30 
THE GEOLOGY OF AUCKLAND. 
a recent appearance ; notwithstanding all this, I did not feel 
comfortable where I stood in case of an eruption. The air was not 
cold—the ascent had made me hot—but I had time to cool, for 
I remained at the crater nearly an hour. At about 2 p.m. I 
commenced my descent by the same way that X ascended. A fog 
or cloud passed over where X was, and caused me to lose my 
way for a short time. When descending X saw between Tonga- 
riro and Ruapahu a lake about a mile i .11 diameter. X could see 
no stream flowing out of it on the western side. An extinct 
crater may also be seen near the base of Tongariro. XL was 
almost dark before X reached the Whanganui river, and, 
although in strong condition and a good walker, X felt com* 
pletely done up, and X fell asleep in a dry water-course. The 
night was cold, but X slept soundly until daylight, when X im¬ 
mediately rose and continued my descent, and at 10 a.m. X 
reached my residence at Rotoaire, with the shoes almost torn 
off my feetA 
As far as I can learn, Mr Dyson, in 1851, and Mr Bidwell, in 
1839, are the only Europeans who have ascended the highest 
cone of Tongariro. 
The difficulty of ascending Tongariro is still the same as when 
Dr Thomson published the foregoing account. “ It does,” he 
says, “ not entirely arise from its height, or the roughness of 
the scoria, but from the hostility of the natives, who have made 
the mountain ‘ tapu/ or sacred, by calling it the backbone and 
head of their great ancestor. All travellers who have asked 
permission of the natives to ascend Tongariro, have met with 
indirect refusals. The only way to get over this difficulty is, to 
ascend the mountain unknown to the natives of the place, or 
even your own natives. Mr Dyson did this, but his ascent was 
discovered by a curious accident. During his progress up the 
mountain he took for a time the little frequented path which 
leads along the base of Tongariro to Whanganui. A native 
returning from that place observed his footmarks, and knew 
them to be those of a European. As he saw where the foot¬ 
steps left the path, he, on his arrival at Rotoaire, proclaimed 
that a European was now wandering about alone on the sacred 
mountain of Tangariro, The natives immediately suspected it 
