PYROMANIA.

New Zealander, Volume 9, Issue 726, 30 March 1853, Page 3

PYROMANIA.

To the Editor of the New Zealander.

Sm t —It is a very remarkable circumstance that of the several accidents by fire which have occurred in this colony, all with, as I think, one exception, have been confined to houses the property of the Government. When I say accident, I use that word in its most restricted sense, as it is very difficult to make an individual who has gone the rounds of these colonies, like myself, and who is “fly” to all the “dodges” of gents, in authority on this, the wrong side of the line, believe, that whilst so many hundreds of wooden shells, for which no sane insurers would grant a policy on any terms, have escaped,, four buildings, the property of our gracious Queen, should have been burned to the ground “ without nobody knowin nothin about it. ’ We have it upon the authority of a Government officer, who instructs, or is paid to instruct and improve the native people as editor of the Maori Messenger, and who, as editor of the Southern Cross is paid to slander and abuse the Governor and the Government under which they live, that His Excellency Sir George Grey, after havin' 7 ' sown the seeds of desolation in the streets of Auckfand, did, with a keen eye to his own immediate profit and future convenience, burn down the Government House of this province—a very curious revelation of the ingenuity of the said Governor, which is not given, as usual, upon the authority of “ a well-informed southern or northern correspondent,” as the case may require, butdistinctly upon the editors own authority, ami in a lead in <>• article as remarkable for the \aiieties of the type in which tlie arc emphasized, as for the classical style of its language and its curiously “ exalted” tone. Would you kindly imform me, sir, if you are in possession of the information, or permit me through your columns, to “spier” that question at (lie editor of the Southern Cross and Maori

Messenger —-Who burned the Government House at Russell ? Who set fire to the Government Offices in this town, and who was the incendiary at whose door should be laid the destruction of the Government House at Taranaki ?

Really, sir, this is a matter of very deep importance, and if, as I greatly fear, there is no chance of our being able to drum Sir George out of the colony for years to come, it is worthy of the immediate attention of the colonists. We may hear on any Tuesday or Friday morning that a handsome and remunerative crop of grass has just been secured on Te Aro Flat, and that Government House at Wellington, with all the silver spoons, is in ashes and sac/t-cioth. Memorials and public meetings are completely done up, and of no force. Suppose, sir, that a company were started to insure the few remaining public buildings against the Governor, or have we no mercantile gentlemen who would be glad to earn an honest penny and public applause by taking the risk I I think I could name one or two who, for “ a consideration,” would devote themselves as underwriters.—l am, sir, &e.. Blaze.

A Shout Account of an Ascent of the Volcanic Mountain of Tongariro* in the North Island of New Zealand, by Mb. Henry Dyson.

When at Taupo lake in November last with Major Hume and Captain Cooper, 58th Regiment, I met Mr. Dyson who has been living chiefly in the interior of the country during the last four or five years. He had lately ascended one of the highest and most celebrated mountains in the island, and he dictated to me the data for the following account which he was desirous of having made public:— Mr. Dyson's account of his Ascent of Tongariro. In the month of March, 1051, a little before sunrise I commenced my ascent alone, from the north western side of the Rotoaire lake. I crossed the plain and ascended the space to the northward of the Whanganui river. Here I got into a valley covered with large blocks of scorioe, which made my progress very difficult. At the bottom of the valley runs the Whanganui river. After crossing the river, which at this place was then not more than a yard broad, I had to ascend the other side of the valley, which, from the unequal nature of the ground, was veiy tedious, and I kept onwards as straight as I could for the top of the mountain. At last I came to the base of the cone, around which there were large blocks of sconce which had evidently been vomited out of the crater, and had rolled down the cone. The most formidable part of my journey lay yet before me, namely the ascent of the cone, and it appeared to me from the position where I stood that it composed nearly one-fourth of the total height of the mountain. I cannot say at what angle the cone lies, but I had to crawl up a considerable portion of it on my hands and feet, and as it is covered with loose cinders and ashes, I often slid down again several feet. There was no snow on the cone or the mountain, unless in some crevices to which the sun’s rays did not penetrate. There was not on the cone any vegetation, not even the long wiry gross which grows in scanty patches up to the very base of the cone. The ascent of the cone took me, I should think, four hours at least; but as I had no watch, it is possible from the laborious occupation I was at, that the ascent of the cone looked longer than it was. But whether it Avas three hours or four that I AA'as clambering up the cone I recollect I hailed with delight the mouth of the great chimney up Avhich I had been toiling. The sun had just begun to dip, and I thought it might be about 1 p.m., so that I had ascended the mountain from the Rotoaire lake in about eight hours. I must confess as I had scarcely any food with me that I kept pushing on at a good pace. On the top of Tongariro I expected to behold a magnificent prospect, but the day was now cloudy and I could see no distance. The crater is nearly circular, and from afterwards measuring with the eye a piece of ground about the same size, I should think it was six hundred yards in diameter. The lip of the crater was sharp : outside there was almost nothing but loose cinders and ashes; inside of the crater there were large overhanging rocks of a pale yelloAV colour, evidently produced by the sublimation of sulphur. The lip of the crater is not of equal height all round, but I think I could have Avalked round it. The southern side is the highest, and the northern, Avhere I stood, the loAvcst. There avos no possible way of descending the crater,. I stretched out my neck and looked down the fearful abyss Avhich lay gaping before me, but my sight Avas obstructed by large clouds of steam or vapour, and I don’t think I sa\A r thirty feet doAvn. 1 dropped into the crater several largo stones, and it made me shudder to hear some of them rebounding as 1 supposed from rock to rock, —of some of the stones throAvn in I heard nothing. There Avas a low murmuring sound during the Avholc time I AA'as at the top, such as you hear at the boiling springs at Rotomahana and Taupo, and Avhich is not unlike the noise heard in a steam engine room Avhen the engine is at Avork. There Avas no eruption of AV'ater or ashes during the time I was there, nor Avas there any appearance that there had been one lately. I saw no lava Avhich had a recent appearance; notwithstanding all this, I did not feel comfortable Avhere I stood in case of an eruption. The air avos not cold—the ascent had made me hot—but I I had time to cool, for I remained at the crater nearly an hour. At about 2 p.m,, I commenced my descent by the same wav that I ascended. A fog or cloud "passed over Avhere 1 Avas, and caused me to lose my Avay for a short time. When descending 1 saw between Tongariro and Ruapahu a lake about a mile in diameter. I could see no stream flowing out of it on its Avcstorn side. An extinct crater may also be s ;en near the base ot Tongariro. It was almost d irk before I ivached the Whanganui river, and, although in strong condition and a good Avalker, I felt completely done up, and 1 fell asleep in a dry water-course. The night Avas cold, but I slept soundly until daylight, when I immediately rose and continued my descent, and at 10, a.m., I reached ray residence at Rotoaire AA'ith the shoes almost torn off my feet. If I were to go up Tongariro again I should ascend the large spur on the AA'estern side so as to avoid the valley or fissure in which the Whanganui river runs, and continue on this spur as far as it goes. On no account should travellers descend into an amphitheatre-like place, which they cannot fail to see, under the delusion, that it is a short cut to the cone, as the ascent out of it is very difficult, and also the descent on the other side. In January, 1851, I ascended direct from the Rotoaire lake to the summit of the extinct volcano at the north end of the Tongariro mountain, and I avos surprised to find the top covered with smooth stones. I think I could have got from this extinct volcano to the true cone. The best months to ascend Tongariro are January, February, and March. On no other months can you almost ever find the mountain free from snow. No New-Zealander has, I believe, ever been at the top of Tongariro, but they occasionally resort to a boiling sulphurous spring, a considerable distance up the mountain, Avhich has the reputation of being efficacious in the cure of some cutaneous diseases. Remarks, This ends Mr. Dyson’s account of his ascent* Mr. UidAvillt was the first European avlio ascended Tongariro, and Mr. Dyson is, 1 believe, the second. As there are some doubts Avhethex Mi. Bidwill ascended the true cone, I have pleasure in stating that Mr. Dyson’s account tends to pioAe that he did. . . Mr. Bidivill has estimated that ionganro is 6,200 feet above the level of the sea. The Rev. Mr. Taylor, F.G.S., in his “ Leaf from the Natural

• Tongaiiro is the only aclivc volcano in the mainland of tbe North island, t Hambies in New Zealand in 1833.

HFtory of New Zealand,” has stated that Tongariro has been estimated to be 10,000 feet high. This last estimate is obviously a mistake, for the following reason : —lt has been calculated from the observations of Humboldt, and other travellers, that the temperature of the air within the temperate zone falls one degree of Fahrenheit’s scale for every 270 feet we ascend. Now as the mean temperature at the level of the sea in the latitude of Tongariro is about 58 Fahr. —this makes the limit of perpetual snow to be in the neighbourhood of Tongariro 7,020 feet above the oceanic level. But, the summit of Tongariro is below the limit of perpetual snow, seeing that during the summer months of January, February, and March, the mountain is often destitute of snow. It is, therefore, obvious that Tongariro cannot be 7,000 feet high, far less 10,000. The foregoing mode of calculation tends to confirm the accuracy of Mr. Bidvvill’s estimate. As Tongariro’s neighbour, Ruapahu, is constantly covered with snow, this mountain must be upwards of 7,000 feet, and as the snow descends a considerable distance from the summit in summer, I should think it must be about 10,000 feet above the sea.

The difficulty of . ascending Tongariro does not entirely arise from its height, or the roughness of the scoria?, but from the hostility of the natives who have made the mountain “ tapu,” or sacred, by calling it the backbone and head of their great ancestor. • All travellers who have asked jpermission of the natives to ascend Tongariro, have met with indirect refusals. The only way to get over this difficulty is, to ascend the mountain unknown to the natives of the place, or even your own natives. Mr. Dyson did this, but his ascent was discovei’cd by a curious accident. During his f»rogress up the mountain he took for a time the ittle frequented path which leads along the base of Tongariro to Whanganui. A native returning from that place observed his foot-marks, and knew them to be those of a European. As he saw where the footsteps left the path, he, on his arrival at Rotoaire, proclaimed that a European was “now wandering about alone on the sacx*ed mountain of Tongariro. The natives immediately suspected it was Mr. Dyson, and they went to his house, waited his return, and took sevex’al things from him. He was now a suspected man, and his conduct was watched.

When the reports of gold having been found at Waiheki, in New Zealand, penetrated as far as Taupo, Mr. Dyson made frequent excursions to look for that precious metal among the surrounding mountains, but he met little encouragement, for he could detect no quartz rocks in the neighbourhood. From this circumstance an impression got abroad that he had found a mine of diamonds on Tongariro, and that he was secretly collecting them. The natives at Rotoaire would not now tolerate his living so near the sacred mountain, and for the purpose of driving him away they behaved in such a manner that he was obliged accept the shelter and protection of a great chief of the name of Te Herekiekie, in whose pa at Tokanu, on the Taupo lake, we met him in November, 1852. This chief of Tokanu was the man who prevented Tongariro being ascended by a party capable of giving a good account of their ascent two years ago, and for the purpose of showing how men’s opinions change, even in the rudest w r alks of life, I will mention the circumstance. In 1850, Governor Grey visited Taupo for the purpose ot ascending Tongariro, which undertaking Sir George expected to be able to manage under the auspices of the great Taupo chief, Te Heu lieu; but this could not be accomplished because Te Herekiekie was prepared to resist by force the ascent. Now the tables were turned, and Te lieu Hen was doing all he could to drive Mr. Dyson out of the Taupo country for having ascended a mountain which he, Te lieu lieu, had brought five Europeans from Auckland to go up. Just about the time we were in the neighbourhood of Tongariro, the whole question of Mr. Dyson’s ascent bad been brought up, in consequence of some misunderstanding between Te Heu Heu and Te Herekiekie about the ownership or right of tapuing Tongariro, and Telierekiekie’s protection of Mr. Dyson, after that gentleman had violated Te Heu Heu’s tapu, did not tend to throw oil on the waters. As we had reached Taupo by an unusual route, and as we had luilted some days at the base of Tongariro, the first question Te lieu Heu asked us was, if we had been upon the mountain, and he told us that Mr» Dyson had been there. After some time Te Heu Heu informed us that fye believed Mr. Dyson had found a large quantity of diamonds on Tongariro, and he showed to us a piece of the glittering sulphuret of iron which had been found upon him. We showed Te lieu Heu similar specimens we had procured at some of the volcanic vents (solfataras) on a mountain near his own pa, and we told him they were worthless. Nothing, how'ever, would make him happy on this subject, and nothing would then satisfy him hut that we should write a note to Mr. Dyson telling him that he had better be off. An unpleasant communication to make, which we did make however, for two reasons. First, to let Mr. Dyson see how the wind blew at present in this quarter, and secondly, because Te lieu Heu had just ordered his slaves to kill a large pig to welcome our arrival to his court at Pukawa. In our epistle to Mr. Dyson we put in very soft language the boiling hot words of the great Taupo chief. This note was despatched immediately to Te Hereku kie’s pa, which is about four miles across the lake, and I have no doubt it mightily amused Mr. Dyson and his friend, the chief of Tokanu.

As it is often the lot of adventurous travellers to have their statements suspected, so Mr. Dyson asked me to try and authenticate his ascent of Tongariro, for said he, if they doubt Mr. Bidwill’s ascent of the true cone, whose person is known, they will not believe mine whose person is almost unknown. This is my apology for attaching my name to this document, of inserting much of the foregoing matter, and of introducing the names of my fellow-travellers. Of course 1 cannot certify that Mr. Dyson was at the summit of Tongariro, hut his conversation on the subject, the beautiful clay model of the mountain, and the crater which he’made for the information of Major Hume, Captain Cooper, and myself, have left no doubt on our minds but that Mr. Dyson stood on the lip of the crater of Tongariro. A S. Thomson, M.D., Surgeon 58th Regiment. Auckland, New Zealand, March 10, 1853.