Hill. — Buapehu and the Volcanic Zone in 1805. 687 



can be foretold with as much certainty as a study of meteor- 

 ology enables us to say what kind of weather to-morrow is 

 likely to be. Euapehu, although capped with ice for a thou- 

 sand feet or more, is a festering sore — a solfatara — whose 

 symptoms imply decay and extinction. On various parts of 

 the mountain, as in the case of Tongariro, there are traces of 

 thermal activity, and, when the topography of tlie mountain 

 comes to be better known, no doubt many hot springs and 

 mud-holes will be found similar to those reported by Mr. 

 Dunnage and party as existing on the west side of the moun- 

 tain. It may be that a supplementary crater will be found 

 on the western side ; but we must wait for further exploration 

 before it can be ascertained with certainty that the mountain 

 " broke out," like Tongariro, in places outside, and at a much 

 lower elevation than the original crater. A mountain like 

 Euapehu, with its enormous ridges and spurs, can hardly have 

 been formed by means of its present limited crater, and 

 mighty changes must have taken place since the time when 

 the crater was imbedded within the three peaks which now 

 bound it on three sides. 



There are no traces of marine beds in the vicinity of the 

 trachytic lava, nor is there evidence in the tuffs of having 

 been raised from below the sea. The limestones, which pre- 

 sent bold scarps to the volcanic area along the south-east por- 

 tion of the district, and, indeed, are traceable on the border- 

 land in every place visited by me, even to the north-west in 

 the direction of Lichfield, belong to the later Tertiaries, and it 

 would seem that the elevation of the volcanic area did not 

 reach its present diuiensions till nearing the close of the Plio- 

 cene period. This extension of the trachytic area appears 

 to have given rise to the formation of an immense lake, 

 which included the whole of the Taupo plateau, and this con- 

 tinued to enlarge until the increase of volcanic activity along 

 the present line of weakness caused modifications to take 

 place in the watershed of the Island, such as have brought 

 about the present conditions. It. is needless to point out the 

 abundant evidence in support of this statement, as further 

 details must be left for another paper. 



What the future of Euapehu and the other volcanic cones 

 will be cannot be predicted with any degree of certainty. 

 Egmont is extinct, Pihanga and Tauhara are also extinct, 

 and the activity of Euapehu, Tongariro, Tarawera, and Edge- 

 cumbe is comparatively unimportant. Of Ngauruhoe the case 

 is different; and I shall conclude by quoting what Hochstetter 

 says of this beautiful and symmetrical cone : " Although this 

 grand volcano, with its various craters, has, within the last 

 centuries, as far as it is known, not had any eruption of lava, 

 yet I would not venture to assert that such might not suddenly 



