Phillips. — On the Volcanoes of the Pacific. 519 



the island — an old crater^is filled with brackish water, in 

 which are hot springs. A severe eruption took place in 1853 — 

 not so long before the great earthquake in Wellington in 1854 — 

 when a village was destroyed, and many lives were lost. On 

 the 12th April, 1867, another eruption occurred, but without 

 loss of life. This last outbreak was on the south end of the 

 island. I am as particular as I can be about dates, as I wish 

 to point out to members that our great New Zealand volcanic 

 eruptions approximate somewhat in date to those of Tonga. 



I had only the pleasure of one conversation with Mr. 

 Tarvis, and somewhat hurried at that, as he was returning to 

 his schooner ; but I immediately jotted down in my note- 

 book, as well as I could remember, the tenor of what he told 

 me — I remember now he stated that the new crater formed 

 immediately in the centre of the inner lake, where.it soon 

 reared itself a little cone of 50 ft. or 60 ft. in height. This 

 outbreak of 1886 and the 1853 outbreak — making, of course, 

 due allowance for the guesswork as to exact dates — approach 

 so closely to our Tarawera eruption of 1886 and the great 

 Wellingtovi earth - movement of 1853-54 that I think I am 

 justified in concluding that the whole line of activity to which 

 I am referring is in some manner influenced by the same 

 seismic phenomena. (It has been stated that when Mount 

 Hecla, in Iceland, is in eruption Vesuvius is quiescent, and 

 when Etna or Vesuvius is in eruption Hecla is quiescent; but 

 I only make the statement for what it is worth, as I cannot 

 vouch for it as fact.) 



According to Mr. Tarvis, Niu-afu is famous for three 

 things: (1.) Earthquakes. (2.) Growing the largest cocoanuts 

 in the Pacific. (8.) The marau-bird, which lays an egg quite 

 out of proportion to its size. This bird is about the size of a 

 pigeon, and yet lays an egg as large as that of a goose. The 

 egg hatches of itself in the sand, or if placed in a drawer or 

 box where there is a certain amount of heat. The bird is only 

 known in Niu-afu in the South Pacific. It appears to be 

 peculiar to volcanic islands, where the sand is loose. The 

 name of the island is spelt " Nine Foou," " Niua Foou," and 

 " Niu-afu." Mr. Tarvis very kindly gave me two of the 

 island's cocoanuts. I gave one to our Museum. 



As 1 have said, the date of these disturbances it is neces- 

 sary to remember — Tarawera, June, 1886; longitude 176° 25: 

 Niu-afu, August, 1886 ; longitude 175° 40' : and Falcon Is- 

 land (since October, 1885), 175° 20'. As I have also said, I 

 can only vouch for the first date, as the other two I am not 

 absolutely certain of. Within a few months we have evidence 

 of an enormous eruption along this one parallel of longitude, 

 the grandeur of which astonished all beholders. The dis- 

 tance from Niu-afu to Tarawera is close upon fifteen hundred 



