19 
Mokau district. Hence across numerous bush ranges, I journeyed 
to the sources of the Wanganui River in the Tuhua district; and on 
the 14 th of April I arrived at the extensive Lake Taupo, 1250 feet 
above the level of the sea, surrounded by majestic volcanic cones. 
Here I was in the very heart of the country, at the foot of the 
steaming volcano Tongariro, and its extinct, ever snow clad neigh- 
bour, the Ruapaliu, 9200 feet high. At the South-end of the lake, 
there stands a missionary’s house, where I met with a truly hospi- 
table reception, my Maoris being hospitably entertained in the neigh- 
bouring Pali Pukawa by the famous Maori chief te JTenheu. 
After having sketched the outlines for a map of the lake, and 
examined the hot springs on its shores, I followed, from where 
the Waikato leaves the lake, the remarkable line of boiling springs, 
solfataras and fumaroles, situated in the Bay of Plenty in a north- 
easterly direction between two active volcanoes: the Tongariro and 
the island-volcano Whakari or White Island on the East-coast. The 
Ngawhas and Puias of New Zealand, boiling fountains and geysers 
with silicious deposits as in Iceland, developing themselves on the 
grandest scale near the lakes Rotorua, Rotoiti, and Rotomahana, 
the lake-district of course demanded a prolonged stay. Iceland ex- 
cepted, I consider this the most remarkable and most extensive 
hot-spring territory known. 
In the beginning of May I reached the East-coast near Maketu, 
and proceeded along the coast as far as Tauranga Harbour; thence 
I turned inland towards the Wailio Valley, or the Valley of the New 
Zealand Thames, and struck again the Waikato near Maungatautari. 
I roamed through the fertile plains of the Middle Waikato Basin 
near Rangiawhia , paid a visit to the Maori King Potatau te Whero- 
wtxero in his residence Ngaruawahia at the junction of the Waikato 
and the Waipa; and towards the end of May, I passed down the 
Waikato, and returned to Auckland via Mangatawhiri. 
The results of this nearly three months expedition were, in 
every respect, to my entire satisfaction. Greatly favoured by the 
weather, I did not meet with any insurmountable difficulties, although 
our way led through many a bog, river and almost inaccessible 
