314 EEPOET UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SUEVEY. 



As to the age of the springs and geysers there are, as far as can be 

 learned, no traditions among the natives. The volcanoes have not been 

 active within the range of their traditions, and they are probably of Ter- 

 tiary age, although not yet quite dormant. Light earthquakes are fre- 

 quent in the region near Tongariro. JSTgauruhue, a crater 6,500 feet high, 

 close to Tongariro, is at present a solfatara, and on the west slope of 

 Tongariro, 1,800 feet above Eotoahira, is a geyser which is said to be 

 active only during the time western winds prevail. I will now give 

 brief descriptions of the various localities, premising that the catalogue 

 following the description will give additional data as to temperatures, 

 number of springs, &c. 



LAKE TAUPO AEEA. 



Lake Taupo, as we have mentioned above, is 25 miles long and 20 

 miles wide in the widest part. Its water is transparent and of a bright 

 green tint. The main road from Napier to Auckland, over which coaches 

 are run, passes one of the northern bays of the lake, so that access to 

 the springs is not difficult. The latter are found both at the north and 

 south ends of the lake. For a whole mile at the former the water steams 

 along the shore. Near Taux)o (or Tapuaeharuru on some maps), a town 

 or township at this end of the lake, the government controls a number 

 of active sj) rings and baching pools; and some provision has been made 

 for the comfort of visitors, both by the government and by private par- 

 ties. The springs near Taupo, or Tapuaeharuru, may be divided into 

 four groups: 1st. Two miles from Tapuaeharuru the Crow's Nest and 

 MacMurray's Bath" are the important springs. 2d. One-half mile east 

 of the Waikato Eiver, where artificial baths have been erected. 3d. 

 A mile and a half from the town along the east shore of the lake and 

 back from the lake. 4th. Otumheka Valley. The springs are boiling 

 and at all temperatures below the boiling point, and there are solfataras 

 and fumaroles of all sizes, sulphur and silica being the principal depos- 

 its. The principal spring here is the Crow's Nest, which spouts 10 to 

 15 feet occasionally. At the south end of the lake the northern slopes 

 of Kakaramea Mountain are full of steam holes, called by the natives 

 lii])aoa — the chimneys. Some of the springs here are chalybeate. To- 

 kanu, or Tokaano, a native village, with numerous springs or puias, is 

 also at this end of the lake. About 30 miles south of Lake Taupo, at 

 the head of the Waikato Eiver, in the Onetapu desert, there is a spring 

 (one of many) issuing from the base of Ruapehu. This might be called 

 the Tongariro district. 



About 10 miles northeast of Taupo is Eotokawa, the springs of which 

 are described by Josiah Martin* as follows: 



Eotokawa is a small acid lake iu this district [Tauxio district] which is approached 

 with extreme caution because of the treacherous nature of the deposits of tufa, obsid- 

 ian, and pumice, which are broken through by so many hissing jets that, as the soil 

 reverberates to our tread, and the guide repeats his warnings, we confess to a feeling 

 of insecurity, laainfully enforced by various reports of unwary wanderers who have 

 fallen through. The ground is insufferably hot to the touch, and here and there we 

 discover yawning chasms of black, seething mud, from which the vapors of sulphureted 

 hydrogen, mingled with the fumes of sulph\irous acid, greatly offend our senses, and 

 painfully remind one of the visionary Gehenna and of its traditional terrors. 



EOTOMAHANA AEEA. 



Eotomahana, or Warm Lake, is about 35 miles northeast of Lake 

 Taupo, and is the localit^^ of the famous Te Tarata. The water of the 



*The Geysers, Hot Springs, and Ten-aces of New Zealand, Popular Science Eeview, 

 Loudon, No. 12, \}. 3o9. 



