A VISIT TO THE NEW ZEALAND GEYSERS. 363 



about. One of pale gray mud was said to be eaten by the Maories as 

 medicine ; it had a decidedly acid taste. One big hole was blowing 

 off immense volumes of steam with the noise of a dozen steam-engines 

 shrieking in friendly rivalry. A little farther on was a pool of cold vivid 

 green water greener far than the leaves of the shrubs near it, and 

 strongly charged with sulphuric acid and iron. The wonders of Roto- 

 mahana really seemed endless, but, alas ! it was Saturday afternoon, 

 and we had to get back to Ohinemutu that night, and, however unwil- 

 lingly, we were obliged to bid the place farewell. 



Strolling about after our evening bath on Sunday, we came across 

 a pool in which there were two Maori young women bathing. When 

 we found they had their pipes with them we sent to the hotel for some 

 beer, and sat down to have a chat with them, and found one of them 

 understood a little English. They said they had been in the water an 

 hour before we came. I wonder they were not boiled, the water was 

 very hot and nasty, and we kept them in at least another hour. This 

 was, I think, the pool which Mr. Trollope speaks of having found him- 

 self bathing in with three young women ; if so, it has now deteriorated 

 very much, and nothing would have tempted us to venture into its 

 dirty waters. 



On Monday we rowed over Lake Rotorua to an island called Mo- 

 koia. Sir George Grey told me that at one time he lived on the island ; 

 it is, in consequence, still rich in fruit-trees and cultivated ground. A 

 legend of this island reminds one of the story of " Hero and Leander." 

 Hinnemoa, a maiden living on the mainland, one day, on hearing the 

 flute of her lover, Tutanekai, the chief of the island tribe, jumped 

 boldly into the lake and swam across the intervening five miles in 

 safety. Tutanekai scarcely deserved his good fortune, he having a 

 few days before made an attack on the mainlandei*s and destroyed all 

 their boats. On the highest peak of the island I found myself in a 

 small native burying-ground ; it was surrounded by a deep ditch and 

 bank. There were some forty or fifty graves, each marked by a small 

 headstone, but I had not much time to examine them closely, having 

 a proper fear of the unknown penalties incurred by the violation of 

 anything tapu or sacred. On our way home, Captain Mair showed us 

 his beautiful collection of native weapons, carved boxes, and wonderful 

 cloaks made of native flax, and feathers, most of them presents from 

 grateful natives, or, as we enviously suggested, bribes. 



My friend and I, after saying good-by to the others, started the 

 next morning with the guide Fraser to visit the more southern limits 

 of the hot-spring country. A ride of about thirty-five miles brought 

 us to the Waikato, a large swift -flowing river, the scene of much blood- 

 shed during the war. The canoe that we had expected to cross in was 

 not forthcoming, so that we had to camp where we were ; luckily the 

 night was fine, and we had plenty of provisions. We had a fine lunar 

 display : round the moon, for a breadth of about twice its own ap- 



