12 Transactions. —Miscellaneous, 
probably to the geyser being shut in between the hill and thickets of high 
manuka, which almost surround it. Its position, combined with its con- 
stant and tremendous state of ebullition, creates a feeling of awe, which is 
not raised by a contemplation of the Tarata, but which becomes intense 
when the seething waters now at one point of the basin, and now at 
another, are projected, with a roar, into the air, creating large waves on 
the surface, which lash the incrusted margin. 
Further to the north, and within ten feet ofthe lake margin, above which 
it does not lie more than a foot, is the Takapo geyser, an incrusted basin 
some ten feet across. Near this the natives have erected a commodious 
open bath, the degree of warmth being regulated by shutting off or turning 
on the waters of the basin. Upon a small tract of flat ground close to this 
geyser they have also established an extensive drying place for the berries 
of the tawa and the karaka, consisting of tubular masses of sinter laid over 
steam holes, which keep the stones at a considerable degree of warmth. At 
this point I pitched my camp, though I found it impossible to obtain a 
space ten feet by eight entirely free from steaming crevices. Still further 
to the north lies the geyser named the Ruakiwi, long held tapu or sacred, 
in consequence of a Maori woman having thrown her newly-born infant 
into the terrible cauldron. This basin lies about 80 feet above the surface 
of the lake at the head of a little inlet, and the stony deposit, which is 
peculiarly streaked with reddish and yellow colors—wanting, however, in 
the elegance and beauty of the Tarata—extends down to and below the sur- 
face of the lake. Above Takapo, at the height of about 80 feet from the 
surface of the lake is a small valley named the Roto Kanepanapana, from 
the rugged sides of which steam ascends in all directions, whilst the latter 
contains a level tract occupied by large numbers of steaming fissures, 
clear boiling springs, cauldrons of seething mud, and mud cones, which 
similate in their action the play of fire volcanoes. Singularly enough, each of . 
these emits its own peculiar sound, the whole combining to form a discord- 
ant noise, similar to that which is heard in a huge iron foundry, when the 
works are in full blast. 
Further to the northward is the deserted settlement of Ngawhana, the 
abandoned huts lying clustered round a spring of the same name, the 
waters of which were formerly conducted, as at Takapo, into well-con- 
structed baths. Near this are several remarkable geysers, but the only 
one which deserves special mention is the Whatapoho, a terrible pit, from 
which hot steam and sulphurous gases are constantly emitted with a 
peculiarly horrid sound. 
It is impossible, nor would it be interesting, to describe all the wonders 
to be seen in the hills on the eastern side of the lake, which may be said to 
