THE GEYSERS, HOT SPRINGS, AND TERRACES OF NEW ZEALAND. 381 
1 . The surrounding hill is of harder and firmer rock, and hut 
few other springs are seen, and these are confined to the base 
of the hill. The summit is gained with ease and safety, and a 
magnificent and unequalled panorama of the whole is seen ; it 
expands to greatest width in mid-descent, and narrowing at its 
fringe. The deep blue of the reservoir and basins form a very 
pleasing contrast to the fresh pink of the upper and newest 
formation. This colour is lost nearer to the lake, and the 
lowest lines resemble those of Terata. 
2. The geyser is a little smaller than Terata and is more 
open ; its deep azure water, although constantly boiling and 
steaming, overflows quietly and, covering a pavement like ala- 
baster, falls over (3) the upper plateaux, on which are inscribed 
the names of tourists and the dates of their visit. These 
slabs are perfectly smooth, and inscriptions in pencil become 
indelible under a coating of silica in a short time ; but upon 
examining dates of twenty or thirty years since, the deposit or 
film was so thin as to be scarcely perceptible except as a thin 
glaze. (See Analysis No. 5.) 
4. The basins. There are five basins used for bathing pools, 
and presenting the most luxurious bath that can be imagined. 
The temperature is graded as the baths, and the inner surface 
has a soft feeling like satin or velvet. 
5. The overflow here divides ; finding a new channel to the 
right, it leaves the old formation and carves out for itself a new 
course which it covers and decorates with its peculiar deposit. 
The old formation resembles Terata in its overhanging buttresses, 
its engraved or tattooed festoons, and its stalactite fringes. 
6. The new formation is a cascade of unmatched beauty; the 
stream leaps from rock to rock, forming rounded masses and 
slopes of pink sinter, but no distinct terraces are seen until the 
new stream flows once more over the older at an elevation a 
little above the lake. 
The evidence of these distinctive features seems to indicate 
a period when the Pink Terrace was, like Terata, discharging 
under high pressure ; and comparing the two terraces it is 
evident that the frosted incrustations and snow-like deposit 
upon the upper platform of Terata, are due to the sudden 
deposit of sinter hitherto held in suspension by enormous pres- 
sure. The smoothness of the floor of the Pink Terrace, and its 
marble inscription slabs, is caused by the slow evaporation of 
the water in its constant overflow. A trace of oxide of iron in 
the analysis of the water and of the sinter sufficiently indicates 
the source of its prevailing tint. 
Under certain conditions of wind or weather, this geyser is said 
to cool down and its outflow to cease, but systematic investi- 
gation is needed to decide the conditions of such irregularity. 
