606 Transactiofis. — Miscellaneous. 



called Karika, maj' be seen the legendary footprints of the 

 great chief Ngatororairangi, who, when returning from the 

 ascent of Ngauruhoe, crossed the stream at this spot. Whether 

 Ngatororairangi crossed the river or not, the fact remains that 

 there is what seems to be a human footprint in the rocks at 

 the place named. 



It is difficult to say whether Lake Taupo is simply an area 

 of subsidence similar to what Eotomahana now is, or whether 

 it is the remnant of what was once an immense volcano ; 

 but its whole surroundings seem to point to the latter sur- 

 mise as being the correct one. It is surrounded by lavas and 

 volcanic ejectamenta of almost every variety, and the craters of 

 Pihanga, Kakaramea, Tauhara, and the fractured ones between 

 Opepe and Tauranga-Taupo, with many others, are merely 

 remnants of a volcano which exceeded even the dimensions of 

 Euapehu. Were the Tongarii'O volcanic range to subside, it 

 would form a larger area of depression than even Lake Taupo, 

 which covers an area of nearly 243 square miles, or 154,560 

 acres, as determined by Mr. Lawrence Cussen in a survey he 

 made of the lake a few years ago. 



The length of the volcanic range south of Tokaanu is about 

 thirty miles, and the distance round the group, exclusive of 

 Euapehu, is sixty-five miles. The distance round Euapehu 

 cannot be less than forty miles. The portion of the plateau 

 running along the eastern side of Euapehu and Ngauruhoe is 

 known as the Onetapu (sacred sands) or Eangipo (cloudy sky) 

 desert, and it well deserves either name. Some parts of it are 

 swamp and exceedingly dangerous, whilst the portion not 

 swamp is made up of moving sands, scoria, cinders, clinkers, 

 and tufas ; and, although its traditional history is not reassuring, 

 it is a spot well worth the attention of geologists, for some 

 very curious and rare specimens of volcanic rocks are to be 

 found in places left bare by the ever-moving sands. 



On the plateau to the west of the mountains the conical 

 hills of trachyte, to which attention has already been drawn, 

 are objects worthy of attention. They are twenty-two in 

 number, and extend in a north-west direction across the 

 plateau for two miles or more, between the Tawhai and 

 Whakapapanui Streams. In shape they are perfect cones, 

 but there is no trace of a crater in any of them examined by 

 me. They resemble large blisters on a lava-flow, and possibly 

 they were formed by rapidly-moving lava passing over pot- 

 holes filled with water, which, when heated, would tend to 

 pass off as steam, thereby causing the lava to rise in the shape 

 of a cone. I have observed that, when melted lead is poured 

 into a mould which is wet or damp, blisters rise by the expan- 

 sion of the steam, just in the way I imagine the volcanic cones 

 were formed. 



