Pond and Sihth. — On the Eruption of Mt. Tarawera. 863 



covered plain, the setting snn at our back. Away and away in 

 our fiont ioY miles lay the scene that not long since looked like 

 snow, but now, reflected on it, the rays of the setting sun gave 

 it the aspect of led coral. But, above all, there rose iu solemn 

 grandeur the towering mass of steam— thousands upon thousands 

 of feet it ascended, until its crown was lost in the bright, fleecy 

 cli'uds that came rolling up from the south. Bright, aye bright 

 with the full eflulgence of tlie orb which was still high above the 

 hoiizon there ; but lower, the dazzling brightness waned, and a 

 faint glint of a golden hue was seen, to be rivalled by the richer 

 colours and deeper gold of the nether parts until they deepened 

 and sank through rose to carmine, and deeper hues suffused the 

 base and the far-reaching crimson plain, while the deep greens 

 of the bush in which we stood made up a picture difficult to 

 equal, impossible to excel. And thus from earth to sky rolled 

 the ever-changing mass of steam, rent at the base with the up- 

 rush of countless geysers, imparting to it changing and varying 

 tints, beautiful and transient ; but above, calm, solemn, and 

 gorgeous, and apparently immovable. Slowly the deeper tints 

 crept up, and left the base white and beautiful in the light of the 

 blight lull moon, while the crown still reflected the deep soft 

 tints of a sun which had long since set with us. 



Appearance of the Road to the Wairoa. 



The appearance of the district, after having entered upon 

 that portion upon which the deposit of mud has fallen, is sombre 

 in the extreme. The view all round is the same : the neutral 

 grey of the wet mud is spread as a pall over the earth. The 

 contour of the ground is not altered, only the steeper angles are 

 rounded off, the smaller gullies and hollows filled up by the aU- 

 peryadmg mud. Locomotion is naturally retarded, the track 

 having from 4 to 6 inches deep of the plastic mass. Proceeding 

 in the direction of the Wairoa, we reach the Tikitapu Bush, so 

 famed for its beauty of tree and fern. Now, all verdure is gone, 

 trees and shrubs are alike strippi d of their leaves, and the bark 

 no lonL:er shows its natural and varied hues, but is encased with 

 the all-) ervading grey. Only in some hollow of a larger tree 

 on the sheltered side may be seen a few scattered leaves of some 

 close-clinging creeper, or the hardy leaves of the tataramoa, 

 bespattered with mud. Advancing into the bush, we soon came 

 upon more striking effects than that wrought by the fall of the 

 deposit. Trees are lying uprooted, increasing in number as we 

 leach the Tikitapu Lake. Advancing along the road, we find 

 thtm lying par;illel with it in nearly every instance. It runs in 

 a nearly straight line in a S.E. direction, bearing directly to 

 Rotomahana. In one short stretch, near the lake, twenty trees 

 were counted lying near to and on either side of the road, and 

 in only one instance was it necessaiy to make a detour, on 



