390 NATIVE VILLAGE. [PART II. 



is clear and nearly tasteless, and its temperature is 

 above the boiling-point. The pa, which is the 

 finest I have seen in New Zealand, occupies a large 

 surface, which is actually intersected by crevices 

 from which steam issues, by boiling springs, and by 

 mud volcanoes. It requires great care even for the 

 native to wind his way through this intricate and 

 dangerous labyrinth. Accidents are very common, 

 as the thickness and solidity of the insecure crust 

 upon which the pa is built are continually changing, 

 and the ground sometimes suddenly gives way at a 

 place where shortly before it appeared to be perfectly 

 firm. At one time a part of the village close to the 

 edge of the lake subsided several feet, and the water 

 took its place. The palisades are still visible, and 

 standing upright under water. In some places only 

 a narrow path leads through a field of boiling mud ; 

 and in the neighbourhood of the pa are a great 

 many of those curious mud-cones which I have 

 already described. Some of them were ten feet in 

 height. 



The structures in this pa the houses, doors, and 

 palisades displayed the most ingenious pieces of 

 native workmanship. I have nowhere else seen 

 carvings in such profusion, and some of them were 

 apparently very old. Many of the figures are repre- 

 sentations of the progenitors of the tribe, and the 

 collection of figures in and around each house may 

 be considered as serving as the genealogical tree of 

 its owner. Each of the representations of the human 



