TKANSACTIONS OF SECTION C. 169 



slopes are seen to run to the north-east, and it is by way of the 

 north-east slope that the easiest ascent of the mountain can 

 be made. When viewing the mountain from the east, three 

 principal peaks can be distinguished — a northern, a western, 

 and a southern — named respectively Te Heuheu, Euapehu, 

 and Paraetetaitonga, and in the great snow-field between these 

 points the remnants of an old crater can be traced over the 

 snow. To the east of the mountain there is a tract of country 

 known as the Eangipo Desert, and this constitutes the water- 

 parting between the sources of the Waikato and Whangaehu 

 Eivers, one of which runs north and the other south. 



At the time when Hochstetter was at Tokaanu no one was 

 known to have visited Euapehu ; nor was it until more than 

 twenty years afterwards that a successful ascent was made to 

 the south peak by Messrs. Maxwell and Beetham. They made 

 no attempt to cross the ice-field, nor does it appear that they 

 saw anything of the boiling lake which is now known to be on 

 the top of the mountain. I have already pointed out that 

 Messrs. Cusseu and Park ascended the mountain as far as the 

 southern peak ; but only one party ever crossed the ice-field be- 

 fore last year, and that was in 1881, when Mr. and Mrs. Birch, 

 with Messrs. H. H. and H. E. Eussell, ascended the mountain 

 by way of the north-east spur, making for Te Heuheu Peak, 

 crossing the ice-field, and passing the crater-lake on its western 

 side. As far as I am aware this was the only time that the 

 mountain had been crossed from the northern to the southern 

 peak previous to 1890. 



In 1887, in company with Messrs. Petrie and Hamilton, I 

 followed the Whangaehu Eiver up to its sources far in the 

 mountain on the eastern side. x\t a height of 7,600ft. we had 

 stood in the centre of a great amphitheatre, the walls of which 

 were hundreds of feet in height. The eastern side had been 

 blown out, otherwise the crater was perfect ; and in the centre 

 was a tall mound of lava, which represented the neck of the 

 shaft through which the lava had risen. The waters of the 

 Whangaehu, as they emerged from the mountain-side, were 

 cold, and, though muddy and undrinkable, I concluded that 

 they must have come from the crater-lake, and that the pro- 

 babilities w^ere against the waters of the crater being warm. 



In the course of the year 1889 it was reported that steam had 

 been rising from Euapehu, and that there must have been an 

 explosion, as the snow in the vicinity of the crater was either 

 melted or covered over with some black substance. Further, 

 it was reported that the Whangaehu Eiver had suddenly risen 

 as much as 6ft. in the course of an hour, although no rain had 

 fallen. In consequence of these reports, I visited Euapehu 

 for the third time in March last, and, in company with 

 five others, ascended the mountain, crossed the ice-field, and 



