THE GEOLOGY OF NEW ZEALAND. 
225 
boiling springs abound. Tongariro itself is not so lofty, but 
from its cone, it constantly belches forth a volume of smoke, 
and occasionally of flame, which has been distinctly seen at 
a distance of a hundred and fifty miles,* and although the 
powers of this fearful volcano appear to have long lain 
dormant, there is no security that it will not break out again. 
Phe size and active operation of Mount Erebus appear to 
be the greatest security of New Zealand, and that crater 
may be viewed as its safety-valve ; for, if anything were to 
impede its operation, the entire line of New Zealand craters 
would, very probably, break out again. Lofty as Tongariro 
now appears, there is reason to suppose that its present height 
is much less than it was formerly; or rather, that the grand 
crater ot former days has sunk down, and, in doing so, caused 
Mount Taranaki to rise up. This is agreeable with native 
tradition,f and, moreover, with the general features of the 
spot, a space of nearly twelve miles intervening between the 
two principal mountains, Tongariro and Ruapehu. This, at 
a distance, appears to be an elevated table land, but it is, in 
fact, a deep lake. 
The matter ejected from these craters has been immense, 
chiefly pumice stones and sand : formerly, the central plains 
had a super-stratum of yellow ochre, and were heavily timbered. 
The hot pumice ejected from the neighbouring volcanoes, ap¬ 
pears to have first charred the forest and then covered it to the 
depth, in many places, of a hundred feet, and wherever there 
* Formerly, when Tongariro emitted flame, the natives regarded it as a 
command from their Atua to make war; and when the coast natives saw it, 
they always expected an invasion from Taupo. 
f The tradition is that Tongariro became jealous of Taranaki, and accused 
him of being too intimate with Pianga, another neighbouring mountain ; they 
fought, and Taranaki being worsted, set off one night going down the Wanga¬ 
nui, thus forming the channel of the river; he crossed over by Wai Totara, leav¬ 
ing a fragment there, and then fixed himself in his present position. The spot 
where he formerly stood is now occupied by a deep lake, which still bears the 
name of Taranaki, and is supposed to be a kind of Pandemonium, the grand 
abode of all the New Zealand gods: this is probably a fable, founded on fact. 
The Wanganui River is evidently a volcanic fissure, flowing in many places 
between walls of several hundred feet perpendicular height, and cutting t hrough 
vallies at right angles, without having one of its own. 
Q 
