NOTES AND QUERIES. 



193 



extremity of the lake, hot-springs again are met with, and with a river of warm 

 water called Waipaliihi, which, rising in the extinct volcanic cone of Tanhara, 

 falls, in a vapour-crowned cascade, into Taupo. Descending from Taupo by the 

 outlet of the Waikato, on the left bank, in the midst of a great number of 

 pools of boiling mud, is a fumarole called Karapiti, an enormous jet of high- 

 pressure steam, escaping with such force as to produce a sound like letting-off 

 the steam from huge boilers, and to eject to a great height sticks, or the like, 

 thrown in by the curious traveller. On the right bank is the fumarole of 

 similar character, called Parakiri. About twenty-five miles below the outlet of 

 the Waikato from Taupo, at Orakei-korako, both banks of the rapidly-flowing 

 river are perforated, in more than a hundred different places, by famaroles and 

 boiling-springs, mostly mtermittent. Temimi-a-Homaiterangi, the principal 

 eysu", throws up its large column of boiling water at intervals of about two 

 ours to a height from twenty to thirty feet. An immense volume of steam 

 succeeds each jet, and the water then suddenly sinks into the basin. 



At Orakei-korako the line of hot-springs crosses the Waikato, and continues 

 along the foot of the very remarkable Pairoa range on the eastern side of the 

 Waikato. The almost perpendicular western side of this range is caused by an 

 immense " fault" in the volcanic plateau, corresponding to a deep fissure in the 

 earth-crust from which sulphurous acid, sulphuretted hydrogen, sulphur and 

 steam are continually escaping, while huge bubbles of boiling ash-coloui'ed mud 

 rise to the surface. 



From the same range the warm-water river Waikite takes its origin. On 

 both sides are deep pools of boiling water, on the margins of which we dis- 

 covered most beautiful ferns, hitherto unknown, one species belonging to the 

 genus Nephrolepis, the other to the genus Goneopteris. These ferns are re- 

 markable not only for their elegance, but also from the peculiar circumstances 

 under which they exist, as they are always surrounded by an atmosphere of steam. 



We now come to the well known Rotomahana, the most wonderful of all the 

 wonders of the hot-spring district of New Zealand. Whoever has once had 

 the happiness to look into the blue eyes of Otukapuarangi and Te Tarata can 

 never forget their charms ; and whoever has stood beside the boiling surf of the 

 Ngahapu basin will always retain a vivid impression of its terrors. The ter- 

 races of siliceous deposit on the shores of Rotomahana are unequalled in the 

 world, nor is there anything that even bears any resemblance to them. 



On the Rotorua lake the intermittent boiling springs of Whaka-rewarewa are 

 the most interesting. Waikite, the principal " ngawha," issues from the top 

 of a siliceous cone some twenty feet high, surrounded by several smaller gey- 

 sirs, mud-pools, and solfataras. At intervals, sometimes extenduig to many 

 months, all these " ngawhas" begin to play together, and form a scene which 

 must be most wonderful and beautiful. The hot-springs of Ohinemutu form 

 agreeable bathing-places, the fame of which is already established. The last in 

 the line are the great solfataras on the pumice-stone plateau between Hotorua 

 and Hotoiti, such as Tikitere and Ruahine. 



All the waters of these springs are derived from atmospheric moisture, 

 which, falling on the high volcanic plateau, permeates the surface and sinks 

 into fissures. Taupo, the axis of which corresponds with the line of the hot 

 springs, may also be considered as a vast reservoir, from which the lower springs 

 are supplied. The water, sinking into the fissures, becomes heated by the still- 

 existing volcanic fires. High-pressure steam is thus generated, which, together 

 with the volcanic gases, decompose the trachytic rocks. The soluble sub- 

 stances are thus removed by the water, which is forced up, by the expansive 

 force of the steam and by hydrostatic pressure, in the shape of boiling springs. 

 The insoluble substances form a residuum of white or red fumarole clay, of 

 which the hills at Terapa round Rotamahana and the Pairoa consist. 



VOL. III. 2 B 



