616 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



3. EUAPEHU. 



This mountain is separated from Ngauruhoe by a valley- 

 plateau varying from a mile in the west to three miles towards 

 the east in width. The highest portion of the plateau sepa- 

 rates the sources of the Ohinepango and Whakaj)apanui 

 Streams, tributaries respectively of the Waikato and Wanga- 

 nui Elvers. The lakes just referred to are situated on the 

 rise which really constitutes the watershed of the two rivers. 

 There is no surface-connectiou whatever by means of lava- 

 flows between the two mountains, the only junction being 

 between Euapehu and Tongariro by way of the Pukekaikiore 

 trachytic range, to which reference has already been made. 

 Euapehu is the highest mountain in the North Island, and is 

 an immense truncated cone, the base of which covers an area 

 equal to Lake Taupo. It is situated a few miles to the north 

 of the parallel of Napier. x\lthough covered with perpetual 

 snow for a depth of 1,200ft. or more, it is still active, and 

 possesses a crater in the solfatara state, situated in the midst 

 of the everlasting snowfields, and having ice-walls on two 

 of its sides. The mountain consists of three principal 

 peaks — namely, Paraetetaitonga on the south, Euapehu on 

 the west, and Te Heuheu, or Victoria, as it is sometimes 

 called, on the north. The two former peaks each exceed 

 9,000ft. in height, whilst Te Heuheu is about 500ft. lower. 

 These three peaks form the limits on the south-west and 

 north respectively of what was once a single crater of 

 more than a mile in diameter from north to south. From east 

 to west the crater must have been greater ; but the eastern 

 wall is now broken away, and it is possible to go, as it were, 

 into the heart of the mountain, to the base of the present 

 crater, which appears to have been formed since the destruc- 

 tion of the original crater took place. I have visited this 

 mountain on three separate occasions — first, from the north- 

 west, in March, 1887 ; then, from the east, in January, 1888 ; 

 and again, by way of the Kaimanawhas, in March, 1890. 

 The mountain on the east and west is almost bare of vegeta- 

 tion, with the exception of a few low bushes along some of 

 the guts which are evidently mountain-torrents in winter and 

 early spring, when the snow begins to melt from the lower 

 slopes. On the west and south a light bush reaches up the 

 sides of the mountain to a height of between 5,000ft. and 

 6,000ft. The snow-line is lower on the west and south than 

 on the other sides of the mountain, although towards the 

 north-east there is a large snowfield of a trapezoid shape at 

 a height of about 7,000ft. 



I have already stated that a kind of rift has been made in 

 the east side of the mountain, which carried away the east 



