EEUPTIOtf OP MOUNT TAEAWEEA. 



181 



Account of the Eruption. 



Earthquakes of a local character, but sometimes severe, have 

 occasionally been felt in the Tarawera district ever since Europeans 

 have inhabited the country ; but during the last few months they 

 had become much more frequent,, not enough so, however, to excite 

 alarm or even to arouse a suspicion that anything unusual was going 

 to happen. Although Euapehu had been seen to steam, Tonga- 

 riro and White Island remained in their ordinary condition. The 

 hot springs at the Eotorua had been gradually declining in volume 

 and temperature ; but this, as well as the low level of the lake, was 

 no doubt due to the exceptionally dry season that had passed. 

 At the end of Hay a wave, said to be a foot or eighteen inches high, 

 crossed Lake Tarawera : it was unaccompanied by an earthquake, 

 and to this day remains unaccounted for. On llonday, 7th of June, 

 a party of excursionists from Wairoa visited Eotomahana accompanied 

 by the well-known guide Sophia, and they reported nothing unusual 

 there. Wednesday was fine at Eotorua, but showery at Wairoa, 

 and the night was fine and calm everywhere. 



At about 12.30 a.m. on the 10th, earthquakes commenced, slight 

 at first, but gradually increasing in intensity, when at 1.15 a.m. 

 Wahanga broke out with a vivid flash of light followed by loud 

 explosions ; only a small cloud was seen, which appears to have 

 subsided and all was again quiet. At 1.45 a.m. the main eruption 

 commenced with a roar from Euawahia, and a black column, glowing 

 with reflections from red-hot rocks below, shot upwards. At 2.10 

 a.m. a violent earthquake occurred, and Tarawera (proper) exploded 

 with a deafening noise, sending up a broad steam-column. At 2.30 

 the whole mountain-top, from Tarawera to Wahanga, was apparently 

 on fire, throwing out immense quantities of red-hot scoria. The 

 steam-column, which was at first continuous all along the mountain, 

 separated into seven or more distinct portions, and the huge black 

 cloud spread slowly out from the top in the well-known mushroom 

 shape. Eorked lightning, blood-red in colour, flashed from the 

 column, while the edges of the spreading cloud glittered and sparkled 

 with innumerable electrical scintillations, making, together with 

 the rocket-like showers of red-hot stones, a scene which is described 

 as marvellous in the extreme. 



At 2.30 a.m. another and quite distinct column of steam, a 

 quarter of a mile in breadth, sprang from the ground far to the 

 west of X[t. Tarawera. As seen from the hill behind Ohinemutu, 

 on Lake Eotorua, this column went straight up to the west of the 

 hill called Moerangi, and consequently it must have been in the 

 direction of Kakaramea. In Wairoa also it was thought that 

 Kakaramea had broken out ; but it is now known that the most 

 southern and western crater is two miles north of Kakaramea. This 

 column of steam must therefore have come from what are known as 

 the Okaro craters, between Eotomahana and Kakaramea. At 3.30 a 

 series of violent earthquakes commenced, which lasted till 6 a.m. 

 It was then that Eotomahana exploded, throwing out a column of 



