TEANSACTIONS OF SECTION C. 165 



Ngauruhoe. 



The second cone of the chain is Ngaurulioe, an active 

 volcano from which great clouds of steam are continually 

 rising. It is a mountain-cone of perfect shape, with the por- 

 tion towards the summit broken off somewhat irregularly. 

 Its longest slope is towards the south, and its shortest towards 

 the north, where a lava-flow joins it to the cone already 

 referred to. The sides slope at an angle of about 40°, but 

 towards the top the slope is greatly increased, and, except in 

 certain places, it would be difficult if not impossible to climb 

 the lip of the crater. Each time that I have ascended the 

 mountain it has been from the west side by way of the Manga- 

 te-popo Stream, the most important tributary of the Wanga- 

 nui. The valley of the Manga-te-popo is an interesting one 

 from the fact that it is quite filled with lava-flows, one of 

 which is so recent that its black, jagged, and shining surface 

 gives it the appearance of having lately cooled. The material 

 is a heavy black lava, with here and there a feldspar crystal 

 scattered through its mass. Directly at the base of the Ngau- 

 ruhoe cone, on the west side, the Manga-te-popo Stream takes 

 its rise in a fine bubbling spring of soda-water, which will no 

 doubt become of commercial value in years to come. This 

 spring at the foot of the cone is 5,260ft. above sea-level, and 

 near by the lava-flow at the head of the valley is seen to great 

 advantage. In the course of its progress, the lava, when near- 

 ing the base of the cone, divided into two streams, one flowing 

 towards a precipice about 60ft. in height. The lava appears to 

 have cooled on the very edge of the precipice, presenting some 

 very curious and interesting forms. 



The cone, which is mostly of cinder and ash, is very diffi- 

 cult to climb ; but the top was reached in 2 hours 25 minutes 

 when first ascended by me in March, 1887, and in 2 hours 

 50 minutes in March last year. x\t the top the aneroid marked 

 7,655ft., and the pressure of the atmosphere 23-3in. Thus the 

 height of the cone, as measured from the soda-water spring on 

 the west side, is 2,395ft. Hochstetter estimated the height of the 

 cone at 1,600ft., and the slope at from 30° to 35°; but Hoch- 

 stetter could only see the height of the cone from the saddle 

 between Ngauruhoe and the northern cone, the lower portion 

 being hidden by another range of mountains. The top of the 

 mouiitain is very circular, but of irregular height. It is much 

 higher on the eastern than on the western side. The great 

 basinlike hollow at the top is divided into two separate and 

 quite distinct craters, which, for convenience, it will be well to 

 term the major and the minor craters. The lip of the crater is 

 lowest on the north-north-w^est, from which place it is possible 

 to go inside the major crater for some distance under the 



