10 Transactions.— Miscellaneous. 
My next visit was to the celebrated Rotomahana, and I may say that 
there is considerable advantage in following the same sequence which I did, 
inasmuch as the phenomena to be observed ascend in the scale of magni- 
tude. The road from Ohinemutu to Wairoa, at the head of Lake Tarawera, 
passes over hills composed chiefly of pumice sands, and skirts the shores of 
Lakes Tikitapu and Rotokakahi. The former has no visible outlet, but was 
supposed by Dr. Hochstetter to have an underground communication with 
thelatter. I am disposed to differ with this opinion, and to look upon 
Tikitapu as a mere pot-hole, because its waters are considerably higher in 
level than those of Rotokakahi. The area of hills which drain into it is not 
large, and although the water appears to accumulate in it during the rainy 
season, the evaporation of summer is sufficient to keep it at a certain 
average height. Rotokakahi is a very pretty lake, but lies exposed to the 
north-west wind, which blows along it with great violence. The waters of 
this lake flow into those of Tarawera, about two miles and a half from it, 
passing on their way through a small tract of level ground at the head of 
the latter, upon which the Maori settlement of Wairoa stands. Close to 
this settlement and overlooking the beautiful lake is Te Temu, formerly the 
residence of the Rev. Mr. Spencer, but now passing rapidly into decay. 
The Maoris of Wairoa furnish the canoes by which visitors, who travel 
thither by water, reach the Rotomahana, and I found the crew of the canoe 
which I hired on the occasion, to be civil and obliging. Lake Tarawera is, 
in my opinion, one of the most beautiful in the colony. The descent from 
the flat at Wairoa to the lake is by a somewhat steep path, but at every 
turn it opens out views of great beauty and grandeur. Its shores, except 
at spots where small streams enter it, are generally precipitous, and covered 
with luxuriant masses of the Pohutukawa and other evergreen trees and 
shrubs, the former of which, when in full bloom, must give an aspect of 
extreme loveliness to the scene. The route to the Rotomahana leads up an 
arm of the lake stretching to the northward of the main waters, the 
splendid mass of the Tarawera mountain, which lies on the left of the route, 
giving a wonderful charm to the scene. Immediately after rounding the 
point at which the turn into this arm is taken, each person in the canoe is 
expected to place upon a large boulder outside the edge of the water, some 
fragment of fern or other article, as a votive offering to a Taniwha, said to 
inhabit the rugged wood-covered slopes above it. This custom was duly 
observed by us, aud under the vigorous paddling of eight Maoris we soon 
reached the entrance to the small stream which runs from the Rotomahana. 
Here our passage was, at first, barred, but after some parley the barrier 
was removed, and the canoe was suffered to pass up the stream. I walked 
from this point to the outlet of the lake, in order to enjoy the fine view of 
