﻿Auaiversari/ Address. 9 



Hoclistetter, and by other writers raore competent than myself.* Let it 

 suffice on the present occasion to say that all the authorities agi'ee that the 

 solfataras, geysers, and fwmaroles alike owe their origin to water sinking 

 through natural fissures into the caverns of the earth, where it becomes 

 heated by ever-burning volcanic fires. High-pressure steam is thiis generated, 

 which, accompanied by volcanic gases, forces its way up towards the cooler 

 surface, and is there condensed into hot water. It has been further remarked 

 that even the legends of the Maoris correctly ascribe the origin of the hot 

 lakes and springs to the combined agency of fire and water, in connection 

 with the still active craters of Whakari and of Tongariro. The traditions of 

 the Arawas relate that among the chiefs who led their ancestors from Hawaikit 

 to New Zealand was N"gatiroirangi, whose name, being interpreted, signifies 

 " the messenger of Heaven." He landed at Maketu, whence he set forth 

 with his slave Ngauruhoe to explore the new found land. As they journeyed 

 onward they at length beheld, towards the South, the lofty snow-clad mountain 

 of Tongai'iro (literally " towards the south "). Climbing to the highest peak 

 to gain a wider view of the surrounding country, they were benumbed with 

 the cold, when the chief shouted to his sisters, who had remained upon 

 Whakari, to send him fii'e. The sisters heard his call, and sent him the 

 sacred fire brought from Hawaiki. It was borne in the hands of two 

 tanvwhas or water-spirits, dwelling in the caverns of the earth and ocean, 

 from Whakari, through a subterranean passage, to the top of Tongai'iro. The 

 fire arrived just in time to save the life of the chief, but the slave was already 

 dead. And so the crater of Tongariro is called, to this day, by the name of 

 Ngauruhoe ; and the sacred fire still blazes throughout the underground zone 

 along which it was carried by the taniwhas. It burns under the lakes of 

 Hotoiti, Rotoma, and Rotomahana — under the thoiisand hot springs which 

 burst forth between Whakari and Tongariro. Dr. Hochstetter (" ISTew 

 Zealand," chap. 18) remarks that "this legend affords a remarkable instance 

 of the accurate observation of the natives, who have thus indicated the true 

 line of the chief volcanic action in the North Island." 



II. THE SOUNDS ON THE SOUTH-WEST COAST OP THE MIDDLE ISLAND. 



I now proceed to give a short sketch of my visit during the months of 

 February and March, in the present year, to the magnificent, but hitherto 

 little known. Sounds on the south-west coast of the Middle Island, whither 

 Commodore Stirling conveyed me in H.M.S. 'Clio.' Dr. Hector accompanied 



* See also the graphic and accurate account of the Hot Lakes in "A Ride through 

 the Disturbed Districts of New Zealand, " by Lieutenant the Hon. H. Meade, R. N. , 

 London, 187L 



+ The Hawaiki of Maori annals was probably Hawaii in the Sandwich Islands, or 

 Savaii in the Navigators' Islands. 



B 



