706 E. S. MOORE 



Thomas, Sir James Hector, and S. P. Smith, while other descrip- 

 tions may be found in the works of Hutton, 1 Marshall, 2 and Park. 3 

 The special interest in this volcano lies in the great eruption of 

 1886, which produced results of much scientific, economic, and 

 humanistic importance. The opening of the yawning chasm 

 through the mountain, followed by the distribution of ashes over 

 thousands of square miles of country with the accompanying 

 destruction of life and property, is a matter of interest to every 

 traveler who approaches this region. 



Mount Tarawera was a small, nearly flat-topped mountain of 

 rhyolite about 3,600 feet high and approximately 2,500 feet above 

 Lake Tarawera lying at its base. There are on the mountain three 

 prominences, known as Wahanga, Ruawahia, and Tarawera, the 

 latter giving its name to the mountain as a whole. The structure 

 was that of almost horizontal beds of pumice and flows of rhyolite, 

 which had been poured out of some adjacent volcano or fissure, and 

 which made up part of the rhyolite plateau in the central portion 

 of North Island. Up to the time of the great explosion there was no 

 evidence of a crater in the mountain, but it is situated in the zone 

 of Assuring which runs from Ruapehu to White Island, and previous 

 to the eruption there were numerous hot springs and geysers in the 

 vicinity of the present Lake Rotomahana. It is close to Lake 

 Tarawera, which has every appearance of being an old crater modi- 

 fied by local subsidence. The walls are steep and the water near 

 the shore is deep in many places. The same condition exists in 

 Lake Taupo and it may be concluded that all the steep-walled 

 lakes in this region are of crater origin. The whole region lying 

 between Tarawera and Rotorua is perforated with craters, hot 

 springs, and geysers. 



THE ERUPTION OF l886 



During the night of June 10, 1886, violent rumblings were heard 

 and minor earthquakes experienced in the region surrounding the 

 mountain. These increased in violence until about 2 : 00 a.m., when 



1 F. W. Hutton, Report on the Tarawera Volcanic District, Wellington, 1887. 

 Also "The Eruption of Mount Tarawera," Quar. Jour. Geol. Soc, XLIII, 1887. 



2 Marshall, op. cit., p. 107. 3 Park, op. cit., p. 166. 



