Hill. — Taupo Plateau and Lake. 455 



some instances rising in terraces one behind the other and varying 

 from 500 ft. to 1,000 ft. high in several parts of the lake, par- 

 ticularly north-north-west and north-east sides. These rise per- 

 pendicularly from the water to such a height that I never saw 

 their tops through the clouds for above five minutes together 

 during the whole eight days I was on the lake. . . . There 

 are but few places where a canoe can land, and at these the 

 beaches are short and narrow : they are covered with black sand, 

 and always indicate the entrance of a small stream of water. 

 . . . At the north end of the lake is a very peculiar mountain 

 (Tauhara), with an outline as regular as if it had been the work 

 of art. . . . The cliffs around the greater part of the lake 

 are of a dark-greenish colour, tinged sometimes with red, and are 

 basaltic. . . . The River Waikato runs into Taupo at the 

 south-south-east end, and makes its exit at the north. At the 

 place where it enters it is a small sluggish river about 25 yd. 

 wide and from 2 ft. to 4 ft. deep. ... On one side of the 

 river, about two miles distant, is situated the great pa of Taupo, 

 and on the east side, at about one mile from the river, is a small 

 pa called Coteropo [Ko te Rapa ?], where I was encamped. 

 There are several other pas on the west side of the lake, and 

 three in the east, but not large ones. It is, however, decidedly 

 the most populous place I have seen or heard of in the Island. 

 I should think the population in the pas on the lake could not 

 be less than five thousand." 



Mr. Bidwell visited Taupo in March and April, 1839. On 

 the 30th December of the same year the Rev. H. Williams, a 

 Church missionary from the Bay of Islands, reached Tokaanu by 

 way of the Wanganui River. His account is very bright, and is 

 contained in the Church Missionary Society Record of January, 

 1842. He says, "We continued our march till 4, when we 

 arrived at a settlement on Lake Taupo — a magnificent sheet of 

 water about thirty miles in length, with very fine bays." 



This account of a first visit to Lake Taupo is in marked 

 contrast with that of the Rev. James Buller, who visited Taupo 

 early in the year 1840. The following account is taken from 

 the " Annual Report of the Wesleyan-Methodist " for the year 

 ending April, 1841 : " Taupo is a magnificent lake, covering a 

 surface of at least three hundred miles. It is evidently the 

 effect of a violent volcanic eruption at some remote period. Its 

 neighbourhood abounds with hot springs and boiling pools, and 

 the stupendous mountain Tongariro is still in action, sending 

 forth its smoky volumes. The country in this part is very 

 mountainous. Adjacent to Tongariro is the snowy mountain 

 Ruapaka or Paretataitonga [Ruapehu], whose crested summit, 

 rising into the clouds, is discernible from the sea on either 



