HiLTi. — Napier to BunaiKjd and the Tnvpn VJatKiu. 295 



"reason is that a sudden uplift took place of the country to the east and 

 north-oast of the plateau, which affected the entire area extending as far 

 as Kotorua. 



In riding over the district one is impressed with the fact that the surface- 

 features suggest changes of comparatively recent date. Bidwill, in 1839, 

 when travelling between Tauranga and Taupo, refers to traces of dead 

 and burnt timber over a large extent of country. At that time no manuka 

 {Lcptospcrmum scoparium) was to be found between the Rangitaiki and 

 Lake Taupo, and, in fact, there was no manuka between Tauhara Mountain 

 and the lake so recently as 1869. Around the base of Tauhara, on the 

 northern slopes, and reaching for several miles, are scores of charred totara- 

 trunks that must have been of enormous size. No Native has any know- 

 ledge of the area being covered with forest, but the logs remain to show 

 that at some former time the country was bush-clad, and extended appa- 

 rently in the direction of the Opepe Bush. Even at the present time the 

 Taupo Plain is only just beginning to have the semblance of a cap of vege- 

 tation. 



The entire country has been subject to many disastrous explosions and 

 earthquakes, so that the physical changes have been of frequent occurrence. 

 Some of the old craters are possibly overwhelmed along the line where old 

 •crateral walls can be traced along the ridge that now separates the Waikato 

 and the Rangitaiki drainage-areas. As already remarked, the growth of 

 manuka on the plateau only began in the "seventies." Tamati te Kurupae, 

 the present leading chief at Ta^^po, recollects well when the manuka first ap- 

 peared, and so rapidly did it spread that it drove many Natives from their 

 settlements, as they were unable to grow crops as heretofore. Neither 

 Bidwill nor any other writer that I can discover makes reference to the 

 Leptospermum as growing freely, and which is now so abundant in the 

 district. This seems to me to imply that the surface of the plateau is com- 

 paratively new, and the limited vegetation seems to support this view. A 

 pumiceous surface such as the Taupo Plateau would take a long time to 

 become the abode of even the lowest forms of vegetation, except within the 

 area of the swamps. 



The legends of the Natives are most suggestive in connection with the 

 surface-changes on the plains, implying differential movements that altered 

 the flows of the rivers, a)id even caused jealousies to spring up between 

 them. A long time ago, so runs the legend as told to me by Tamati te 

 Kurupae, the leading Taupo chief to-day, a serious quarrel arose between 

 Waikato and Rangitaiki as to which had the greater mana. Rangitaiki 

 urged that he was the greater and more important among the rivers, but 

 Waikato replied, " No ; I am chief ; but if you think yourself stronger 

 and better let us put the matter to the test by seeing which of us will first 

 reach the ocean." Rangitaiki derided the words of Waikato, and many 

 angry scenes were witnessed, but at last it was decided to put the matter 

 to the test. The race began. Rangitaiki started from the swamps, and 

 Waikato from Lake Taupo. Soon the latter river reached the Aratiatia 

 Rapids, but becoming anxious about the Rangitaiki, his rival, he asked 

 Puato (a small stream entering the Waikato on the right bank) if he had 

 seen Rangitaiki. Puato replied that Rangitaiki was moving rapidly towards 

 Waikato, hoping to destroy him. Waikato made strenuous effort to move 

 away from his rival. At Orakeikorako Waikato sent Tori-patutahi (another 

 stream entering the river on the right bank) to go and see what had become 

 of Rangitaiki. Tori-patutahi returned in haste and said that Rangitaiki 



