WHITE ISLAND.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume II, Issue 171, 25 April 1874, Page 3

WHITE ISLAND.

Ws are indebted to Captain Tovey for the following interesting notes of a trip to White Island ;

left the wharf at Tauranga in the s.s. Southern Cross at 8 o’clock p.m. on Monday la-t, and, with a smooth sea, proceeded outside the harbour on our way to the Island, with nothing of sufficient interest on the passage worth recording. Towards daybreak it rained a little, but it soon cleared off, and daylight found us abreast of the lauding place, the island surrounded by murky clouds and covered with a dense mass of vapour. Putting in-shore the vessel anchored within a stone’s throw of a narrow bank of stones and boulders, forming the entrance to the large open space or valley in the centre of the island, which, surrounded by precipitous bill sides made up of sulphur, mud, brimstone, and gypsum, enclose the crater and the lake, with the seething, roaring abysses, which from their cavernous recesses, with a noise like the roar of a tempest, send forth their clouds of dense sulphureous vapour, which, rising high above the island and seen, from afar, have given to it the name of White Island. As soon as it was light enough the party from the steamer landed, armed with stout sticks to feel their way over the soft ground, and without which it is dangerous to walk about. After crossing a flat of hot sand and mud, with sulphur cropping outof it in every direction, and sending up fumes of vapour and steam, the party approached tlje margin of the lake, but, to their surprise, found it dried up. Descending the steep jjidee, at the foot of which a mud geyser on a small scale was in active working, they crossed the bed of the lake, feeling their way thiTy went, jets of steam and vapour issuing from the ground with a hissing sound all round them ; and at the further side of this lake came upon a solid wall of sulphur, mixed with mud, about 20 feet high, from which hundreds of tons could be taken, and which wag estimated to contain about 70 per cent, of sulphur. Beyond the lake, to at the foot of the encircling hills, a tremendous abyss yawned its immense mouth, from which, accompanied by the noise of boiling and seething water violently agitated, issued, with a terrific roar, a dense volume of steam and sulphureous vapour, which shot straight to the sky. Looking over the edge as near as it was safe to approach, nothing could be seen but the dense vapour obscuring everything below. A place you might descend, but never come up again alive—a place of fearful, threatening, direful, ominous aspect. Numerous fine specimens of crystallized sulphur were picked up and detached by b'ows of hammer and chisel. Proceeding on, a small stream of sulphureous acid, issuing from the farther end of the valley, was crossed, and beyond a magnificent spectacle presented itself to the astonished gaze of the beholders : a huge conical mound of bright yellow sulphur sent out clouds and jets of steam and vapour with a furious hissing souud, which no one dared to approach ; and by its side a tremendous opening, surrounded by a mound of volcanic matter recently ejected, belched forth with a noise above the roar of the loudest thunder, a storm of furious vapour and smoke obscuring the sky. Having with some difficulty reached a place commanding a view of this c-rater, and approached it as far as safety would permit, the noise and vapour suddenly increased to such an alarming degree that we beat a precipitate retreat, and by the time wo got to a safe distance the whole of the upper end of the valley was covered with a dense pall of vapour and smoke. We were somewhatconcerned leatthe water should suddenly rise in the bed of the lake while crossing it. Fortunately, this did not occur, oc I should not

hnv;.. been able !.) pc. \ this ilwvS.-v.Tal uf ptirsv piungid into deep u.ud, but in ; ;u----b ti.'iu ol the hike this was cool, excepting in pltu'es where steam issued forth. Outsjdo'\he lake the stuff below the surface was boiling hot., xhe party only remained on the island two hoars, and greatly enjoyed the trip. 1 trust this account may prove interesting to your readers.