454 Transactions. — Geology. 



and flows south- by- west, meeting the Waikato River near the 

 place where the latter river takes its great north-west bend, 

 about nineteen or twenty miles below the place where the river 

 leaves the Taupo Lake. The Wai-o-tapu Valley presents direct 

 evidence of explosions and of great changes throughout its 

 entire length. The rifts, the crateral hollows, the boiling cal- 

 drons surrounded by terrace formations, and the numerous signs 

 of volcanic activity, present appearances that are very similar to 

 what are seen in the vicinity of Rotomahana and the line of the 

 great fissure. But for the ridge between the two volcanoes at 

 the head of the Wai-o-tapu Valley the great fissure would extend 

 from Tarawera Mountain right away into the Wai-o-tapu, which 

 is a part of the drainage-basin of the Waikato River, and in the 

 direct line of another great rift, to which reference will be made 

 in the sequel. 



Up to the present reference has been made as to the build 

 of the Taupo Plateau, the probable direction of the Waikato 

 River before Lake Taupo existed, and the causes that led to the 

 eruption at Tarawera in 1886, during which Rotomahana Lake 

 became a great crateral hollow and a line of fissure was made 

 extending for twelve miles. In the light of the facts that have 

 been made available as the outcome of the Tarawera eruption 

 it may be possible to obtain a clue as to the origin and history 

 of the Taupo Lake. 



Lake Taupo : Historical. 



The first European to visit Lake Taupo, as far as we have 

 any knowledge, was the Rev. Mr. Chapman, a church missionary, 

 who visited it three weeks before the arrival of Mr. Bidwell. 

 In his " Rambles in New Zealand," published in 1841 by W. S. 

 Orr and Co., Paternoster Row, Mr. Bidwell writes : " As I was 

 the second European who had ever seen Lake Taupo, my visit 

 having taken place three weeks after my predecessor (Mr. Chap- 

 man), it is very certain my account of it, imperfect as it will be, 

 must be the only one that has ever reached Europe, and may 

 therefore be considered valuable. Tawpo [Taupo] is one of the 

 most superb lakes in the world, not from its size, although that 

 is considerable, but from the extreme magnificence of the scenery 

 surrounding it. Mr. Chapman considers it to be thirty-five 

 miles long and twenty broad. I do not think it is thirty-five 

 miles, but the width is not overestimated at twenty. It is 

 situated in lat. 39° 35' S., east long. 175° (about). . .* . The 

 form of the lake is a sort of irregular triangle, with the two 

 most distant angles forming the north and south ends. The 

 most peculiar feature about Taupo is the immense height of the 

 surrounding cliffs ; they are always perpendicular, although in 



