358 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



to the natives in the place of fire, and saving them an infinity of trou- 

 ble with their cooking and washing arrangements. One desirable 

 result of the abundance of warm baths is the undoubted cleanliness of 

 the people. 



About a mile farther along the banks of the lake, we came to what 

 is called the Sulphur Point. It certainly deserved its name. The 

 surface of the ground is literally honeycombed with pools of boiling 

 water and mud-holes, impregnated with sulphur or alum. The smell 

 was perfectly fearful. One mud-bath that we ventured into certainly 

 did not look tempting ; great waves of thick brown mud bubbled up 

 in the middle of the pool, and rolled lazily toward its sides. It was 

 just a pleasant temperature, very smooth and oily, and, notwithstand- 

 ing its appearance, decidedly a success. We next tried a pool of thin- 

 ner mud, and ended with a swim in the cold waters of the lake, feeling 

 all the better for our strange experience. All the pools have been 

 given stupid English names by the hotel-keeper ; the one we first 

 bathed in is known as "Painkiller," and enjoys a high reputation for 

 curing rheumatism. It was here that a young Englishman lately 

 nearly lost his life. A large bubble burst near his face, the poisonous 

 gases from which rendered him insensible ; and had it not been for a 

 Maori, who happened to be standing near, he must infallibly have been 

 drowned. The whole neighborhood is a dangerous one ; the crust of 

 the earth is in many places so thin that one may at any moment find 

 one's self standing in boiling water. The guides take so much plea- 

 sure in recounting all the accidents that have happened, that I felt I 

 should be conferring a personal favor on them if I fell in, and was 

 boiled sufficiently to be worth talking about in the future. The sur- 

 face of the ground is in places covered with masses of pure sulphur. 

 We lighted it in places, and it began to burn freely, and may be burn- 

 ing still for all I know to the contrary. 



In the afternoon we saw, for the first time, a body of water thrown 

 any considerable height into the air. It was at a place called Whaka- 

 rewa-rewa, about two miles from the hotel, amid the finest hot springs 

 of the Rotorua district. The geyser had been dormant since 1869 

 until this particular week, and each day it seemed to gather strength 

 and volume. The mighty fountain has formed for itself a fine circular 

 base, about thirty feet high, of silica, roughly resembling white mar- 

 ble. After being quiescent for a few minutes, the water began to 

 leap up through the circular cavity at the top of the cone, and, rising 

 higher and higher at each leap, at last culminated in splendid volumes 

 of clear bright boiling water, thrown fully forty feet into the air. 

 Dense masses of steam floated from the water in mid-air, but the col- 

 umn of water itself fell so nearly perpendicularly that we were able to 

 stand as near to it as the intense heat would permit. After playing 

 for about five minutes, the fountain gradually subsided, to take a rest, 

 lasting about eleven minutes, before its next display. The geysers 



