LAKES. 
7 
paint their bodies, and dye their garments ; and 
which, to them, is very valuable ; nearly as va- 
luable as a deep blue earth, called Paraekawa- 
hiawa, found in the neighbourhood of the Thames, 
and farther south. — This earth is probably a 
protoxyde of manganese. 
New Zealand has several large and noble lakes. 
Those at Rotorua are extensive, from twelve to 
fifteen miles across ; and the springs, by which 
they are supplied, are always warm : so high, in- 
deed, is their temperature, that, in the depths of 
winter, the natives who reside near them are in 
the constant habit of sitting for hours immersed in 
the water, to keep themselves warm, and to shelter 
themselves from the inclemency of the weather*. 
There is a very beautiful lake of pure water, 
lying about midway between the Bay of Islands 
and Hokianga, which covers many thousand 
acres of land : it is nearly eight miles across at the 
widest, and not less than six in the narrowest part. 
It forms pretty nearly a circle, and adds a beau- 
* Some of the springs on the margin of Rotorua are as high 
as boiling heat ; and most of them of a sufficient temperature 
to cook any kind of native food. A bituminous and sulphuric 
matter floats on the surface of these springs ; and the water is 
all more or less tainted with it. There is one spring of a 
very remarkable quality s it is, to the touch, soft as oil ; and, 
without the use of soap, or any alkali, except what the water 
itself contains, will cleanse the dirtiest garments, removing 
every particle of grease, however sullied they may be with it. 
The lake itself is quite cool ; and in the middle of it is a rapid 
stream. 
