68 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. VIII., No. 181 



of all such issues : while the reader may himself 

 be willing to work as a mere cog in the library 

 wheel, the cultured student prefers to make the 

 library merely an auxiliary in his own develop- 

 ment. 



NEW ZEALAND AND THE RECENT 

 ERUPTION. 



New Zealand forms one link of the great vol- 

 canic chain that girdles the Pacific Ocean, from 

 South Shetland and Cape Horn up through the 

 Andes, Mexico, British Columbia, and Alaska, 

 crossing into Asia through the Aleutian Islamls, 

 and stretching south through the Kurile Islands, 

 Japan, Ladrone Islands, Philippines, and West 

 Indies, to Mounts Erebus and Terror, in the an- 

 tarctic zone. The greatest volcanic energy is 

 found where this great girdle crosses the torrid 

 zone, — in the northern Andes, Central America, 

 and Mexico, to the east ; and in the Philippines 

 and West Indies, to the west. Here the great 

 stresses and pressures caused by the slow cooling 

 and contraction of the crust of the eai'th are per- 

 haps increased by others due to the centi'ifugal 

 force of its rapid rotation on its axis. New Zea- 

 land lies a thousand miles south-east of Australia, 

 in latitude 40° south, longitude 175° east, the 

 antipodes of Spain, and comprises two large 

 islands (North Island and South Island), with 

 numberless smaller ones around their shores, — 

 an area, in all, of about 100,000 square miles, or 

 nearly that of Great Britain and Ireland. 



The accompanying physical map of the islands 

 will indicate at a glance the general topographic 

 features. The centre of North Island is occupied 

 by lofty mountains, which send off spurs in 

 various directions to the coast, and are covered 

 with forests from their bases nearly to their sum- 

 mits. The north-western peninsula abounds in 

 fertile and well-watered valleys, and the main 

 body of the island is characterized by gently slop- 

 ing hilly ranges and low-lying tablelands, varied 

 here and there by volcanic peaks, and covered 

 with a luxuriant growth of timber. In the south 

 centre is a wild highland region, seldom visited 

 by travellers. 



South Island is very different. The snowy peaks 

 of the great southern Alps stretch along its west- 

 em side, from ten to thirteen thousand feet in 

 height, densely wooded to the snow-line. To the 

 west are vast snow-fields and glaciers ; and the 

 coast is deeply and sharply indented by bays and 

 fiords, which, with the numerous lakes of glacial 

 origin, remind one strongly of the coast of Nor- 

 way, although 30* nearer the equator. A low 

 range lies along the centre of the island, with 



spurs at right angles, and numerous ravines 

 through which the rivers break their way to the 

 south-east. Farther east are terraces and plains. 



North Island, the scene of the recent eruption, 

 is somewhat smaller than South Island, and is 

 about the size of Cuba, though stretching north 

 and south, instead of east and west. The lake 

 district, or region in the north-east centre of the 

 island, has been well called the wonderland of the 

 world, and for magnificent scenery and wonder- 

 ful development of geysers, fumaroles, and hot 

 springs, comes second only to our own Yellow- 

 stone park, if indeed it be not its peer. In the 

 volcanic district, stretching from Mount Egmont, 

 the western promontory, north-eastward through 

 the centre of the island to White Island in the 

 Bay of Plenty, there have been hitherto but two 

 active volcanoes, — Tongariro (6,500 feet), a peak 

 30 miles south of Lake Taupo ; and Wakari (860 

 feet), on White Island. The great snow-capped 

 dome of Ruapehu, just south of Tongariro, and 

 the highest point in the island (9,190 feet) ; Mount 

 Egmont (8,200 feet), and the great volcanic prom- 

 ontory on which it stands ; and hundreds of 

 other extinct craters and vast fields of lava, tufa, 

 and scoriae, — these all bear witness to the energy 

 of volcanic action in comparatively recent time. 

 And yet there has been no serious eruption till 

 now, within the memory of European settlers, 

 and even the Maori traditions give no account of 

 one. Earthquakes, however, ai'e not uncommon, 

 though seldom sufficiently severe to cause great 

 destruction, Cook Strait being regarded as the 

 centre of the region generally disturbed : 342 

 were recorded from 1869 to 1879, and 28 in 1882, 

 only one of which was at all severe, while ten 

 were described as ' smart,' and the other seven- 

 teen only slight tremors. The most severe shock 

 of which there is any record occurred the evening 

 of Jan. 23, 1855, and caused great destruction in 

 Wellington. Many fissures in the earth, land- 

 slides, and a great sea-wave were caused, and 

 minor shocks followed it at decreasing intervals 

 for about three months. There are many evidences 

 that a gradual elevation of the whole country is 

 going on ; as, for instance, rocks are now visible 

 in Cook Strait where there were none when the 

 country was first discovered. This indicates that 

 earthquakes or other disturbances are likely to 

 occur, and helps us to understand the late erup- 

 tion. 



Lake Taupo, the great lake in the centre of the 

 island, 1,250 feet above sea-level, 30 miles long, 

 and 20 broad, covering an area of 250 square 

 miles, occupies a depression caused by some gi-eat 

 eruption, and is surrounded by cliffs of lava a 

 thousand feet in height, with a little extinct crater 



