410 
is muddy-turbid , and of a smutty-green color; neither fish, nor 
mussel-shells live in it. On the other hand the lake is a favourite 
haunt of countless water- and swamp-fowls. Various kinds of ducks, 
water-hens, the magnificent Pukeko (Porphyria melanotus] , and the 
graceful oyster-catcher Torea (IJcematopus picatus) enliven the sur- 
face of the water. These birds have their brooding-places on the 
warm shores, while they have to seek their food in the neighbour- 
ing cold lakes. Tn certain seasons of the year the natives institute 
regular hunts; at other times, however, they refuse every body, 
even Europeans, the pleasure of shooting , declaring the birds tapu. 
In former years , natives are said to have constantly dwelled about 
the lake; but of late, they seem to shun more and more this dis- 
mal laboratory of subterraneous forces, where rocks are dissolved 
in water, and rocks again are solidified from the water; and conse- 
quently the shores of the lake arc usually uninhabited. Numerous 
observations lead to the conclusion, that constant changes are going 
on at the Kotomahana, that some springs go dry; others rise; and 
especially the earthquakes, which arc felt here from time to time, 
seem to exercise such a changing influence. The main interest is 
attached to the Eastshore. There arc the principal springs, to 
which the lake owes its fame, und I will now describe the prin- 
cipal springs in their succession from North to South on the East- 
shore of the lake, such as they are found by the side of the road 
generally taken during a short visit to the lake. 
First of all is Te Tarata 1 at the N. E. end of the lake with 
its terraced marble steps projecting into the lake , the most marvel- 
lous of the Rotomahana marvels. About 80 feet above the lake 
on the fern-clad slope of a hill, from which in various places hot 
vapors arc escaping, there lies the immense boiling cauldron in a 
crater-like excavation with steep, reddish sides 30 to 40 feet high, 
and open only on the lake-side towards West. The basin of the 
spring is about 80 feet long and 00 wide, and filled co the brim with 
1 Te tarata is said to signify w the tattooed rock ^ it therefore seems to have 
ils name from the peculiar forms and figures formed by the silicious deposits of the 
terraces. But Tarata is also the name of a tree, Piltosporum crassifolium . 
