308 IOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY 
full view of the mountain. His story of the event is here given, 
much as it was taken down while we were crossing Lake Rotoma- 
hana in his fine launch. 
““We were awakened about 2 A. M. by a tremendous roaring 
noise. Outside was a weird light from the reflection of the steam 
cloud lighted up by the hot rocks in the eleft. The cloud looked 
like a pillar of steam. The roaring and rumbling became cease- 
less. The earth swayed and vibrated, while the most vivid and 
unearthly lightning flashes lighted up the great pillar and bellows 
of incessant thunder of deafening power mingled with the mount- 
ain explosions. Ashes began to fall and now and then a heavier 
thud on the roof could be heard above the din. But it was most- 
ly a quiet shower due to the grander and more terrific display a 
few miles away. Breathing gradually became difficult due to the 
dust and gases. It was necessary to keep hold of something to 
be able to stand; death seemed imminent. We four lived in the 
hut on some seanty provisions for three days, finally escaping 
through the roof. Eleven feet of ashes had fallen and only the 
incessant rain during the first thirty-one hours which had packed 
the ash, made it possible to get away.’’ 
THE WAIMANGU AND TAUPO BASINS 
At the west end of Lake Rotomahana is a valley leading up to 
the famous Waimangu Basin. Its entire course for about a mile 
is a succession of fumaroles, hot: springs, and ‘‘dry-mouthed’’ 
geysers. The fumaroles emit a variety of gases, some of them 
dangerously hot. Such local names as Paddlewheel geyser, Devil’s 
Kitchen, the Inferno, and similar designations indicate the char- 
acter of the place. In the midst of this thermal aggregation, there 
broke out in 1900 a world famous giant geyser called Waimangu. 
It played more or less intermittently until in 1908, sending at in- 
tervals an enormous column of water and mud to a height of fully 
1200 feet. From the floor of the mud pool, it erupted first at one 
end and then at the other generally straight up into the air but 
at times obliquely and at any angle; at such eruptions it plastered 
the hillsides with mud, sand, and even boulders. This made close 
approach dangerous. The hills in the vicinity are still gray and 
but little covered with vegetation due to these strange bombard- 
ments and others to be mentioned later. Rain has carved the hill 
slopes into an elaborate network of gullies extending from top to 
bottom. 
