ROTORUA AS IT IS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1964, 8 October 1888, Page 3

ROTORUA AS IT IS.

A gentleman who has jast returned from a toar through the northern lake district and has visited that part of the oountty affeoted by the recent eruption of Taruwara, has supplied the " Evening Post " with the following interesting noteß ; — T returned from a trip to the Hot Lakea about a fortnight ago, The place has so changed Blnoa I vr&B last there that I failed to reoognlie Ik. The Government sanatorium, which was ones t> dense masß of 1 1- tree, seven feet high, is now a magnificent place - a regular fairy land — whilst all round jast oatsfde the fence is as Nature left it. The Government have conoreted all the springs giving them most fantastic shapes — some round, some oblong, others again the shape of the " little shamrook of Ireland." How they managed to concrete all round that hot, treacherous ground beats me. My firm belief is that Rotorun will sink m one of these days. The ground underneath is cfuite hollow. I will givayouan Instanoe. The telegraph people were putting up a pole, and m sicking a hole had got down Bft, when all of a sudden the spade of one of the men disappeared from his hand and went down into the vasty deep Ho jumped out of the hole and said he was not.gr.lng 10. dig any more hole* m Rotorua and Immediately filled the place up. When they are chopping wood outaide the " Telegraph Offioe " it shakes the place like an -•»«thqu&ko^_X_.wonV to Waitoa to see what change was there and it is simply awful. Imagine to yourself that it had been Bnowlng very heavily, and the snow had reached np to the chimney pots and then left off— only for enow substitute volo»nic dust, which has set bo hard that it has formed a concrete, and I conld not break it with the heel of my boot—then you will be able to form an Idea of the dreadful destruction Tarawera caused. Yon can just see tbe tops of some willows, poplars and a few fruit trees sticking above the ground, andatsomeplaoeßthe ridge and part of the roof of a house or whare. 1 A few cattle are wandering about, the only food they can find being treetops. The plica, too, is swarmlrtg with blaok mice. All tbe onoo beautiful blue lakes are now a dirty clay color. The roads are jost Blmply cut out, and look like the banks and bed of a dry river ; the banks are from 10 to 15ft deep m aome places Tou can just Bee eight lnohes of the top tails of bridges, the oreeko either haviag been filled up or else having taken another course some miles away. I saw the spot where poor Bainbrldge was found, and also the remnants of the bedroom m which I slept when I was there 12 years ago. All that is left of it is the front of tbe house and the windows — everyone is broken. Dasol&tlon reigns supreme.