April 27. — Mr. Spencer’s residence, Temu, situated between 
the lakes llotokakalii and Tarawera , at the edge of the bush upon 
an eminence about 500 feet above the level of the Tarawera, 1 is 
certainly, to every visitor of that country, a place not easily to be 
forgotten on account of both the amiable hospitality found there, 
and the exquisite beauty of its site. I too , spent here several days, 
which I number among the most pleasant during my travels. 
It was on a delightful morning, when from the garden adjoin- 
ing the house my eyes roved for the first time over the smooth 
deep-blue mirror of the Tarawera lake; resplendent in the radiant 
sun-light, the landscape appeared to me perhaps doubly beautiful. 
The scenery of Tarawera lake surpasses in wilderness and grandeur 
that of any of the lakes in the lake district. The word signifies 
burnt cliffs. Its general form, exclusive of its deep side-coves, is 
that of a rhombus, with its main diagonal running from West to 
East. In this direction it is seven miles long, having a breadth 
of about 5 miles. The lake is probably very deep; for its shores 
are mostly rugged, rocky bluffs, shaded by Pohutukaua trees. The 
chief ornament of the adjoining landscape is the Tarawera-moun- 
tain 2 with its crown of rocks, divided into three parts by deep 
ravines; it rises on the south-eastern side of the lake to a height 
of at least 2000 feet above the level off 1 the sea. It is an imposing 
table-mountain, consisting of obsidian and other rhyolitic rocks; 
and it is not to be wondered at , that its dark ravines and vertical 
sides have given rise to many an odd story in vogue among the 
Maoris. Among others, a huge monster, 24 feet long, resembling 
a crocodile, is said to haunt the clefts between the rocks, devour- 
ing every one who dares to scale the mountain. The Rev. Mr. 
Chapman, a well-known missionary of Maketu, once, despite all 
1 Temu according to my measurement is 1502 feet above the level of the sea. 
The country is said to be frequently visited by earthquakes. Scarcely a year passes 
without at last some light shocks, recurring various times during the space of 2 or 
3 days, and sufficiently alarming to induce Mr. Spencer, to leave the house and 
dwell out of doors in tents. 
2 The northern portion is called Te Wahanga, the middle Ruawahie, and the 
southern Tarawera, 
