96 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. IV. 
prairie, which is in many parts swampy and covered 
with rushes. We now crossed a small tributary of the 
ff^anganui, and, after two miles* walk through a belt 
of towai forest, a larger tributary called the Tawai. 
The plains now seemed to extend on every side ; and as 
the weather cleared up, and the clouds lifted, we saw 
the majestic forms of Ruapehu, and the Para te tat 
Ton^a volcano, within a few miles of us to the eastward. 
Furthest to the southward lay Ruapehu, covered with 
snow. This is the mountain seen from Cook's Strait. 
A low ridge joins the northern spur of Ruapehu to 
the southern base of Para te tai T'onga, a volcanic 
peak, in the shape of a regular cone, of equal height 
with Ruapehu, and hidden by it from the south coast. 
Para te tai Tonga is the mountain which Mr. Bidwell 
ascended in 1838, and calls " Tonga Dido." Tonga 
Riro, however, is a generic name applied to the whole 
mountain mass. 
To the north-east of the volcano, two peaks, appa- 
rently extinct volcanoes, complete the gigantic group. 
This double peak is called Puki Onaki, and is not more 
than two-thirds the height of either of the others. 
The whole distance from the summit of Puki Onaki to 
that of Ruapehu, may be about 20 miles. 
After eating a quarter of a wio and two potatoes 
each, for breakfast and dinner, we pushed on 12 miles 
over a barren plain to the northern spur of Puki Onaki ; 
on the highest part of which we divided about two 
ounces of sugar, our last atom of food, among the four 
of us, and ate it with much relish. 
Here, too, we took a good rest, and looked about us. 
We had just passed close under the base of a small ex- 
tinct volcano, which rises from the western side of the 
mountain mass to the height of 1400 or 1500 feet, 
and we had crossed the Jfakapapa, a large tributary of 
