294 T rail sad ion ><. 



earthquake caused tlie Huka Falls and the attendant depression, the silica- 

 cemented pumice in the vicinity being sheared as with a knife. 



Lake Taupo at one period of its history was much larger thaii it is at 

 present. The terraces on the west and east, the surface-characters of the 

 slopes in the vicinity of the lake, and the various valleys that run for long 

 distances towards the east at a gentl<; slope all suggest an area once covered 

 with water. At the northern and southern ends of the lake hot springs 

 and many other evidences of volcanic phenomena occur, and these extend 

 miderneath the waters of the lake from a good distance from the shore. 

 Hot springs, fumaroles, &c., are equally abundant 600 ft. or more up the 

 hills towards Tauhara Mountain at the northern end, and even higher at 

 the southern end, where at Waihi only a few weeks ago a hillside from the 

 fumarole-area broke away and slid into the lake. 



The activities of Rotomahana and its vicinity such as have been mani- 

 fested since the eruption, particularly to the southward, correspond in a 

 remarkable manner to what took place to the north of Taupo following the 

 eruption there. In pursuing one's inquiries into this interesting subject 

 one is struck with the fact that the surface-features of the country must 

 have been modified as much by earthquakes as by volcanic agencies ; but 

 the key to the true interpretation of all the phenomena to be met with 

 at Waiotapu, Rotokawa, Wairakei, Taupo North and South, and Te Mari 

 is to be fomid in the study of the phenomena connected with the Tarawera 

 eruption and the subsequent events that have taken place in the district. 

 Fig. 2 shows merely the present size and boundaries of Lake Taupo, with 

 such information as I have been able to gather during my frequent visits 

 to the district. 



Earthquakes have caused marked changes in the vicinity of Taupo. 

 Cussen reports that on the 28th August, 1883, a schooner was lying at 

 the small wharf where the Waikato leaves the lake, when a sudden fall of 

 2 ft. took place. In about twenty minutes the river rose again to its former 

 level. Mr. Enoch Hallet, who was present at the time, informed me that 

 between 1 and 2 o'clock the same afternoon, as the river fell, two members 

 of the Constabulary stationed in the township — namely. Major Smith and 

 Sergeant Miles — were bathing in a warm spring called Waiarika, situated 

 on the bank of the Waikato River, about a mile from the lake. Next the- 

 river the bath was fenced about with stones, and it stood about 2 ft. above- 

 the level of the water. Suddenly the bath became cold, and the bathers 

 were astonished to find that the river had risoi to a level with the bath. 

 It remained in this state for about five minutes, and then suddenly returned 

 to its former position. 



In August, 1895, a very severe earthquake took place in East Taupo, 

 and the public road in places was entirely destroyed. The pumice cliffs 

 were much altered, and the isolated hill known as Manguaume, about 

 three miles to the eastward of the lake, was split in parallel lines that ran 

 north-east and south-west. Around the lake, but more particularly towards 

 the east and north-east, are long deep valleys, consisting of main valleys and 

 branching ones. It is difficult to account for the formation of these, unless- 

 we suppose that the lake was much higher and, of course, larger than it 

 now is. The Rev. Mr. Fletcher, of Taupo, suggests that a subsidence of a 

 large area in the lake took place, or that the wearing-away of a barrier in 

 the river caused the deep, regularly cut valleys. But the same kind of 

 valley is common over the greater portion of the Taupo Plateau, and some 

 of the valleys slope in the direction of the Bay of Plenty. The jnore likely 



