TONGARIRO NATIONAL PARK.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 152, 21 March 1908, Page 7

TONGARIRO NATIONAL PARK.

«"v A WEIRD AND WONDERFUL COUNTRY,, ' INTERVIEW WITH DR. COCIiAYNE. .In.the Toiigariro National Park, Neiy Zealand hii? oAo o£.. thd-finest 'aiid. niost''awe : : inspiring;.; rag ions' Easily a'ccessiblo; by man in:thd ,Dr. Cockayne,, the , cminentj..jsptanMiv.ffin9,rsi l !CO:fl beginning of the been.engaged,, : on belief. of\ the Government, in . a,, ndtanical ■ survey ,iof,, tho Park,'/returned ,to' Wellington'' by last ovening-s"express, ajid -.when seen -by a re'presentativo ; of_;'this /paper' gave'- a _ graphic. account of; this". wonderland provided : by.* ,'natii'ro.-in ;its 'igrirnnicist 1 -mood::.':,..\.}y' .• " Tonganro,"' said Dr. CooUayne,- "is not one'-volcano;'; as jg 1 generally : supposed,' 'but is a'• chain' of mountains, - most 'of which aro extinct; volcanoes,.- but. t.w'o,the red- crater and Td 'Mori, :are always' moro or less activo w'heri 'thp not activo'iri the:therm'al ; region. : . Tong'ariro is much: richer in plant' life than jßuapehu. : 0n it; grows -a' fine yellow, buttercup, and a!number of rare.and-interest-' •jug' •-Alpin'o plants, ■ several ■ of Which' 1 ; arS as ,yet Unriiarked for',that, district: A w'dnder- 1 ful' lava i; stream ■' '.of' ;: ; cbmparatively;'. recent origin: l (anything- b'etw'cqn. fifty and 200 years old)';, has :been poured frpni' Te Mori ■ right through; the,fine forest jnto .Lako R-ptoiro, almost dividing -it' into, two'' halves, r find already the formation 'is 'iu process cf'.being aolonised by' plants,' ', /' . ' 1 "In;- ord6r. , ;,to' visit /.tho, different points of Toiigariro Rational; Park;,it. is "necessary to travol .-'along tho . main- trunk lino and-, by the coach :; :road between' ,tho. rail-heads.' This coach' rido ; is: certainly' one of tho' .finest in -tho.' Dominion. Tho : 'forest 'near .Oh'akuno contains 'timber, of - the' bosk quality for milling' purposes,' trtid as: one ascends the' hills, the. ovo rests' for miles'on. a .wilderness of treb ; '.topsi':whilo. tho mind pictures''tho 1 fertile farms and smiling homesteads.of-tho future, ■ and.' yet with a -feeling 1 ' of sorrow' for tho .forest giants With, the wealth 'of for'ns' be'ne»tli that aro (loomed to; destruqtiqn, In :-tho: .neighbourhood-, 'of Rarigatalia;. .tlio charactdr of tho", forest' 'differs,':'''giving .'plaoo .to/battalions .of red beech (birch) trees', '. inany of 'theni ,Bft.. to ; 10ft; .in: diameter.- '.Higher lip still .lit, an ..elevation, of; 3500 ft., 1 a Kond of tho beech is.found, and yet higher._tho nidrq • insignificant nioun-. ■tain birch,'with its fqhago arranged in layera. li\ : .tiid; Soilth Islajul thoV trunks .of Vtheso trqes ( aro usually covered':. with,. a ~ black fungus, which makca thdm look as if they wero painted with soot, but on Ruanehu this disfigurement is absent', and, Icpldng from below, tho-bright.green foliago is like old laco against tho'sky. 1

"Speal;ing generally, ■ the Tpngariro National Park contains for its area-niprq varied'.scones than" any other,' part' 6f : tho Dominion'. Thcro is,_ for instance, thp wanti crater lake ivith its'icy walls on tho summit of Ruapehuj-tlio weird 'waters. of Nga' Puna a > Tama; tjici river Whangahu, with its nndrinkablo wato)- highly l charged with sulphur and various ■ chemicals'lnbuntajiv. 1 ; torrents' gushing suddenly from faccs' of rock; rivor gorges full 1 of beautiful- forest,; scoria' deserts weird, and ;vast: br6w r n plains, over which roam herds; of wild horses, and finally that which, to me, was jurist interesting pf > all," '.plants of tho 1 most curious structure suited to'their desert'environment.'?,

Ojv the whole,. t finp' wcathor- was experienced by ; the '■ party, but oocasipnally' they: would'/ho caught . out on tho: mountain-' by rain—and would' get; a. .Soaking. On 0110 occasion -Dr. Cockayn'o 'arid' his companion .wero 'by night. in a' mountain' forest, and, to inattprs uncomfortable, rain began to full!. They only had a blanket each, ho ;ono,'blaiiket' was rigged' up over a polo os a fly, and tho ends made fast to tho ground;.. Under this, thoy crept,' making tho best'use of tho other blanket, but tho : makcE|iifti, tent ; .»vas 'all ,:top short for. their! logs, so they, had to bo content to allow the rain to" pal tor on tlioir'feot tho whole night' through.' -Dr. 'Cockayno is used to such trifles' as this,and • stated that-' he never suffered through-exposure,: but sinoo his re-turn-to-civilisation ho had caught a cold. His'report,- to bo ready about .tho end of Aprils should" bo a most' interesting document.'■'!'• ' 1 / ' : ' -

I Ayjiijo'-' in tho Park district lib . made the mountain hut on : the lower slopes , of Ruapclui his baso camp; Pie maintains that tho approach to tlio 'Tpngariro' National Park will novor' bo by way of tho Waimarino,- : but by ai, now track which he-discovered at Rangataha, wliero the' ascent.; is. very great within a short distance.: ■'.'