THE HOT LAKES DISTRICT, NEW ZEALAND. 



181 



awav to the west, but the air was not clear enough for us to see 

 it at the time. 



"We were skirtiiiij these mountains for a day and a half. The 

 Toads were very heavy indeed just then owing the late 

 rains : and in dry weather they are as unpleasantly dusty, or 

 powdery, for they are composed, as is all the soil of this 

 district, of nothing but pumice. Whilst waiting next day on 

 the shores of Lake Taupo, we filled our pockets with pieces of 

 piumice-stone, which are as plentiful as pebbles on the sea- 

 beach. The pumice is of a softer kind, however, than that 

 which we are accustomed to use for inky fingers, and powders 

 much more readily. 



We were now some o.OOO feet above sea level, having risen 

 from about ISO feet at Pipiriki. The Kangipo Plains, across 

 which we now steered our wav, are very deceptive, and take 

 longer to cross than probably appears at first siglit, as one 

 continually comes upon deep ravines formed by rivers and 

 streams, and which are not noticeable until quite nearly 

 approached, on account of the ground above and up to the very 

 edges of the gorges, being perfectly flat. 



Far away in the bush on our right dwell the Kiwi, which is 

 a brown-feathered fowl here, whereas the West Coast kiwi of 

 the South Island, is a grey bird. They are said to be fast 

 dying out. Wild horses also rove about in herds. I believe 

 their name is legion, though we only saw a few. They 

 originally escaped during, or were let loose after, the last Maori 

 war. We passed and crossed several rivei^ of very uncanny 

 propensities. In one place there are two rivers flowing side by 

 side, and rising from springs within only a few feet of each 

 other: one is a very strong alimi river, and the other is strongly 

 impregnated with sulphur, and they flow sometimes over, and 

 sometimes undergroimd. 



On reaching Tokaanu, on the southern shore of Lake Taupo, 

 we experienced the very cimous sensation of driving along for 

 the first time with boiKng and bubbling pools of water and 

 puddles of mud on either side of the road. I think we felt as 

 if we had suddenly been transplanted to another planet, where 

 Xature had gone awry, or, at least, where other laws, unknown 

 to us, prevailed. 



Xext morning we crossed Lake Taupo, the largest lake in the 

 Xorth Island, and about 25 by 18 miles across ; it is 500 feet 

 deep, and quite as beautiful in its own way as are the Cold 

 Lakes of the South Island. It is 1,211 feet above sea-level. 

 The low range of volcanic momitains in the distance is very 



