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and in colossal blocks to a height of 300 feet. It is undermined 
by the surf of the lake during northwesterly gales. Then some- 
times whole bluffs fall in, covering the lake with their ruins, which 
are carried by the Waikato to the western coast. Between the 
pumicestone, now and then also a coarse conglomerate is seen to 
intervene, consisting of hyaline varieties of the rhyolite group, 
such as obsidian, perlit, etc. The passage along the foot of the 
cliffs, in the loose masses of sand and gravel, is extremely difficult, 
until Tekohaiataku Point is reached, where the strand spreads itself 
into a broad bay, in which the lagoon Roto Ngaio is situated, 
with a settlement of the same name upon the narrow strip of land 
separating the lagoon from the lake. Here, although we had made 
but a very short day’s journey, I had our tents pitched, and was 
occupied until even-tide with observations for a map of the lake. 
Tauhara, extinct volcano at the lake Taupo. 
April 21. — After leaving Roto Ngaio, the picturesque Tau- 
hara-mountain with the small cone Maunganamu alongside of it 
is the main object, which the traveller has continually before his • 
