92 SPORT AND TRAVEL 



steam and water with which one usually associates 

 the name. 



When in 1886 the appalling eruption of Mount 

 Tarawera altered the face of the whole country, 

 leaving in its path widespread loss of human life, 

 destruction of villages and of millions of acres of 

 cultivated fields, New Zealanders did not realize 

 what a mighty landmark had been given them as 

 compensation. They could only bemoan the loss 

 of their famous Pink Terraces, which Tarawera had 

 so ruthlessly torn from them, and they could not 

 foresee the monument which was then set in course 

 of construction to commemorate that terrible June 

 night. For Waimungu, though it was undoubtedly 

 formed by that great upheaval, did not at once 

 make known its birth. For fourteen years it lay 

 quiescent slowly gathering power for the day on 

 which it would first leap into action and proclaim 

 its sovereignty. Suddenly, in 1900, the outburst 

 came. The quiet pool which lies within its cra- 

 ter was stirred, steam rose from its surface, and 

 with no further warning, the very bowels of the 

 earth, as it seemed, were hurled through it into the 

 air in one tremendous explosion. Two men pro- 

 specting for ore in that uninhabited region saw 

 the eruption and brought back the news: Wai- 

 mungu had broken loose; New Zealanders hence- 



