EXPLANATION OP THE MAPS. 
66 
repeated eruptions followed each other out of one and the same 
crater, cones of lava were formed again, like Rangitoto. Where 
these new eruptions followed the former course, new scoria 
cones grew up within the ring of the tuff-crater, and according 
to the number of the eruptions, or the sinkings which followed 
the extinct volcanic activity, larger or smaller islets were 
formed within, where water or swamp filled the tuff-craters. 
The lava of all the Auckland volcanoes is petrographically 
identical. It consists of porous basalt lava, rich in olivin, 
which makes a good building stone for the substantial erections 
in Auckland, while the scoria cones afford an excellent material 
for the roads of the isthmus. 
The name of Rangitoto, which signifies “ Sky of Blood,” 
would lead to the supposition that the Natives have given this 
name in consequence of the reflection of the burning streams 
of lava in the nightly sky, and that therefore the Auckland 
volcanos have been in activity in very recent historical times ; 
but this is improbable. That their activity belongs to the most 
recent geological period of the earth, and to the geological 
chronology of the present time, is proved by the fact that the 
volcanic ashes cover the surface directly, and that the lava 
streams have run by no means at one and the same time into 
the neighbouring valleys. These have therefore existed at the 
time of the emission of lava, and the surface of the district has 
since that time undergone no material change. 
Transformed through the diligence and enterprise of the 
European settler into fertile cultivated districts, the Auckland 
volcanos are but monuments of a remarkable history of the 
Maori race. Only a few generations have passed since the 
Auckland isthmus was the seat of a mightv Maori tribe—the 
JNgatiwatuas—consisting of 20,000 to 30,000 men. These 
extinct fire mountains, with their commanding situations and 
wide prospects, occupied at that time, the position of hill forts, 
like the feudal castles of Germany. On their summits were 
the fortified pas of the chiefs, while at the foot of the hills were 
distributed the huts and kumera cultivations of the slaves. 
The slopes of the hills were formed into regular terraces, and 
fortified with palisades. The huts and houses are now destroyed ; 
the palisades have disappeared; the Maori feudal castles have 
decayed ; the terraces and holes are the only remaining monu- 
