VOLCANIC DISTURBANCES IN THE NORTH ISLAND.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1268, 18 June 1886, Page 3

VOLCANIC DISTURBANCES IN THE NORTH ISLAND.

(Through our exchanges.) INTERESTING DETAILS. - Rotorua; June 12.

M'Rae.the hotel-keeper, stales:— “ About 12.30 p.m. the pines began to *hake, and k ebook continuously for nn hour before the • eruption broke nut. When this was first seen it was jest like a small cloud on the mountain, with flashes of lightning of great Jbii'liatfey. • All were got out of bed and went-up to the old mission station to ascertain the cause of the occurrence. We saw n sight that no man who saw it can ever forgot. Apparently the mountain hart three c aters, and flames were shooting up fully I.OODFt high. There seemed to be a continuous shower of balls of fire for miles around. As a storm appeared to he coining on we returned to the hotel, and shortly afterwards what seemed to be heavy hailstones came pouring on the roof, which continued about every quarter of an hour. ► This was succeeded by a heavy fail of s ones. tire balls, and mud, the lava fallingaftei the manner of rain. The weight of these substances upon the ro-f soon began to tell upon it. The first portion that gave way was the detached kitchen and pantry, and then we all collected in the smoking. 6 room. Those present were Mr and Mrs Humphries, Mr Mmnstt (of the Terrace Hotel), Mr Stubbs (a gentleman staying at the Terrac Hotel), Mr Biinbridge (a voung tourist.), MrFal'ou (thestoreke per), George Baker (my coot). Mary Kean and Mary Bridan, J-hn end AVtlltam Bird (my brothers in law), one of whom had arrived the p-evious night from Rotorua with a waggon load of foods fir my storel There weie also some Maoris in the house. The roof of the hotel gave way at- about- 4 30a m. with a loud smash, and the whole of the upper story c dlapsed the debris falling into the rooms below. , Wo left the smoking room and went into the drawing-room, wh oh, as it was the part of the house wo thought would stand the longest ; hut it was with the greatest difficulty that we got I there, going through falling stones and mud I which impeded ns. When we went outside everybody, without exception, was cod and selfpo?se-se I. The back pirtof the bouse, in which was the diuining mom, gave way next, and all of a sudden wo heare a fearful crash and roar, as if thousands of tons of stuff we falling, and the balcony come down, 'lhe dinger <f our position was now fearfully apparent... Mr Bdinbridge remarked on the fact, and suggested that we should engige in a religious eervi -e. H« remarked with awful calmne-s that lie expected to be before his Maker in an hour or so AVe acqoiesed, and Mr Bainbri Ige read ,a portion of the Scriptures and sa d a prayer, in which ail fa vcntly joined. At the same time we,agreed that wo shoo'd make an effort to sieve ourselves, and with this object we determined toh-aye the hotel ami make for the nearest Maori whan we saw standing. At this time a terrific gale was Mowing and hot stones and mud were descending incessantly. We . agreed to stick togeher, Mr and Mrs Humphries and Mr Bainbridge went out .first, I and the two idris following with the •; rest. It was so dark that we could not see our hands b. fore ns. and we directed our way by instinct, calling to one another frequently to ascertain our relative positions. One of the men, myself, anil the two girls \nrrive-l at Sophie's whan, where I found r and Mrs Humphries, Mr Minuet, Mr Stubbs, Mr and Mr Baker sitting, in a shower of stones and mud, I went out to try and find where the others were, and found Baker stuck against a tree. I took him to the t chare, and went bark f o ' the hotel to find the others, and found Mr I Stubbs and Mr Minnet, they haring groped j about for some time and returned to the ! drawing-room. 1 directed them to the I .w/fare, and theft went towards Wlisrepuri, end my delight was great when 1 heard the voice of Humphries answering my shout. He ami his wife were making for a carved hou-a, which they reached and remained their all night. I went hack to tho wkare, looking for-Mr Bainbridge, hat could get no answer, and I have not seen him since. My belief is that lie was stunned by the. fading stones and buried underneath the mud, which now lies five feet deep all over the settle ment, covering everything up At halfpast six I got a caudle in a bottle ami went up to tho resilience of the Hazird family. It was still -pouting mud and stones. 1 was knocked down three or four times, i had previously, lieen struck many times when looking after the others. When 1 reached the school residence I found the eldest daughters, a Vfaoii girl. Mr Blytli (Government surveyor) and Mr Bunion (his assistant) Some were sheltered in the fowl-house, and others were under part of the house, the wall of .which was stand ing. The house was in rums and in flames. 1 then could see no signs of Mr or Mrs Hazard ami thir other children. I sent a party town to Sophie’s whan, ami then, as soon as a glimpse of daylight came, which was about eieht o’clock, a'l the party with the exception of John Bird and myself started for Rotorua. I looked again for Mr Bainbridge, and made a search for Mr and Mrs Hazird, but was unsuccessful. I then collected the horses and started for Ohinemutu. When we got a couple of miles on the road I in t Mi Humj hrir-s, Mr Minnelt, and Mr Blyth, reluming with Mr Douglas and Constable Morr-ney, who had ridden from Rotorua. Wo all returned to Wairn.a, and commenc’d to dig for the bodies of the Hazards, and to our great astonishment discovered Mrs Hazard alive. Her two children were found dead beside her ; hut she was not greatly injured. We continued operations ui-til we were quite exhausted, but found no bodies. We then carried Mrs Hazird to Sophie’s whan, and applied restoratives (brandy and port wipe), which, we re the only things we emild -get till the relief party, headed by Mr Dunbar Johnson (tho Govcrnmmt agent) and Mr E. Robertson (coach pro prietor), arrived,”

A VIVID DESCRIPTION BY A TOURIST.

A tourist, who was at Brent’s Hotel, Rotorua. Gives Ihe foil wing vivid descrip-tion:-Ho retired early, and was awoke from bis sleep about 1 o’clock 01 Thursday morning 1-y a shock ol earthquake. It. was not a violent shake, hut continuous motion. There was no particular alarm, for the motion, though unceasing, was not of a tenifying nature. Through the windows of his rooms ho saw a vivid light arising Impi the direct inn of Tarawora. Hoat once e*c\a : med, “Oh. itis.an eruption.” Every one then diesred and went lo the front, of the h-nise, where they stood watching Ihe flashing light. A little before 2 a m., from the fl.ckering flames the light condensed into a vast end mass! e pillar of fire, rearing itrelf high up in the heavens. This grriAra'iy extended literally along the range till if represented an apparent diameter of al-eut i.ba'f-a-mi'e. As he lett the hotel Ihe pillar of flro, winch was accompanied by a continuous terrific roaiing, seemed gialu--11 ly to be eclipsed by a dense black cloud which settled on it hanging like a pall over the flames, which were hidtbn but.,not extinguished; The black cloud pilhir rose straight in Ihe air,' and thin V-atrio continriOns explosions and roars, which seemed to

give way before te'rifib thornier accompanied by_ vivid Audios of lightning. At first starting from the pillar, the storm seemed to extend and settle down over the whole fane of the heavens The lightning was bo'h forked and sheet, and Hashed incessantly. The thunder roared *011) every point, the whole atmosphere being filled with air pervaded, .with suffocating sulphur stench. All along the road springs hut broken out in every dneo 1 ion hobbling and boiling, rendering walking an extreme danger. By this time, the, inhabitants were aroused to a sense 1 of the imminent danger of their jiosition and tallying forth from their houses, were departing towards Parckoi. though the darkness nnillninined except by lightning flashes and pikeing their way with the aid of lanterns. Daring the whole of this time a gale of wind was blowing across Rotorua and towards ths seat of the eruption, which proved the means of saving the township- At about 4 a.m., however, the wind suddenly dropped, the smoke all over Rotorna became denser, and then a thick and heavy 1 shower of ashes began to fall continuously. Then indeed the Rotorua people gave up for lostthe darkness became thicker, no one knew which way to turn, and dawn was earnestly prayed for. At about 6 a.m. day began slowly to break.* Below the jetty canopy a thin bine line was seen on the northern horizon, and gradually the surrounding objects became dimly visible, and it .was s»en that all the surrounding bills and the whole fane ' ,of the country were covered with white ashes. Still the black pillar rose from Tarawera. but the sulphur pass’s were loss oppressive and the people began to breathe more freely. At 8 a.m , when dry began to beak, the thunderstorm abated and soon the sky became comparatively clear except in the vicinity of Tarawera, when Ihe inky piliar slili elevated itself. But at 9 o'clock the pad again sprea 1 over the heavens, and daikiiess began to s-1 in. At 10 he started on foot for Oxford in advance of the co ich which w>s to overtake him on the road. Daylight ha I now the peculiarity of being seen in a total eclipse of the sun. •- ,

A LOOK AT I’HR TERRACES—A GRAND SPECTACLE, Rotorua, June 13th.

A party wag organise't by Mr James Stewart and Mr WV T. Firth to endeavour to see where the eruption was, and to ascertain the fata of the White and Pink Terraces. The guide of the party was Mr H. Lending, a strapping; young fellow who behaved mi well at iWairpa on the night of the eruption. Captain W-tyV-who is well acqiuiin'el with the'country, also joined the party. We first wrt to Te SVairoa in a vrh'de. The doings at thit place have been described by another pen. We returned •m the road as far as Lake Tikitapu, the famous Blue Lake, which is now a dull muddy grey. Then we left the vehicle and comm'-nee I a toilsome march across the hills. They were covered with mud into which every step oua sank to the ankles, I did not hear anyone say that he wan'd find out the fate of the terraces or die, but I suspect we were all pretty well determined to attain our oi j ;ct even at the cost of so-e fatigue, or even dange'. We were all on foot except one or two, it hiving been said that the track we were to take was impute-tcable fur hor-e?. Just bef ire we pot to the snu 1 settlement of Kaiteriria, Mr Harry Mitchell, who had a ho se, was told by R' me Natives who were in a canoe 01. Lake Tikitapu that Mr Bint had turned tip, and he determined to return, an ! kindly handed me over his horse. This saved me from a great deal of fatigue. Afterwards we stayed a little time at Kaiterbia. Although >t is only th r e« or four miles from Te Wairoa, it escaped almost entirely from the dieadful showers which destroyed that place. A Maoti introduced himudf to mo as the principal chief of the settlement, and with him 1 hid some conversation. I found that he was one of that rather numerous class who read the designs of Provi lence, I asked him if he wasjafraid on the night of the outburst. He sai I •• Yes ; I was, but I prayed to Gorl to preserve onr lives, and he has Raved all *f us. Aa for Te Wairoa, which has lieen destroyed with so many of its people, it is the judgment of God for,its great sins.” Ho then enumerated these sin?, which no doubt all tourists to Rotomahana can call to memory. Our ot ject in go ing by Kaiteriria was to get -to the southward of the Terraces. The wind was blowing fri.m ibe southward, so that by going this way we escaped the steam and smoke. Our design was to get to a place which Bonding knew, where there had been a I spring, and which was a few miles to the southward of the Pink Terrace. The route was determi lei as in all the circumstances lha hoat. and I m.y add the safest. From K dierira we had a march of about seven miles, and got up to the place where we intended to c imp just about dusk. As our camp was to lie at the side of a piece of bush, I walked on some distance further to get a view from an advantageous ridge.- A most singu ar and curious spectacle met my eyes. For miles . the whoja country was covered with a depo.-it which in the fading sunlight and s rengthenbig moonlight, looked as white a* snow. This was the district between the Pink Terrace and Karakaramea Mountain. It looked like an active arcic scene, and as we stood on the ridi>e of the hill it seemed as if we were the first explorers. There were apparently hummocks of ice and mountains covered with snow. All.these were from a fine wh'te deposit which had issued on that fatal night from the new crater (quite near to the spot where we stood was one of these craters ) There had been a green hill which bad burst ont into a fearful volcano. A large part of iho hill had fallen in, and there was a crater much larger than Mount Eden. A constant column ot steam was rising from the mighty cauldron, end at intervals there issued great showers of cinders and huge rocks driven far into the air. A beautiful and grand spectacle was met with on returning to this place. There was a continual roar, varied at intervals with a loud boom. Returning to the place of the camp. I found that two tents had beer, fixed, and a roaring, fire had been .’kindled, Bunding had lieen at a spring and found that it was fil ! ed up an I choked wbh irnid. We were therefore thrown back bn the water we cairied with ns.- two or three bottles. M r Stewart, the leader of our party, determined that the 'axu-y of tea conic not be indulged in, as, covered over as the country was. we could got no water nearer than Kaiteriria, pome eight miles away. We therefore dined on a hard biscuit, a piece of yre e-ved moat; and a very sparing drink of water. After the usual chat round thec’tnp fire we retired to ihe tents. Not being ns-d to camp life I did not sleep well. There were t-hiee adverse can re?: L wa? very c dmd I was insufficiently provided with blankets, a toot companion scored so abominably aa to make me quite nervous, and riming the night we had two strong shocks 'f earthquake, with ' a perpetual roar and booming. The morning dawned fine for our purpose. The mud volcano wo named the Black Crater, not having with na any Native who knew the original n mie. Wo climbed to a high hill that enabled ns to look down upon this particular volcano, It lies in the country between the Pink Terraco Karkaramea m nn« tain, and not far from Okaro lake. This lake was reported to have benn .tbo scene | of the eruption, bntrl is not. All the conns try around the lake i* covered with. tk»

f white deposit,, bat tha lake stands pretty muoh as it didi The Black Crater spouts np in two places When we were there, or as close ns we thought it prudent nr possible to go with the time at our disposal, it was sending up from one place, huge boulders, and from the other columns of c'hdore, which rose to a great, height, spread out like an'nhibrella, and then descended in enormous showers. And what a noise it male, and how grand a speeticle 1 Away to the south, in the direction of Rn pebu and Tpnjfariro. were numerous jobs of ■team. l ' Ruapehu stool grandly np cased in his mantle of snow, while from, Tongariro, was issuing a large column of steam. After feeding our eyes on the Black Crater and its mirveU we akirtedanothor series of spurs tp get as close fo tha back of Ot ikupuiraagi or the PinkTeirace. We were exceedingly anxious to know if the Terraces—those wonders of the world with their hath* anl their beauty —had survived the teirible upheaval. 1 need not say that the walk up the hil 3 and down into tho va'leys over the lie da of (’ust as line ns flour, over expanse of rough stones, over filial lei.. which had been waahel with showe-s of hot water from the volcanoes was terrible. But at length we gained a point of vantage, from which' we looked down upon an awful scene. All the ground about the Pink Te'-raoes hal fallen in. We looked down upon some 13 or 14 craters all belching forth stones an I a«hes. i _Wfi_S9ul(l pot count the separate eoiters "exactly - owing to the smoke and steam, buWt seemed to os that the whale area which -had been occupied by the White and Pink Terraces and the Lake Rotornahana was now occnpie 1 with vast caters, all roaring an I belching forth stones and cinders. , We were on a much higher level and could see 1 all , these ora'ers working away below us. Of course they are not how as they were a* the fatal outbreak, for then they .covered all the distance we-h id I traversed during the day with stones and ashes. Tt is a magnificent and awful' sight—one never to be forgotten. Wo ; could see in the distance Lake Whakatn apparently unharmed. We could see in the far, distance the hills covered with stuff from the volcanoes. We could not a c the site of the White Terrace, the steam an! smoke q hte concealed it, but wt were of opinion that nothing of the kind could remain io:aot. .As for Te Arata, its loveliness has passed away. On returning we got on to a hill from whence wo hope l to ree the Tarawera mountain, which was said to l»e in eruption. The wind changed a little and bit us hive a view of part of 1 the mountain, and as far as we could see 1 there hod been no eruption there. But it must be remembered that we did nob see all the mountain. We stopped on onr way back to camp,* and 1 had a goo I look at the ! Black Orateror craters, which were playing in a most fearful manner. 3

I may say that: the Natives have given Mr Johnson, tho Government agent, a nominal list of Natives who are supnosed ■to hove been killed. The number is 95. A* far as we could ascertain when close to the volcanoes we looked at the place where the settlements had been, ami it was the opinion cf all of ns that the Natives had not the smallest chance for their Jives.

Rotorua. June 14th, THE NATIVES DUM FOUNDED.

The N itiv.-s li'nng.in this district are, of course, quite familiar with the outburst of new epilogs a»d with variations within certain limits of volcanic activity, hut an outbreak like this they have not the faintest .tradition. When first Natives who landed fro n the Arawa canoe penebra’ed to Rotorua they found (hi Nsgawhas just as .we hive always known them. They are quite dumfounded by the calamity. As I said ye.ster.lay, one ancient htpn has been extinguished by the calamity except one man, I saw Kepa yesterday, the principal chief of the Talmarama tribe, the owners of Tarawera. and Rotomahana. He rn >e up with us fop soma distance to see how the country looked. He is much cast down at having lost so' many of his people. A license bad been granted for a hotel to be erected at Pink Terrace, and the ground bad been prepare 1 and a start made for its erection. If it had been erected and if this outbreak had taken' place during the tourist season they would all have been blown into eternity.

A NATIVE REPORTS THE PINK TERRACE TO BE SAFE.

A Native named lianawa, who went out yesto'day and who gained a position somewhat to the sontb of where we were, states that a.e went from the G ila'ea track and reached a hill overlooking four craters, all burning in the spaed formerly occupied by Rotomahana lake. The lake itself is gone and the place is-all dry. Tho vo'oanoes seemed to taka a direct line to the Paeroa range. We saw the place where Otukapuarangi (the Pink Ten ao ) stands. Tho terrace I liehevetd be safe. Steam was issuing from-it, but Ido not think any crater has burst out there. I do not think the terraces are broken. The steam was coming from the original springs. One of tho crateis was sending out fiery flimes. We could see the first through the smoke. At a certain distance up all the smoke ami steam mixed. fn respect to Tarawera mountain, on tho side towards tho lake an 1 Tnpaliero, it is all quiet, but fire is issuing from the ?tops-of The peaks of the moan tain. On the- side towards the south the fire is issuing from tho mountain Makatilii —a mountain on one file of Tarawera. Fire-is issuing from f -ur eruptions. Wo were looking down on tne vole moss, and one was where the springs used to be. 1 saw the pink teir ee for a short time. I believe this structure is all right, but it was covered with ashes.

THE LOSS AT VVAIUOA. Mrs Haztrd is Gradually recovering, and it is hoped will be in a condi ion to go on to Auckland by coach at the end oE the week. The surviving members of the family go with hep. Her brother returns tomorrow, having succeeded in digging out the wreckage of personal effects and clothing from the ruins of the detached portion of- Hnzir-l’s house which was not destroyed by tire. : Mr M‘Has also got his waggons dug-out and the contents of Ins store, lie bad about L2OOO worth of stock in the store and in Hie hotel, preparing for the approaching sittings of the Native Lands Court. His loss cannot he less than -L3OOO. Even the insurance will not ho recoverable, as the loss was eansed by earthquake. The Maoris at Wairoa are severe lose", having had several hundred pounds’ Worth of buggies, drays, etc., destroyed.- They take their loss very phis losophically, and say it. cancot he helped, ami mving won’t mend it. As to the | recovery of ’he dead, they do not appear | anxious. They say the peop'e died on the r , land - there let tbe.m rest. They ate greatly pleased at the efforts of the EuroI pans to moivor the Maori dea l, saving it is good of the Europeans to art like that for . the bodies of a race to which they do not i belong,

Efforts have been made to get an old Maori, rtawni. down to Rotorua from Wairoa. Ho is 9!) years old, and nppea’S to have become an imbecile through the scenes ha,,went, through, though ho dug himself"out of hi! hot with his hands. A-l fiMWMfaurtofsi kim to leave Wairoa were

fruitless. Ha said all was gone, anil he i would die on his bn I. Oae Maori said to ■ me with' munh bitterness, “ You pakehas have been striving and lighting to get hold of the terraces ; £ in ike you a present of them.'’ Owing to the destruction at Ta Mgao, and iu the direction of gaiited p'aoes, from which Rotorua was supplied with beef and mutton, there will bo a great scarcity of meat and dairy produce at Rotorua, and thess will probably have to bo supplied from Patetiri, Matamata, or Waikato. RENTS WED ACTIVITY. This morning Wahanga, one of the ranges of Tarawera, loosed to bo quieter, but Tarawera proper was still lively. Tho greater volcanic activity however appears to be at the Terraces, which were more and more violent in their emotion*, an I yester-' day immense cion Is of steam went up all day, and in the forenoon two hu:e black columns shot up in ! o tho air in the shape of a watersnont, an I which must have been several thmsand fiat high Just at dusk to-night from the top of Pukerp it could be seen that (biro wv> a tremendous outburst of activity along the whi In line from \Vabangs to the south of Rotomahana. The whole length of volcanoes I saw yesterday from the Mona appear to be again in active operation aimg, the whole side of Tarawera range. The spectacle was an awe inspiring one, and the immense clou Is of steam tilled every per ion of the eastern sky. WAIROA A DEATH TRAP. Dr Hector and party arrived from Wairoa to-night, getting back with great difficulty. On an of the state of the country at Wairoa he pronounced the place a (bate trap, as the first half hours' rain would oan-o vast .aval inches of mud to oorae from the bids which would fill up Lakes Takitapn and Rntokakahi, and they would overflow and sweep down the gorge into Tarawera carrying everything in the valley of Wairo before it an I forming vast mu 1 glacies out inio Lake Tarawera from the boatlanding place. A quarter of an hours’ rain Would put forty feet of sludge above Wairoa bridge, blocking all communicition. At the mill near Rotokakialii the frost his melted on the crest of ih i hill and is pourinjr down about a hundred streams of sludge on to the road, and this is going on at different points up »o the Tikicapn Bosh. The whole of .he place above Captain Way’s residence will probably fad into tho river. Below where the Wairoa fails ones wore the Suction of iho volcano mud is pulling the surface pumi-’e formation down out of the face of die hid. an I this accounts for the flows which 1 had heard at the different point and which I thought was a suhterra- ] neau stream, as 1 mentioned iu a farmer telegram.

WAIROA TO BE ABANDONED. Mr Johnson, Government agent, on hearing Dr Hector’s views as to the imminent danger of remaining any longer in the Wairoa, at once warned the Natives to remove. Inspectors Kelly and Goo lad took similar steps wish regard to the Europeans, and went round to every person. Steps were also taken to stop any vehicles emiim* towards Wairoa, and to warn all parties back.

OFFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. Weluxgtom. June 14. Dr Lemon has received the f 'flowing tela, gram :

“ Napier.—Mr 15 liotfc, the Opotiki lineman, reports that lie foun 1 the plates of both lightning guards at that office fused The wire had also been down in the river and had been repaired temporarily by Mr Gordon. Mr Somerville, lineman from Tmi.ang.a, reports that ne hid great trouble in travelling, the dust from Rotorua having blinded himself and Jiorae. Ho found the wire fin d at the insulators one mile north of Whakatane.”

Tno Commissioner of the Armed Cbnstabnlarv has received the following ; “ Rotorua, June 14 (9.43 a.m.). —Ste» wirt’s party could not reach Rot.omatiana Native settlement, it being shrouded by sul| her vapour and several places close by in dangerous violent eruption Tho Pink Terraco has subside 1, and its site is apparently a lake. Police hope to reach the Maori scflem-nt by land to-day. - A boat a’so attempts both places. Another European, Samuel Blown, is supposed to have perished at Mourea.— W. A. Kelly.”

CAPTAIN MAIR'S ACCOUNT OF THE

SEAR OH. Rotorua, June 15. I interviewed Captain Mair on his return, ami he nave a arapbio narrative of the experiences of the expedition. The complete boat’s crew consisted of hitn-e'f, R. E Iwards (interpreter), Alfred Arthur Warbrick, Ainsley (of Tauranga), Black (Rotorua), Gunnell, Taylo-, Hnrr-ll (North Shore, Ancklarul). and Sergeant Cahill. On leaving Wairoa a rope was tied to a tree and thrown down the cliff to enable them t> c’imb up the '•IiDF down which they lowered them-elves to the boat, but the fissures in the cliffs gave little hope of getting hack that way. Attoratarting from the landing-place at Wairoa for the Mourea Native settlement they were accompanied by avalanches of sand flying from the c iffr on the right, which fell into the lake wi'h terrible velocity and weight, causing the. lake to make serious pulsations. They reached the site of .Mourea village, where •13 Maoris were buried. Here mu I m a liquid stale is running into the lake with rapidity. The whole site i f the village had been shot bodily into the lake. The large grovo of karaka Irens which grew there was found fl rating a mile in the lake. All the rocky points about here appear to be battered or broken to pieces. Th y floundered through the mud over the site of the village and finding no sign of life went on to Arika. Between Mourea and Arika the wi-hing-s:ono-,where the deity of the lake was wont to be propitiated has disappeared. They reached To Arika at 3 p.m. The whole front of Tarawera on this front had been changed by earthquakes. At the hiss were vast mounts of volcanic giit, which was piled up half across To Arika inlet. Between Tarawera proper and Rukumia is comp'etely filled up. making a range, or like one, an I altering the contour of the country. The south of Tarawera mount is blown c’ean off, miking an indentation like looking in front of a felt hat. This has formed a large ciater, which is still active. The upper lip seems hundreds of feet deep. Immediately behind Arika, in the direction of Rotomihana. a very largo steam hole near the W bite Terraco is in violent action, and from wlrch is springing immense clouds of blank steam la leu with dust. A chain of steam jets or craters appeared to run | from near Okaro through Rot nnnhana to Tarawera and along it to the i orth an I east, l ■ being the north-east end of Waitangi. Tapahar.a Buff or volcanic district appears to have been dislolge l by the crater at the ■ end of Tarawera Mountain, It varies from . 10 to Soft in dep hj. At To Arika 40 Natives i wore covered by a depth of3ofo of dust and ■ aan I, with n top dressing of two feet of soft mini. Kiraki Greek from Rotomahanv was dry. Captain Muir decided to lo up the CTridt. notwithstanding that there weie walls of hit dust on ei her side 2 ) to 30ft high. They penetrated some distance, but it became too hot to go further. They than got over the walla in the direction of the.

1 ®!to of the villages, struggling up to their knees. From the point gained they could | see steam jets streaming from a circle in the southern horizon. They tried to proceed 1 over the tqp’wall, but found the stiff mod too deep, and had to return to the boat. They then cruised around the eastern side of the lake an I found a search party of nine Natives who came from Matta and Nga tiangateki, and who had been struggling two days through from Tapahora in the endeavour to reach Te Arika, Thev were thoroughly exhausted. They supplied them with moat of their stores and provisions and then took them in the boat to a place near the outlet of Tsrawera, trom which thev could return safely to their homes. Captain Mail-then headed back for Wairoa, but was unable to get ashore at the landing place owing to the fissures iu the cliff where the r,, Qfi was suspended, and they put into Paparoa (one mile from the Wairoa village) and abandoned the boat. It took two hoars ami a half to get over a mile of ground—struggling through the mud, which was slipping down the side of the hill. Some of the pa-ty were completely exhausted, and had to lie down in the mud track. They arrived at Wairoa »t 11 o’clock at night. Fortunately the light rain at Rotorua at that hour did not extend to Wairoa. The party had decided, if rain set in, that, their only chance of escape, as they could not land from *he boat, was to pull down to the outlet of Tarawera lake and push through, if possible, by Rangitikei on the east coast. The party, with the exception of Sergeant Cahill slept at Wairoa During the night they experienced three earthquakes wh'ch shook tho wreck of Maoßae'a house where they were sleeping and woke the party np. They started for Lake Rotokakabi ami parsed to Kitiri in canoes and got on to Rotorua arriving as above. Great credit is duo to all the members of the party for their courage and self devotion, especially to tho two Warhrick.a and Black, who got the boat overland from Rotorua to Wairoa,

TONGAEIEO SHOWING SIGNS OF ACTIVITY. Auckland, June 15. Like Tanpo yesterday afternoon rose to an alarmin' height very sudden y, Imt subsi<led g adua ly, without doing any damage. Pongarro at the same time showed in» creased activity. This morning Tongaviro is enveloped in thick smoke and loud explosions proceeded from it, a severe shock of earthquake being felt simultaneously. The Government have reo ived a telegram from Mr D msey in which he states that it is quite a decided fact that the While and Pink Terraces at Lake Eotomahana no longer exist.