COLENSO. — On the Tongariro District. 489 



flow away in a train over the sea before the breeze." — {L.c, 

 pp. 418-420.) 



Mr. CoUie also took several photographic views of those 

 wonderful natural terraces at the boiling springs, Eotorua, in 

 the year 1874, fortunately before the destruction of their 

 marvellously beautiful symmetry by the great local earthquake 

 or eruption in 1886, and his observations thereon are somewhat 

 remarkable, especially his remark made while contemplating 

 them : " On what a slender thread the beauties of that moun- 

 tain-side hang !" — words since proved too true. And as his 

 whole brief statement thereon is contained in a few lines, I 

 quote them : — 



" Botomahana. — During the writer's stay at the Terraces 

 he was favoured with an exhibition of the subsidence of the 

 waters of Te Tarata into the caverns below ; and as the 

 Terraces on that occasion got dry it was noteworthy how 

 brittle the silicious surface became, showing upon what a 

 slender thread the beauties of that mountain-side hang ; for, 

 were the flow of the blue waters to stop — as stop it must 

 when the energies of the forces below exhaust themselves — 

 the glory as well as the cause of Eotomahana will disappear." 

 —(L.c, p. 419.) 



Furthermore, on again referring to Mr. Hill's paper I find 

 that he mentions very briefly the strange and peculiar high 

 volcanic plateau lying on the eastern side of those mountains. 

 I quote his words : — 



"The portion of the plateau running along the eastern 

 side of Kuapehu and Ngauruhoe is known as the Onetapu 

 (sacred sands) or Eangipo (cloudy sky)" [sic) " Desert, and it 

 well deserves either name. Some parts of it are swamp, and 

 exceedingly dangerous, whilst the portion not swamp is made 

 up of moving sands, scoria, cinders, clinkers, and tufas ; and, 

 although its traditional history is not reassuring, it is a spot 

 well worth the attention of geologists, for some very curious 

 and rare specimens of volcanic rocks are to be found in places 

 left bare by the ever-moving sands." — (Trans. N.Z. Inst., 

 vol. xxiv., p. 606.) 



Having myself had on two occasions, in 1847 and 1849 (in 

 performance of duty), to cross that desert (then little known), 

 and on the first time suffered nmch, and having also obtained 

 from that neighbourhood several new and curious plants, I 

 am desirous of telling you somewhat respecting that first 

 journey of mine, which, I think, may prove both new and in- 

 teresting ; and which, if placed on record, will serve to show 

 in days to come how the early traveller occasionally fared. 



I shall quote from my journal, prefacing, however, by stat- 

 ing that I was then on my w\ay from Ahuriri (now Napier) 

 towards finding some little-knowm Maoris, who were said to be 



