THE GEYSERS, HOT SPRINGS, AND TERRACES OF NEW ZEALAND. 369 
diameter, and the basin appears about half-full of bubbling 
water, about 200° F. ; it is built up — like a huge crow’s nest — of 
sticks which are incrusted and cemented with silica; it occasion- 
ally breaks out and ejects large volumes of steam, or showers 
of boiling water. Many ingenious theories have been pro- 
pounded to account for its singular appearance, but close and 
continued observation will be required before a satisfactory 
explanation can be given. 
Koto Kawa is a small acid lake in this district, which is 
approached with extreme caution because of the treacherous 
nature of the deposits of tufa, obsidian, and pumice, which 
are broken through by so many hissing jets that, as the soil 
reverberates to our tread, and the guide repeats his warnings, 
we confess to a feeling of insecurity, painfully enforced by 
various reports of unwary wanderers who have fallen through. 
The ground is insufferably hot to the touch, and here and there 
we discover yawning chasms of black seething mud from which 
the vapours of sulphuretted hydrogen, mingled with fumes of 
sulphurous acid, greatly offend our senses, and painfully remind 
one of the visionary Grehenna and of its traditional terrors. 
Twenty miles from Taupo, and some little distance off from 
the main road, is the district of Orakei Korako, so ably described 
by Dr. Hochstetter, where he counted seventy-six jets of steam 
from one point of observation. The principal geyser of the 
series is periodically intermittent, throwing up its boiling 
column about every two hours to a height of from ten to thirty 
feet; adjoining this is a small sinter basin which forms a luxu- 
rious warm sitz-bath — after a few minutes immersion one’s skin 
is covered with a fine deposit of silica of exquisite smoothness. 
Numerous hot springs on both sides of the Waikato river at 
this point are highly charged with alum, silica, and carbonate 
of lime ; and these crystallize into forms of great beauty, which 
are seen to perfection in a deep cavern known as the Alum 
Cave, in the recesses of which, reflected in the beautiful blue 
mirror of a pool of warm water, incrustations and stalactites of 
varied forms and tints delight the beholder. 
Kecrossing the Waikato we pass through another series of 
springs and mud pools, with small volcanoes of pink or grey 
mud; and after a journey of about sixteen miles we cross a 
hot river which is fed by numerous boiling springs. The luxury 
of a warm bath au naturel can be here enjoyed to perfection ; 
and a spring of delicious cold water will refresh the weary by 
applications, external and internal. Some of the choicest and 
rarest of New Zealand ferns are to be found only on the banks 
of this stream, the humidity of the w 7 arm atmosphere being 
peculiarly favourable to their growth. 
NEW SERIES, VOL. III. — NO. XII. B B 
