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Taranaki. Taranaki was worsted in combat and compelled to flee; 
lie hastened down the Wanganui, drawing the deep furrow of that 
river. He fled as far as the sea, where he now stands in solitary 
grandeur, the magnificent snow-capped beacon of Mount Egmont 
(8270 feet). In his flight, however, two pieces were torn off; and 
the natives show to this very day two blocks of rock as the frag- 
ments torn off the Taranaki, masses, which, differing in their nature 
from the formations contiguous to the W anganui , lie at a distance 
of 18 miles from the source of the river at Waitotara. 
The Ruapahu 1 has the shape of a truncated cone, towering 
up into the regions of perpetual snow. No one has ever ascended 
or explored it. Nevertheless there can be no doubt as to its vol- 
canic nature, but it seems to be perfectly extinct; there is no trace 
of a solfatara to be discerned in the distance either at its sides or 
at the top ; and it is totally unknown whether the broad summit 
forms a plateau, or whether it contains a crater. 2 The mountain 
is but rarely free from clouds; and if once the weather happens to 
be clear, large snowfields are seen covering the summit, and run- 
ning down along the fissures, by which the slope of the mountain 
is channelled, as though they terminated in glaciers. The limit of 
perpetual snow in the latitude of the Ruapahu (39° 20'), is at a 
height of about 7800 feet, and to judge by the colossal extent of 
the snow-fields even in midsummer, the mountain appears to reach 
a height of 9000 to 10,000 feet above the level of the sea. 3 At 
any rate the Ruapahu is by far the highest mountain of the North 
Island. A portion of the mountain bears the name of Paratetai- 
tonga. At the eastern declivity of the Ruapahu rises the southern- 
most source of the Waikato. It forms a waterfall according to 
1 The natives about the Rotoaira say Ruapehu. The word seems to have a cha- 
racteristic meaning. Ru, Rua, also Ruu means concussion, earthquake; paliu means 
noise; the natives understand hy rupahu a man who makes “much ado about nothing.” 
The name Ruapahu therefore probably originates from the fact, that occasions with 
a subterraneous noise emanate from the mountain, but without volcanic eruptions. 
- Sir George Grey — I am recently informed — states that he has been to 
the summit of the Ruapahu, and there found a crater with hot springs. 
3 The English sea-maps state 9195 feet. Arrowsmith’s map 9000 feet, Taylor s 
map 10,236 feet. 
