198 OHINEMUTU chap. 
maker, who made his "pile" on the last Melbourne 
Cup. The remainder of our neighbours wear no parti- 
cular identity, and a long summer's day spent with them 
would not be a joy to look back upon. 
One more day among the geysers around Rotorua, 
when the largest one in the district, Pohutu, played for the 
first time for four months, and we set off, three of us, 
by special coach overland for Napier, making an early 
start at five in the morning for Wairakei, to see the 
geysers there while it was daylight The first part of 
the road was all mountainous country, a succession of 
fern -covered hills and deep ravines ; the mountains 
gradually became higher, bold, and rocky, then patdies 
of forest lands, and here and there native settlements, 
generally under the shadow of the mountains. We 
crossed the Waikato River at the half-way house at 
Ateamuri, a wilderness of detached rocks. The highest 
cone, rising 800 feet above the banks of the river, was 
the scene, years ago, of a great native battle. Six 
weeks ago the most wonderful geyser broke out at 
Orakei-Korako, twelve miles from here. It is considered 
now the safety valve for the whole district. It can 
only be reached by riding, and those who have seen it 
say there is nothing to equal it We were not able to 
give up the time for going there, as it plays only every 
nine hours. The Taupo correspondent of the Auckland 
Weekly News gave the following account of it : — " No 
language can describe the utter ferocity of the outburst, 
which appears as if it would tear up by its roots the 
foundations of the earth. Pohutu, at Whakarewarewa, 
is a stately pillar of water hitherto unparalleled, and 
Whikiti, at the same place, is a picturesque fountain 
of spouting jets and feathery spray. The Crow's Nest 
(at Taupo) spits out a jet of water for a moment's dura- 
tion every half-hour ; and Kerapiti, the great steam-hole 
Digitized by LjOOQ IC 
