THE HOT LAKES DISTKICT, NEW ZEALAND. 



133 



beautifully wooded and wild, and luxuriant in fern and moss. 

 The valley lies north-west by west, and south-east by east, and 

 has the hot stream Te Wairakei running through it and tinally 

 emptying itself into the Waikato river. Of course this stream 

 is fed by numerous hot springs all along its course, as well as 

 by the outpourings of at least seventeen geysers in the valley. 



Under our first heading of " hot springs " I must mention the 

 numerous pools of various sorts that we here saw, whose 

 colour, consistency, etc., are due, of course, to the chemical, or 

 mineral, properties of the soil and subsoils through which the 

 springs issue. There are blue pools, opal, or variously tinted 

 pools, white pools of the consistency of cream, and which are 

 formed of the finest fuller's earth to be found in the world. 

 This last is a white clay held in suspension, and looking like 

 pools of hot milk. Then there are vermilion-coloured streams 

 and yellow-ochre streams, each flowing over beds of the clays 

 from which j^ainters procure two of their most effective colour- 

 ings ; but of course, vermilion paint is otherwise obtained as well. 



Then I must mention the terraces of brittle sinter over which 

 flow numerous small streams, always hot, and each imparting 

 its own colour to the deposit — glistening white, dark red, of 

 brown, pale yellow and cream-colour. We saw better examples 

 of sinter terraces, however, at Whakarewarewa, near Rotorup. 

 It is said that in time they may equal the pink and white ter- 

 races which, together with part of Lake Eotomahana, disappeared 

 in the great Tarawera eruption in 1886. But surely the subter- 

 ranean forces which were at work to form these famous terraces 

 are scarcely in a condition likely to reproduce them ? For, 

 appalling as the catastrophe undeniably was, there was no 

 mention of lava having been ejected, and therefore, I suppose, 

 it cannot be classed as a true volcanic eruption. On the other 

 hand, however, the conditions now existing may, as far as I 

 know, be perfect for the reproduction of terraces which may 

 vie with the departed ones, if only those conditions continue 

 to exist long enough. That jSTature has not yet exhausted 

 her powers in those regions we are well aware, owing to the 

 very recent appearance of the mighty geyser we are to consider 

 presently. 



Of the Low- Pressure Steam Jets I can here take but little 

 notice, as we simply lived amongst them for three months. It 

 is these which cause the steaming creeks and cliffs, and the 

 hundreds of boiling or nearly l)oiling pools which make 

 walking in the manuka scrul:) an exercise to be performed with 

 " caution and good heed." I may remark in passing that a 



