A WORD PICTURE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1614, 20 July 1887, Page 3

A WORD PICTURE.

The " Observations on the Eruption of Mount Tarawera," by Messrs J A. Pond and 8, Percy bmith, F.R.G.0., read before the Auckland Instil uto last year, have been reprinted from tho " Tranaaction.B of the New {Sealaud institute " for 188G, In pamphlet form. The following piece of wora-palnting, deßcriptlvs]"of the eteam cloud over Kotomahanai will bear analysis :-—•• Biding home,, weoried and covared with mud, we halted to gaze upon ono of tho most glorious sights man could viow. We stood m alight- timbered cjrove jaat outside the belt of ash-covered plain, the setting sun at our buck; Away and away m our front for mileo lay the upene that not long since looked like snow j But now, reflected on it, the rays of tho Betting sun gpve It tbo aspect of red coral. Bu,t, »boyj» all, there rose m solemn grandeqr the towering tnaas of steam ; thousands npon thaUeands of feet it ascended, until h* crown was lost m the bright, ileeg.y gltf^ that QWQ rolling up from tbe routh. &]gbt ! ayo, bright with the full effulgence of tho orb wbigb, was still high above the horizon there ; but lower, the dazzling brightness wanedj and. ft ffiinfc glint of a golden hue was aeon,' to be rivalled by the richer colors and deeper gold of the nether parts, until tuey deepened and Bank thrpugh rose to carmine, and deeper hues suffused the base and the far reaching orimson plain, while the deep green, of tbp bueh m which we otooc) mVpe up a picture difficult to equal, impossible to excel. And thus from earth to aky rolled the over-changing inaeß of steam, rent at the bad 6 with the up-rueh of countless geysers,' imparting to it changing and varying t'nts, beautiful und tran blent ; but above, calm, solemn, and gorgoous, and apparently immovable. Slowly the deopGr tinW' orept up, and loft the base white 'and beautiful m the light of the bright full moojj, while the crown still reflected' th'f deep aoft tints of a uuu which; bad lopgjyst wftu us.'! ,