paddles more vigorously; swift as an arrow the canoe darts over the waters, and with loud shouts of joyful welcome, we greet the Waikato.

The impression made by the sight of this majestic stream is truly grand. It is only with the Danube or the Rhine that I can compare the mighty river which I had just entered. It was some little time before our Maories could be induced to proceed; the sight of the Waikato awakened too many recollections within their minds; they had a thousand different things to relate to each other. Every canoe that hove in sight upon the river we either hailed, or it was hailed by us. One canoe came close up to us; it was full of natives, dogs, and pigs; and dogs, pigs, and natives all seemed struck with amazement and awe at seeing Pakehas upon the Waikato. After a trip of two hours, we landed on the left river bank, near a small settlement called Tutu. Our repast consisted of potatoes, bread, and tea. I met here two elderly tattooed men, so absorbed in a game, that they did not look up until I accosted them. The game which the two old fellows were playing was no other than our game of draughts translated into Maori style. The "men" of the one party were represented by small potatoes cut in two, and those of the other by peach-kernels.

Rangiriri is the chief point in the Lower Waikato basin. Here we halted, but we found the pah quite deserted; and at two o'clock in the afternoon we started again. At sunset we put in at the west side of the river-island Taipuri, the largest island in the Waikato. The inhabitants kindly brought us melons and apples as a token of welcome, helped us to pitch our tents and kindle a fire; and before night had set in, we lay snug and comfortable in our camp.

The next day our departure was delayed by pouring rains, and it was not until eleven o'clock that we could proceed on our course. We were drawing nearer and nearer to the range which closes the Lower Waikato basin towards the south. Grey fogs and rain-clouds were hanging over the mountains, and some dark blots in the gloomy picture were all that indicated the narrow mountain pass, by which the river breaks through the mountains. When, after a bend of the river, two of the first advance-heights have been passed, then the valley opens, and the wood-clad top of the Taupiri, from which the range has received its name, becomes visible. We landed just where the plain strikes the mountains. The forced passage of the Waikato through the Taupiri range presents a scenery remarkably picturesque and grand. The mountains rise from the Lower Waikato basin to a height of 1000 feet above the level of the sea. Rugged ridges, steep declivities, and deeply-cut ravines, characterise the landscape on both sides. After a short passage through the mountains, we reached the mission-station, where we were hospitably entertained for several days.

APPROACH TO LAKE TAUPO.

HOPING to have a view of the mountains Tongariro and Ruapehu, which we had approached by this time to within a distance of twenty-five miles, I ascended the Ngariha on the 10th of April. Although this mountain rises only 900 feet above the bottom of the valley, and is entirely free from wood, the ascent was nevertheless exceedingly difficult, as we had to break our way through ferns the size of

a man.

Bathed in perspiration, we at length arrived at

the top; but we found ourselves amply rewarded for our toils by the view now presented to our eyes. Even the natives who had accompanied us, and who had never before scaled this hill, were greatly surprised. The eyes of all were turned in one direction. There lay the volcano Tongariro before us, all clear from foot to top. The still active cone, called by the natives Ngauruhoe, with its regular conical form, rises majestically from the midst of a circular range shutting it in all around, similar to Vesuvius. The funnel-shaped crater at the summit of the cone could be distinctly seen, indeed almost looked into. Tongariro was entirely clear of snow, but to the right of it rose the towering mass of Ruapehu, its summit wrapped in dense clouds, and below the cloud-cap, the snowfields of the peak were seen to extend downwards about 7800 feet.

Upon the 14th of April, we reached the great Lake Taupo. After having plodded along for several hours through marshy woods, we came to an open eminence, whence we had the first view of the lake. Like a sea it lay there, spread out in the distance, without our being able to discern the opposite shore, in consequence of the murky weather.

Mr Grace accompanied me to the pah of the mighty chief Te Heuheu. It is situated upon a peninsular projection into the lake, within an enclosure of strong palisades, through which two sliding-gates give admittance. Entering through one of the gates, we came to an oblong place, at the upper end of which a sightly provision-house first attracted our attention. It was painted red, and raised upon four round posts, to protect the provision-supplies stored within from the voracity of the rats. Its front was ornamented with extravagant carvings, after the style of art peculiar to the Maories. Neat flourishes and arabesque-like figures

alternated upon the gable-field with grotesque, big-headed, and big-eyed human forms. Opposite to this stood an unsightly hut, without any architectural ornament whatever, but with a little porch beneath the protruding roof in front, an appendage common to all Maori huts of better quality. It was Te Heuheu's residence; and in the verandah of that Maori palace sat a man of stern and gloomy mien, wrapt in a dirty woollen blanket,—it was Te Heuheu himself.

I visited the hot springs on the very first day after my arrival. A small creek, the Waihi, plunges into the lake in a magnificent fall, about 150 feet high. At this cascade the mountains recede from the lake, and hot water of 125° is seen bubbling forth. By conducting this water into artificial basins, the natives have prepared several bathingplaces. Above these springs, on the side of the mountain, probably 500 feet above the lake, steam issues from innumerable places. From every crack and cleft on the northern side, hot steam and boiling water are streaming forth, with a continual fizzing noise, as though hundreds of steamengines were in motion. The powerful column of vapour, however, which is visible far over the lake-shore, belongs to the large fountain Pirori. From a deep hole in the lefthand bank of the river Tokanu, a boiling-hot water column of two feet diameter, always accompanied by a rapid development of steam, is whirling up to a height of from six to ten feet. The natives, however, told me that the water was frequently thrown up, with a booming noise, to a height of more than forty feet. At a few paces from it there is a basin, eight feet wide, and six feet deep, covered with a deposit resembling chalcedony, in which the water is continually boiling. The lake itself is a real inland sea, twenty-five miles long and twenty broad, and of a depth as yet not fathomed.

THE HOT SPRINGS ON THE WAIKATO RIVER.

A VISIT to the Puias and Ngawhas, or hot springs of this district, was the main object of my journey from Lake Taupo to the east coast. The most remarkable springs of the whole region are comprised within a large whitish mass of siliceous deposit, 120 yards long, and of equal breadth. The manner in which we practically experienced the intermittent properties of the first of these fountains proves sufficiently how much caution is necessary in approaching such springs for the first time without expert guides.

My travelling companions wished to enjoy the luxury of a river-bath early in the morning, and had just deposited their clothes, when suddenly they heard violent detonations, and saw the water madly boiling up in a basin close by. They started back with affright, and were only just in time to escape a shower-bath of boiling water; for, amid much hissing and roaring, a steaming water-column was now being ejected from the basin in a slanting direction, to the height of about twenty feet. By the time I had heard of the treacherous geyser, and had arrived at the place, everything had again subsided into quiet repose; and in the pot-like basin, four feet wide, I only saw water as clear as crystal gently bubbling up. The basin a short time previous to the eruption was full to the brim. Amid a distinctly audible murmuring noise in the depths of the basin, the water came more and more into violent ebullition, and then was suddenly expelled with great force to a height of from twenty to thirty feet. Together with the water, huge volumes of steam burst forth from the