394 NEW ZEALAND. 



were not thought to rise more than two thousand feet. The Rev. 

 Mr. Williams, missionary at Pahia, has crossed the island from Port 

 Nicholson to Taaranga, during which journey he passed a district 

 from which the snow was absent only four months in the year. This 

 region is in the neighbourhood of the high peak of Mount Egmont, 

 said, in the Sydney Almanac, but upon what authority is not stated, 

 to be fourteen thousand feet high. Mr. Williams described the route 

 as exhibiting volcanic phenomena on a large scale, among which 

 were quantities of pumice, extending entirely across the island, and 

 an extensive plain, which had sunk in one place, and disclosed a bed 

 of that substance, three or four hundred feet in thickness; he like- 

 wise spoke of geysers or jets of boiling water. 



The only volcano that was known to be in action, was one on a 

 small island in the Bay of Plenty, on the east coast. 



The embedded minerals in the rock about the bay are quartz, iron, 

 and iron pyrites. 



The hot spring of Taiaimi was visited, but it is described as rather 

 an emission of gas than of water. It is situated in a stnall basin, and 

 forms a lake of three or four acres in extent ; near the edge of this 

 lake, gas is constantly bubbling up, usually through the water, to 

 which it gives the appearance of boiling ; and gas also issues from the 

 surrounding land for an extent of several acres. The water was found 

 to be warm, but did not scald. The neighbouring ground was desti- 

 tute of vegetation, and appeared as if the surface of the earth had 

 been artificially removed. Sulphur was abundant, and there was 

 also a slight incrustation of alum. The water was strongly impreg- 

 nated with iron, was much discoloured, and in smell and taste not 

 unlike pyroligneous acid. A quantity of gas was brought away, but 

 the bottle met with an accident before it could be analyzed. It is not 

 inflammable, and had it been of a deleterious nature, the fact, (from 

 the quantities emitted,) could not fail to have been perceived. It had 

 no smell, and appeared not to differ from atmospheric air. The 

 natives attribute medical virtues to these waters. 



Twelve or fifteen miles to the westward of the Bay of Islands, near 

 Taiaimi, there are several small extinct craters, rising about five 

 hundred feet above the surrounding country. One of them is called 

 Poerua, and is remarkable for the regular figure of its cone when seen 

 from the eastward. Its western side is cut through by a deep gorge. 

 The interior is covered with large forest trees and huge blocks of 

 lava, while the exterior is clad in ferns of low growth. The diameter 



