Kirx.—On the Lake District of the North Island. 325 
Te Near. 
At the telegraph station, Te Ngae, formerly the residence of the Rev. Mr. 
Chapman, the false acacia, English elms, elder, hawthorn, poplar, apple, 
walnut, and other trees, have attained a large size, and are growing with the 
greatest luxuriance, clearly demonstrating the capabilities of the soil, notwith- 
standing the sterile appearance of its surface. Introduced grasses also flourish. 
The sweet-briar has escaped from the garden and become a complete pest; the 
old road by the telegraph line is so completely overgrown that it is difficult 
even for horses to thread their way through it. In some parts of the district 
it is spreading rapidly, the fruit being greedily eaten by horses ; the seeds are 
distributed far and wide. It is easy to foresee that this plant is destined in a 
few years to effect a considerable change in the scanty vegetation of the whole 
Taupo district, as similar instances of its diffusion, although in a lesser degree, 
are not uncommon. The shelter it affords is highly conducive to the growth 
of native and introduced grasses, which in many spots are destroyed by the 
scorching summer sun acting upon the pumiceous sand not yet decomposed 
into soil. Horses, moreover, are said to fatten upon the fruit, so that its 
spread will not be entirely prejudicial. 
ROTORUA. 
Rotorua is nearly circular in shape, its greatest diameter being under 
seven miles. The wonderful volcanic phenomena to which this lake owes its 
interest are confined to the southern extremity between Te Arikiroa Bay and 
the Pukeroa stream, and to the Island of Mokoia, which attains the height of 
400 feet, and is situated near the centre of the lake. On the south and west 
sides a low tolerably level plain extends one or two miles to the base of the 
hills, which attain their greatest altitude, 2,500 to 2,600 feet, at Whanga- 
pakau on the eastern, and Ngongotaha, an outlying spur of the Horohoro 
range, on the south-west ; on the north and north-west the country rises more 
gradually until it reaches the elevated forest-land separating the district from 
Tauranga and the coast. 
In spots where the scrub attains a luxuriant growth the numerous boiling 
springs and fumaroles are objects alike of interest and danger. The unwary 
explorer suddenly finds himself on the extreme verge of chasms with vertical 
sides from three to twelve feet in depth, which are constantly falling in from 
the action of steam ; at the bottom liquid mud in a violent state of ebullition 
presents a most repulsive appearance. In many mud-springs the contents are 
less fluid and are occasionally ejected with considerable force ; in others the 
contents appear to be about the consistency of putty, with the surface 
undisturbed, a bubbling sputtering noise is heard, and in a moment the centre 
of the mass rises in a somewhat domed shape until it breaks from the apex in 
