bushes. The terraces, 
 though not so grand and imposing as at the Te Tarata, are much neater and finer in 
 their structure. Their enamel-like substance is tinted with the most delicate hues, 
 varying from a light flush to a bright pink and orange chrome or salmon-colour, 
 running in streaks down the entire depth of the terraces. This marvellous formation 
 has the charm of a scene in Fairyland. It resembles a lovely bank of variegated coral ; 
 and, when it is lighted up by the sun, with the clear water running over it, the spectator 
 feels transported with amazement and delight. 
 
 The crater platform is at a height of about 60 feet above the level of the lake ; it 
 is 100 yards long, and equally broad. The successive terraces or ledges, unlike those 
 of Te Tarata, contain no basins of hot water. But on the upper platform are several 
 basins, three or four feet deep, full of transparent sky-blue water of go" Fahr. or more, 
 forming delicious baths. 
 
 It is the luxury of luxuries to sit here upon a bed of soft powdery substance, 
 looking round upon the wonderful scenery of Rotomahana, and listening to the cry of 
 the wild birds, on a clear moonlight night. In the background, shut in by partly bare 
 walls, tinged with various colours, red, white, and yellow, lies the large basin of the spring, 
 like a great cauldron, forty or fifty feet in diameter, and apparently very deep. The water 
 is usually quiet, and merely simmering, not boiling; its temperature reaches 179° Fahr. 
 It is of an intense opal-blue colour. The ascending vapours strongly smell of 
 sulphurous acid. The platform, for ten or fifteen feet around the edge of the crater, is 
 covered with a thin deposit of sulphur. Here and there on the walls of the crater 
 thick crusts of sulphur have been deposited by the ascending vapours. 
 
XI. 
 
 OTUKAPUARANGI, SIDE VIEW OF ONE OF 
 THE TERRACES. 
 
 HIS view gives an idea of die enormous size of tlie terraces formed by tlie 
 siliceous deposits of tlie cascade of Otukapuarangi. The man sliown in 
 tlie photograph is a Maori chief named Parakia, the head of the tribe to 
 whom the Rotomahana belongs. This Maori was a very aged man, and the whole of his 
 body and limbs, from head to foot, was perfectly covered with a variety of tattooed designs. 
 He did Mr. Mundy the honour to become his guide from Rotorua through the district. 
 He was a man of fair stature, but the height of the terrace, as will be seen, was eighteen 
 inches above his head. Underneath the overhanging edges of these terraces hang 
 stalactites of various forms and tinted with difterent hues of pink, which may be 
 gathered in plenty by a visitor who does not mind getting wet. The substance of 
 the terraces is so hard as to require an axe for breaking off a specimen. It has the 
 appearance of white china. 
 
I 
 
XII. 
 
 LAKE ROTORUA, AND THE MAORI VILLAGE 
 OHINEMUTU. 
 
 WELVE or fifteen miles north of Rotomahana, towards the coast of the 
 Bay of Plenty, is the Rotorua Lalce with its beautiful scenery and pic- 
 turesque surroundings, the third in size in this district. Lake Taupo being 
 the largest, Tarawera the second. The name Rotorua means " Hole Lake," 
 a lake lying in a circular excavation. With the e.xception of the southern bay, called 
 Te Arikiroa, it has an almost circular form, with a diameter of about six miles, and 
 a circumference of twenty miles. Almost in the precise centre of the lake is the peak- 
 shaped island, Mokoia, rising about 400 feet above the level of the lake, with a pah or 
 native fortress on the top, the scene of the Maori version of the legend of Hero and 
 Leander, only that in this case it was the lady who took the swim. Her name was 
 Ohinemoa. The circular form of the lake with the island in the middle, and the white 
 steam clouds ascending along its western sliore, might lead one to suppose that Rotorua 
 had formerly been a volcanic crater; but in reality this lake, like all others of the 
 district, was produced by the sinking of parts of the ground of the volcanic table land. 
 The depth of the lake is comparatively small, perhaps at no place more than about five 
 fathoms ; it has numerous shallow sand-banks, and the shores also, with the exception 
 of the north side, are flat and sandy. It is 1,043 feet above the level of the sea, and 
 consequently of the same height with the Tarawera Lake ; on the south-western side, 
 the wood-covered Ngongotaha Mountain towers up to a height of 2,282 feet. This is 
 the highest point of the range of hills encircling the lake. Among its numerous 
 tributaries, the Puarenga River, emptying itself into the lake on the southern shore, 
 near Whakarewarewa, is probably the most considerable; on the northern side the 
 Ohau Creek forms the outlet of the lake into the Rotoiti, thus connecting the two 
 lakes, which are separated only by a low and narrow isthmus. 
 
THE ROTORUA, OR HOLE LAKE. 
 
 The village of Ohinemutu, situated at the north-western extremity of the Rotorua 
 Lake, is a native settlement, a famous old Maori pah, built on a peninsula. The dwellings 
 of the chiefs are surrounded by enclosures of pole fences ; and the Whares and Whare- 
 punis, or dwellings and storehouses, some of which exhibit very fine specimens of the 
 Maori order of architecture, are ornamented with grotesque wood carvings. The huts 
 of the village are scattered over a considerable area on both sides of Ruapeka Bay, 
 and on the slope of the Puke Roa Hill, rising to about 150 feet above the level of 
 the lake. The place is noted far and near for its hot springs and its excellent warm 
 baths (Waiariki). At Ohinemutu the Maori is seen living in the true Maori fashion. 
 The camping-ground of His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, in December, 1867, 
 Avith the Governor, Sir George Bowen, and his staff, was half-way up the hill to the right 
 of this View. 
 
 Ruapeka Bay receives the water of the hot springs ; here the water at the edge of the 
 lake seethes and bubbles and steams in every direction. The principal spring is the 
 Great Waikiti, at the southern side of the bay ; its crater is but a few yards from the lake. 
 Owing to the immense quantities of hot water here poured in, the water near the shore 
 of the bay is warm, and forms an excellent bathing-place. By the swimmer approaching 
 more or less near to the geyser, any degree of temperature can be obtained. The 
 water of this geyser is perfectly clear. For some moments all is quiet in the large 
 crater, only clouds of white vapour are seen ascending from it ; then a powerful ebullition 
 raises the water to a height of four or six feet, sometimes even to twelve. Little Waikiti, 
 a few yards above, has a crater four or five feet wide, in which the water rises about 
 every five minutes several feet high, sinking down again, during the intervals, to a depth 
 of six or seven feet. The native women sitting beside the hole, as shown in the 
 photograph, are cooking their potatoes and crayfish in it. The temperature of the water 
 is 201° Fahr. 
 
XIII. 
 
 LAKE TAUPO. 
 
 SOUTH VIEW, WITH THE VOLCANOES TONGARIRO AND RUAPAHU 
 IN THE DISTANCE. 
 
 DESCRIPTION of Lake Taupo has been given in the introductory 
 chapter. This view is taken from near its northern outlet, on the banks 
 of the Waikato River, and looks up the entire length of the lake to its 
 southern shores. These are bordered by a succession of picturesque 
 volcanic cones, behind which the Tongariro and Ruapahu rear their lofty heads. The 
 Tongariro is clearly shown from the summit to the foot. With its regular conical 
 form, bearing a still active crater, it rises majestically from the midst of a circular range 
 shutting it in all around, and open only on the south-west side. The funnel-shaped 
 crater at the summit of the cone can be distinctly seen, indeed, may almost be looked 
 into, the west side of the crater being much lower than the east side. Thus the crater 
 presents itself to view in the form of an ellipse, from which dense white steam clouds rise 
 continually, sometimes enshrouding the whole peak, but at other times are driven far 
 westward by the wind, affording a view of the blackened edges of the east side of the 
 crater. The natives assert that the west side of the crater fell in at the time of the 
 earthquake at Wellington, in 1855, and that at that time also a second crater to the north 
 was active. Farther north, on the slope of the mountain, a brisk steaming solfatara is 
 visible. The Tongariro in the summer months is clear of snow. The Ruapahu, shown 
 to the left of Tongariro, has its summit frequently wrapped in dense clouds, below which 
 the snow-fields of the peak are seen down to the height of 7,800 feet. At the base of 
 these two colossal mountains, dark forests extend ; in the foreground are mountains with 
 sharp edges and deeply fissured precipices. Thus, at one glance, the effect of fire and 
 water on the grandest scale may be taken into view. 
 
 From the south shore of Lake Taupo these two giants are not visible ; but from the 
 north end of the lake they are everywhere seen towering high above the lower mountain 
 cones, which the natives call their wives and children. The names of these are, Pihanga, 
 Kakaramea, Kuharua, Puke Kaikiore, and Rangitukua. 
 
 Pihanga, the most easterly of them, is the highest; it is estimated at 3,500 feet above 
 the level of the sea. It is covered with wood, except only its topmost peak, which is cleft 
 by a deep chasm, and displays from afar a crater open towards the north. The Kakaramea, 
 the summit of which is of red colour, also probably bears a crater. Both these craters are 
 supposed to be extinct ; but the volcanic forces belo\y have not yet been lulled into final 
 repose, for on the northern declivity, and at the foot of the Kakaramea, the water steams, 
 bubbles, and boils in more than a hundred places. 
 
I 
 
XIV. 
 
 LAKE TAUPO, NORTH END, AT TAPUAEHARURU. 
 
 WITH ITS OUTLET INTO THE WAIKATO RIVER. 
 
 T the north end of Lake Taupe, the beautiful cone of Tauhara points out the 
 region where the Wailcato leaves the lake, even here a stream of great 
 depth and force. This mighty river, it has been observed, taking its rise 
 at the base of Tongariro and Ruapahu, flows through Lake Taupo, as the 
 Rhine does through the Lake of Constance. At the base of Tauhara is a hot lake of a 
 dark green colour. A stream from this runs across the plain, emptying itself into Lake 
 Taupo, on the eastern side. Two miles farther on, down the course of the river, is the 
 Otumaheke Valley. Here is a rivulet running quite hot the length of half a mile, and 
 forming a waterfall close to the Waikato River. The ground, for miles hereabout, is 
 boiled perfectly soft, thrown up into small mud cones, and pierced with many holes and 
 crevices, discharging columns of steam ; some of these fumaroles, such as Karapiti, used to 
 cast up water instead of discharging vapour, as they do at present. There is another 
 region of hot springs at Orakeikorako, thirty or forty miles farther north ; and again at 
 Nihotikihore, the usual crossing place of the Waikato, on the road to the Rotomahana 
 and Rotorua hot lakes. These terminate the volcanic district towards the coast of the 
 Bay of Plenty. 
 
XV. 
 
 LAKE TAUPO, BOILING GEYSERS OF TOKANU. 
 
 GENERAL VIEW LOOKING XORTH-WEST. 
 
 HE south shore of Lake Taupo, at the head of the lake, is a flat delta formed 
 by several mouths of the Upper Waikato. It is swampy to the edge of the 
 lake, in some places, and covered with rushes, flax, and manuka scrub. 
 Here are the remains of the village of Tokanu, which was destroyed by 
 the rebel Te Kooti, like other Maori villages and pahs around the lake. In the middle 
 of the low ground here is a series of geysers and mud-holes, occupying two square miles, 
 from the small mountain Maunganamu to the mouth of the Tokanu Creek. This is really 
 the head of the entire geyser system. The ground is paved in all directions with 
 a white lime-like substance, covering spaces a hundred yards square. In this pavement 
 are numerous boiling geysers of clear blue water, sometimes overflowing and adding by 
 their deposit to the thickness of the crust ; great care is needed in walking about the 
 place. Several carved posts are set up here by the Maories to show where fatal disasters 
 have occurred. 
 
 There are many baths here formed by the natives, converting this hot water to their 
 use, alternately with the cold water of the Tokanu ; they also cook their food in the steam 
 holes, which Mr. Mundy used for the same purpose during his stay in the neighbourhood. 
 In the middle of this view is seen the Pirori Ge)-ser, of which a separate illustration is 
 offered on the next page. But nearer to the front is a warm creek, Te Atakoreke, with 
 a temperature of 113 degrees, a favourite bathing-place of the natives. On the further 
 side of the creek, three basins lie dose together ; Te Puia Nui (the Long Spout) is eight 
 feet wide, and filled to the brim with gently bubbling water ; close to this are pools of 
 greyish white mud, at a temperature of 1S8 degrees. 
 
 To the left of the present view is the site of Te Rapa, the native pah which was 
 destroyed in May, 1846, by a landslip of the steaming ranges, and in which the great 
 chief of Taupo, Tukino Te Heu Heu, perished with his six wives and fifty-four of his 
 tribe. He was succeeded by his son, Iwikau Te Heu Heu, who now resides with his 
 people at Waihi. In this vicinity is the beautiful double waterfall, 150 feet high, leaping 
 out of the forest, and filling a rock-basin from which clouds of spray constantly rise, 
 thence descending in a second cascade, to run into Lake Taupo. The lower fall had 
 never been seen, even by the natives, till Mr. Mundy caused it to be cleared of the fuchsia 
 and other trees which obstructed the view. He named it the Alfred Falls, in honour of 
 the visit of his Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh to New Zealand. 
 
XVI. 
 
 MOUTH OF THE PIRORI GEYSER, AT TOKANU. 
 
 HE most powerful column of steam which is seen to ascend at Tokanu, and 
 is visible far above the lake shore, belongs to the large geyser Pirori (a 
 name that signifies fountain or eddy). It is situated on the left bank 
 of the Tokanu Creek. A boiling hot-water column, six feet in diameter, 
 always accompanied by a rapid development of steam, is whirled up at intervals of about 
 eleven seconds, to a height which often varies. The geyser basin is eight feet wide, 
 covered with a siliceous deposit resembling chalcedony; it is called the Jaws of Topo- 
 hinga, and here the water is continually boiling. Mr. Mundy was informed by the 
 officer commanding the district that he had seen a column of water a hundred feet 
 high rising from it. The whole of the food for several hundred native and other 
 troops was cooked in this geyser, when they were fighting the rebel Te Kooti in 
 the neighbourhood. 
 
 A few years ago the Pirori discharged all its water, followed by quantities of boiling 
 mud, stones, and steam, and several native women and children lost their lives in a 
 neighbouring pah, on the banks of the Tokanu Creek, which is now "tapu " and 
 deserted. No soundings have been taken since the eruption.