376 
POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
or ten shillings for hire of a canoe on Eotomahana, we make our 
way past several hot springs and steam jets, and from the top 
of a small hill catch sight of the dull green water of Eotoma- 
hana, fringed with sedges and rushes, and surrounded by barren 
hills of no great elevation. The terraces and geysers which 
have made this lake one of the wonders of the world are only 
indicated by columns of steam, which are rising on every side. 
We descend and pass through patches of manuka, or Ti tree 
scrub, and then standing upon the dazzling white platforms of 
Te Terata, we are silenced by the resplendent beauty of the 
scene which bursts upon us (see fig. 2 and PI. IX. fig. 2). 
Sensations and emotions unknown in our previous experience 
completely overpower us, so that we are unable to describe our 
impressions in ordinary language, or even to recall them to our 
memory with vivid distinctness. This wonderful structure has 
been formed by a geyser of the greatest force and volume, which, 
bursting forth from the base of a hill of volcanic clays and de- 
composed lava, has gradually elevated and enlarged its beautiful 
basins, and, building up terraces and buttresses of unparalleled 
natural beauty and design by its own siliceous deposit, has 
retired further and further into the side of the hill, which now 
overhangs the reservoir with a circular wall, almost perpendicu- 
lar. As we ascend the delicate stairway, we are almost dazzled 
by the sublime effect produced upon our senses. We found the 
use of neutral tint or blue spectacles a great advantage to tone 
down the absolutely overpowering splendour of the scene. 
Every tier reached in our upward progress reveals new com- 
binations and effects. The grand design of the whole is the 
same everywhere ; but the detail is essentially distinct in every 
part. 
As we reach the culminating ridge of the terrace, and review 
these magnificent gradations spread out fan-like before us, we 
begin slowly to appreciate their beauties and to understand 
something of their structure. We count forty distinct plat- 
forms or terraces of varied form, but similar character, with 
numerous basins, resembling the purest alabaster, all filled to 
overflowing with sapphire, turquoise, or azure waters which 
trickle over and incrust the edges of their reservoirs and drape 
them with festoons of sinter. 
So very numerous and varied are these baths and fountains, 
platforms and steps, that we should delight to spend weeks in 
their neighbourhood, and devote each day to the discovery of 
some new manifestation of nature’s architecture, decoration, and 
design. 
The hill itself seems crumbled and undermined by active 
volcanic agency, and presents a most interesting field for the 
student of vulcanology. Several old craters may be traced in 
