194. 



HA RD WICKE ' S S CIENCE- G OS SIP. 



ruddied the sky for miles around. Thousands of 

 blocks of glowing lava described as " fire-balls " were 

 shot into the air. The canopy of dark ashes that 

 soon gathered over the mountain and spread out for 

 miles around became the theatre of a violent electrical 

 storm. It seemed to be torn asunder with incessant 

 flashes of lightning, and the continuous peals of 

 thunder, mingling with the bellowing of the volcano, 

 increased the terror of the night. 



That an eruption should ever take place from the 

 three huge truncated cones that frown over Lake 

 Tarawera was not regarded by geologists as a future 

 probability. They had been extinct even from the 

 times of early Maori tradition. To their solitary and 

 mysterious summits the natives had probably for 

 centuries been accustomed to carry their dead. The 

 bones of many successive generations lay bleaching 

 on that high lonely plateau, which had thus come to 

 possess a peculiar sanctity in the eyes of the Maoris, 

 who would not willingly allow a white man to 

 approach it. Not only were these great cones to all 

 appearance extinct, but the volcanic action of the 

 whole district was of that type of waning energy 

 which geologists have called the "solfatara stage." 

 New geysers might break out, rivalling or even 

 surpassing those already active in the district, and 

 the orifices of eruption might shift from place to 

 place, involving considerable local disturbance in 

 their transference ; but no one anticipated that in this 

 district a great explosion, like the most gigantic 

 outburst of Vesuvius, was likely to occur. 



The magnitude of the explosion may be inferred 

 from several facts which appear in the newspaper 

 reports. An observer at New Plymouth, on the west 

 side of the island, 150 miles from the scene of the 

 disaster, saw the column of ashes rising far into the 

 air, and computed its height to be not less than 

 22,000 feet. The noise of the explosion is said to 

 have been heard at Christchurch, a distance of some 

 300 miles. The ashes fell over a vast area of 

 land and sea to the north and east of the vent of 

 discharge. Vessels sailing even 130 miles away found 

 the air thick with fine dust, which settled on their 

 decks. Near the scene of the explosion the depth of 

 accumulated ashes, still quite hot, was found by some 

 adventurous explorers, seeking to succour the poor 

 Maoris, to be not less than 20 feet. At a distance of 

 30 or 40 miles the deposit was still several inches 

 thick, so stupendous must have been the amount of 

 rock blown into powder by the great explosion of 

 Tarawera. 



The materials ejected from that mountain appear 

 to have consisted mainly of loose fragments of lava, 

 cinders, ashes, and fine dust, with vast quantities of 

 steam, while not improbably hot water and mud 

 issued from the flanks of the volcano. So far as can 

 be gathered from the narratives, there was no 

 emission of lava, though, from the "flames" and 

 " fire-balls " so generally referred to, it may eventually 



be found that molten lava flowed out somewhere on 

 the sides of the mountain. 



Not far from the base of the volcanic cone of 

 Tarawera lay the warm lake and sinter terraces of 

 Rotomahana. The treacherous nature of that district 

 has been often remarked — its steam-vent, boiling 

 pools, hot steaming soil, and eruptive geysers, not 

 always remaining in the same places, but apt with no 

 warning to break out at fresh points. This weird 

 locality has been involved in the volcanic disturbances 

 of the region. The famous terraces have been blown 

 into the air, and fragments of their sinter have been 

 picked up among the dust and ashes of the surround- 

 ing country. The lake on the borders of which they 

 stood has been ingulfed. On their site scores of 

 mud-cones are vomiting forth stones and mud, and 

 hurling clouds of steam into the air. New vents for 

 the escape of steam and the outflow of volcanic mud 

 have been opened all over the country, and the aspect 

 of the landscape has been entirely changed. A scene 

 of fairy-like beauty has been transformed into one of 

 loathsome desolation. Even if the volcanic activity 

 calms down and the sinter springs can recommence 

 their w r ork of deposition, many generations must pass 

 away before they can build up again such terraces as 

 have been destroyed. The new features of the country 

 will no doubt prove attractive to tourists, but the 

 marvellous staircases of Te Tarata are a dream of the 

 past. 



Among the features of the eruption, on which it is 

 to be hoped that light will be thrown by the more 

 detailed investigations of experts, are the source and 

 behaviour of the mud that overwhelmed the settle- 

 ment of Wairoa. From the narratives of the sur- 

 vivors, showing that the houses were crushed in from 

 above, the mud seems to have descended through the 

 air upon the district, mingled with ashes and stones. 

 Rain fell during the night, but the mud could hardly 

 have been formed in the air by the mixing of the rain 

 and dry ashes. It appears to have come down as 

 liquid mud, and was no doubt ejected as such from 

 some neighbouring vent. The orifice of eruption 

 could scarcely have been the great cone of Tarawera ; 

 more probably there were many vents, not only at 

 Rotomahana, but nearer to Wairoa, by which a large 

 amount of mud was discharged over the surrounding 

 district. 



Another question that will no doubt receive careful 

 consideration relates to the movements of the air 

 during the time of the eruption. Barometric observa- 

 tions at Rotorua, and at places on the opposite sides 

 of the island, will be of much interest. From the 

 newspaper accounts it is clear that a great atmos- 

 pheric disturbance accompanied the eruption. About 

 an hour after the great explosion, a gale suddenly 

 arose in the Rotorua and Wairoa district, and blew 

 with such fury as to uproot and prostrate immense 

 numbers of trees, and to strip off leaves and branches 

 from those that were left standing. At Rotorua 



