FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION 307 
that this sediment plus that which fell into Lake Tarawera raised 
its surface permanently forty-two feet at the same time adding 
much to its area by overflow of the bordering low lands. Appar- 
ently all life in the lake was killed, but it is now abundantly 
stocked with trout. 
Professor Park, mentioned above, and who was our genial host 
at Dunedin, has written most interestingly about the great erup- 
tion of the latter stages of which he was an eye witness. Liberty 
is taken of quoting a few passages. 
‘<The premonitory signs of the coming disaster consisted of subterranean 
rumblings and earth tremors lasting several hours; but whether these were 
of such a nature as to cause anxiety or alarm to those living near Rotoma- 
hana and Tarawera is unknown, since all the native villages within a radius 
of four miles were destroyed, not a soul escaping. It is, however, certain 
from the evidence of the survivors at Te Wairoa, situated on the west side 
of Lake Tarawera, that the titanic outburst which split Mount Tarawera in 
twain from end to end and opened the yawning fissure that stretched south- 
ward for miles over the low plateau near Rotomahana, took place with »p- 
palling suddenness. For a space of four hours, the craters situated on the 
line of the newly formed rent poured out piles of ash that overwhelmed 
the whole country, which, as far as the eye could reach, was converted into 
a weird gray-draped smoking desert. 
‘After this, the violence abated; and at the time of the author’s visits 
2 SR eee the vents on Mount Tarawera, at Rotomahana, Black Crater, and 
Echo Crater were centers of great activity, from which clouds of andesite 
boulders were projected high into the air, some being shot over the erater- 
rim, where they were piled up into confused masses, others, and apparently 
the majority, falling back into the throats of the vents, where they were 
churned up by the escaping steam until again tossed out. The steam issued 
from the vents with a terrific continuous roar; and the descending blocks of 
rock struck the ascending masses with shattering violence, the united effect 
being stupefying and overpowering. At short intervals that rarely exceeded 
twelve minutes, there took place, heavy underground bumps—such as might 
be caused by subterranean explosions. These were instantly followed by 
short, sharp earthquakes of such violence that it was, after a time, deemed 
advisable to withdraw to the vicinity of Black Crater........... ; 
‘‘The effect produced on those witnessing this grand display of plutonic 
force at short range was diverse. At first some became hysterical, but in 
time all relapsed into a subdued mood of indifference followed by a stupefy- 
ing languor. It is not improbable that the stupor was caused by the pres- 
ence of carbon monoxide in the gaseous emanations of the craters’? ......-- 
(James Park, The Geology of New Zealand, 1910). 
Our Maori guide, Patiti, who has lived in the region all his 
life, was a young man at the time of the eruption. He is an in- 
telligent, unassuming gentleman. His English name is Warbrick. 
His home is on the shore of Lake Tarawera opposite the now 
sleeping mountain. He showed us the site of several of the over- 
whelmed villages, in one of which he lived in 1886. Fortunately 
he was acting as guide to some hunters, and at the time of the 
eruption they were camped in a slab hut a few miles away but in 
