148 Lecturt on the Geology of [No. 9, new sebies, 



Here I must leave this interesting subject. To enter more 

 deeply into the theory of these phsenomena would be out of place 

 here. It may be, however, well to mention that numerous facts 

 prove that the action which gives rise to the hot springs is slowly 

 diminishing. 



I must also state my conviction that ere long these hot springs 

 will be visited by many travellers, not only for the sake of their 

 beauty and interest, but also for the medicinal virtues they have 

 been proved to possess. Already many Europeans have bathed 

 in, and derived benefit from, the warm waters at Orakeikorako 

 and Rotomahana. 



I am unwilling to omit the interesting legend current among 

 the Natives in reference to the origin of these hot springs. The 

 legend, as told by Te Heuheu, the great chief on the Taupo lake, 

 is the following : — 



The great Chief Ngatiroirangi, after his arrival at Maketu at 

 the time of the immigration of the Maories from Hawaiki, set off 

 with his slave Ngauruhoe to visit the interior, and, in order to 

 obtain a better view of the country, they ascended the highest 

 peak of Tongariro. Here they suffered severely from cold, and 

 the Chief shouted to his sisters on Whakari (White Island) to send 

 him some fire. This they did. They sent on the sacred fire they 

 brought from Hawaiki, by the taniwhas Pupu and Te Haeata, 

 through a subterranean passage to the top of Tongariro. The fire 

 arrived just in time to save the life of the Chief, but poor Ngauru- 

 hoe was dead when the Chief turned to give him the fire. On 

 this account the hole through which the fire made its appearance 

 — the active crater of Tongariro — is called to this day by the name 

 of the slave Ngauruhoe ; and the sacred fire still burns within 

 the whole underground passage along which it was carried from 

 Whakari to Tongariro. 



This legend affords a remarkable instance of the accurate obser- 

 vation of the Natives, who have thus indicated the true line of the 

 chief volcanic action in this island. 



Having now described the older and more extensive volcanic 

 phaenomena of the interior, I proceed to notice the later phseno- 

 mena of volcanic action in the immediate neighbourhood of Auck- 

 land. 



