A VISIT TO THE NEW ZEALAND GEYSERS. 



359 



are curiously intermittent in character, and according to all accounts 

 are, on the whole, less active than formerly. 



Two of the baths here deserve mention. One called the oil-bath 

 has water so oily as hardly to adhere to the skin enough to make a 

 towel necessary on coming out ; the other is a very warm creek open- 

 ing out into a fast-flowing river of cold water, and affording the most 

 delightful gradations of temperature between the two. All the pools 

 have their distinctive character : some are very active, others sullen ; 

 some pretty, bubbling, shallow basins, others dark deep blue of endless 

 depth ; some bright and clear as crystal, others milky, or of mud of 

 various consistency ; some blowing off steam like fifty steam-engines, 

 and many, alas ! very many, smelling beyond the power of words to 

 describe. It is curious how quickly one gets accustomed to the cease- 

 less sound of boiling water, or the dull, soughing sound of boiling mud 

 that one hears on all sides, often without being able to see the hole 

 whence it comes. 



In the evening the natives treated us to a haJca, or dance, in 

 honor of the Governor. It took place in the carved house I have al- 

 ready spoken of, the weird, grotesque carvings of which added to the 

 strangeness of the scene. There were about a hundred dancers ranged 

 in five rows, the front one consisting of about twenty young women 

 gorgeously apparelled in tight-fitting red or white calico bodices, and 

 flaming-colored rugs worn like kilts. When the Governor entered 

 they greeted him with the most awful noise, shouting, yelling, laugh- 

 ing, and in some diabolical way imitating the noise of the beating of 

 tin cans, the barking of dogs, and rapid hand-clapping. From one or 

 two of the specimens that were translated to us, it was as well, per- 

 haps, that their shouts of welcome were expressed in Maori language. 

 The young women certainly seemed to enjoy, and to make the most 

 of, the opportunity for saying naughty things. The dance lasted 

 about an hour ; it was curious, and as a novelty amusing, but rather 

 monotonous. There was but little movement of their feet ; it consist- 

 ed chiefly of swaying their bodies and arms about, going down on 

 their knees, imitating rowing and gathering crops, slapping their own 

 legs and then their neighbors'. The men then took the place of the 

 women, and went through very similar performances. The whole 

 dance was accompanied by a noise that would have put pandemonium 

 to shame ; it sounded like a mixture of beating of trays, dogs fighting, 

 gigantic snoring, and a very full, deep bass rumbling in the throat. 

 At times there seemed to be a kind of rhythmic song, interspersed 

 with yells and short, sharp cries of " Hue, hue ! " " Ha, ha ! " " Pake- 

 ka ! " The young women winked and grinned and twisted about be- 

 yond what was strictly correct ; but they seemed to enjoy the really 

 hard work of the dance most thoroughly. There was always a chief 

 running up and down, dancing, and declaiming in the foreground, 

 bidding defiance to all the world apparently, but in reality, I believe, 



