Wellington Philosophical Society. 387 
referred to the visit of Dr. Rolston and Lieut. Edwin, in 1868,* and the illus- 
tration by the Hon. J. C. Richmond, accompanying their paper on the subject; 
and said that there must have been a considerable change in the features 
of the lake since the visit of Dr. Hector, іп 1870,1 the water appearing 
to be at its lowest ebb, and, in the great geyser, but little of anything above 
the level of the sea. Much ground was traversed that in 1866, 1868, and 
1870, was covered with water. Care had to be exercised, as the ground was 
very rotten in places. Once the author sunk to the knee in lukewarm 
sulphurous water. From the great geyser rose huge volumes of smoke above 
the height of the surrounding hills, and, as every now and again a breath of 
wind drove the smoke on one side, there was seen, some 50 feet below, a 
seething mass of boiling water. Judging from the varying depth and extent 
of the lake, as seen at different times by Dr. Rolston, Lieut. Edwin, and 
Dr. Hector, the author thought that there might be some subterraneous 
communication between the lake and the sea. * There is a dismal, dreary look 
pervading the whole place. The grim, barren hills rising high up on all sides, 
with here and there a little jet of steam issuing from some crevice at different 
heights, even to the very summit of the hills ; and through the smoke little 
glimpses of the blue vault of heaven, the only refreshing relief from the dreary, 
dismal, awful hole of boiling sulphur below ; while far away to the back 
stretches a broken surface of yellow sulphurous substance, with jets rising 
here and there, the view again closed by the dreary, barren hills, for the 
landing place is not visible from the great geyser.” The author considers 
White Island one of the greatest curiosities of these shores, equal in wonder, 
though by no means in beauty, to the terraces of Rotomahana. 
Dr. Hector gave some interesting information respecting the formation of 
the island, and its geological features. 
2. The following letter, from Mr. Т. H. Cockburn Hood, F.G.S., respecting 
the caves in Otago where the skin, neck, and feathers of a Moa, and remains 
of other birds, had been found, was read by Dr. Hector :— 
«9nd January, 1874.—I had an opportunity lately of visiting the place 
where the man found the skin with the feathers of the Moa which you have 
in the Museum, and am quite convinced that it could not have lain there any 
great number of years—at all events in the spot where he got it. 
“The cavern, formed by the sliding down of a mass of rock, has two main 
entrances. It is about sixty feet deep to the lowest accessible floor, and there 
is a narrow fissure leading down to a lower chasm. 
“ After digging down about a foot, at the very lowest part, in the soft 
débris of animal matter, droppings, etc: (not particularly dry), I found numbers 
* Trans. N.Z. Inst., Vol. L, p. 57. + Trans. N.Z. Inst., Vol. III., p. 278. 
