ERUPTION OF MOUNT TA RAWER A. 



183 



at White Island during or after the eruption. The hot springs at 

 Wairakei, near Taupo, are described as being in an extraordinary state 

 of activity on the 10th ; while during the eruption many new ones 

 broke out at Ohinemutu, and the temperature of most of the old ones 

 was raised. Also during the eruption the shore of Lake Eotorua, 

 from Ohinemutu to Eotorua, sank several inches, this being probably 

 due to the earthquakes causing a settlement of the land round the 

 old springs. 



The earthquakes which accompanied the eruption, although de- 

 scribed as violent, did very little damage ; but they appear to have 

 been stronger in a south-west and north-east direction than towards 

 the north-west. In Ateamuri on the Waikato, which is 28 miles from 

 Tarawera, a tumbler was thrown from a box, and at Taupo, 38 miles 

 distant, bottles were broken on a shelf. Nothing more violent than 

 this seems to have taken place at Wairoa, only 5 or 6 miles off ; 

 while at Eotorua nothing was knocked down, and a brick chimney 

 20 feet high has sustained no damage whatever. No earthquakes 

 were felt at Lichfield or at Oxford, although they were felt acutely 

 at Tauranga and Maketu on the coast. 



Results of the Eruption (see fig. 2). 



The openings in the ground formed during the eruption have, as 

 yet, been only hastily examined ; and although Mt. Tarawera has 

 been ascended and Eotomahana has been walked round, no accurate 

 survey has been made, consequently our knowledge of what has 

 happened is incomplete and must remain so until the summer. The 

 following account is founded on my own observations round three 

 sides of the mountain and on photographs which have been taken 

 from many places, including the summit of Mt. Tarawera. 



A large open fissure about four miles long and 500 feet broad 

 runs along the top of the ridge from Wahanga to Euawahia and then 

 descends on the western side of Tarawera to the plain. Another fissure 

 exists on the eastern side of Tarawera, but it is uncertain whether 

 these fissures join. There is also a large crater on the southern 

 end of Tarawera, probably connected with this second fissure. A 

 comparison of photographs of the mountain, taken from Wairoa and 

 from near Te Ariki before and after the eruption, shows that there 

 is no appreciable change in the outline of Wahanga ; Tarawera 

 Peak looks also much as it was before the eruption, but along the 

 ridge between Tarawera and Euawahia the accumulations from the 

 fissure have slightly changed the outline, although no cone has been 

 formed. These accumulations are said by Mr. Percy Smith's party, 

 who ascended the mountain on the 28th July, to be about 100 feet 

 in thickness. 



Eotomahana is much enlarged and has now precipitous walls 

 about 150 feet high, the whole of the sinter terraces having been 

 blown away. The bottom is covered with mud, in which are 

 several circular holes either emitting steam or filled with w T ater. 

 On the northern part there is a large crater-ring occupying the site 



