436 AUSTRALASIA. 



sapphire tints of the upper basin to the turquoise Ime lower down and a slightly 

 azure shade at its entrance into the lake. At jDresent these " white " and " pink 

 terraces " are shrouded beneath a heap of scoriae. But the hidden foices are 

 coming to the svirface at other points, and if vulgar speculators are prevented from 

 manipulating the mineral springs and converting them into " rarey shows " with 

 charges for admittance, the phenomena of this volcanic region will always 

 continue to rank amongst the most remarkable spectacles of JN^ature's laboratory. 



The Awa o te Atua, or " River of the Gods," as the lacustrine emissary is 

 called, flows at first north-eastwards, and then, after sweeping round the extinct 

 Putauaki volcano, unites with the Rangitaiki, the chief watercourse of this slope, 

 which falls into the Bay of Plenty. But the volcanic region is still continued 

 bevond the mainland, and in the middle of the bay rises the cone of "Whakari, or 

 White Island, which although only 850 feet high, at times ejects sulphurous vapours 

 over vast spaces. The crater, which tilts a little to one side, is one and a-half mile 

 in circumference, and the interior is completely filled with fumeroles, solfataras, 

 jets of vapour and hot springs. Whakari may be regarded as the northern 

 extremity of the volcanic axis, of which the south-west end is occupied by the 

 superb Piiapehu volcano. According to a Maori legend the Whakari crater is 

 connected with that of Tongariro by an underground passage, and it was through 

 this passage that the messengers of the gods brought the sacred fire to the central 

 volcano of North Island. 



New Zealand has no other still active volcanoes ; but some of those now extinct 

 are of imposing grandeur. Taranaki (Mount Egmont), which fills a whole penin- 

 sula at the south-west angle of North Island, was formerly an island, whose base 

 became gradually attached to the mainland by the accumulating deposits of scoriae. 

 Its supreme crest, nearly 8,300 feet high, is overtopped in the northern island by 

 Ruapehu alone. Other cones, some exceeding 3,000 feet, are disposed in chains to 

 the north-west of Lake Taupo, and Perongia (3,150 feet), rising on the south side 

 of the Waikato estuary, has discharged westwards vast lava-streams, which have 

 formed long headlands enclosing 'deep marine inlets. 



In the Auckland Peninsula, which projects far seawards in a north-westerly 

 direction, the volcanoes are low, but very numerous, being counted by the dozen 

 at the narrowest part of the peninsula. Some rise 300 or 400 feet above the sea, 

 while others are flush with the surface, forming perfectly regular little havens along 

 the coast. Off Auckland on the east coast the oval-shaped Rangitoto, that is, 

 " Blood-red Sky," seems from a distance to close the entrance to the harbour. 

 Farther north the long peninsular horn of North Island is indented by numerous 

 shallow inlets, which appear to be the remains of half-obliterated fiords. Such is 

 the Bay of Islands on the east coast, w^hich is studded with islands and islets of 

 pyramidal form ; one, however, which with its truncated cone and eroded argil- 

 laceous cliffs resembles a huge " sou'wester " floating on the surface, has accord- 

 ingly been named the " Old Hat." On the shores of the Bay of Islands occur some 

 thermal and sulphurous springs. 



Earthquakes are frequent in every part of New Zealand, and in many places 



