MOUNTAIN CLIMBING.

Patea Mail, 7 February 1882, Page 3

MOUNTAIN CLIMBING.

Mr D. Manson, the American tourist who was recently reported to have ascended Tongariro, has forwarded the following correction to the Press: “ I did not make the ascent of that mountain, but the volcano of Auruhoe, which is about a day’s ride from Tongariro, and is approached by the Rangipo Plains and Waihohona Yalley. Tongariro is not an active volcano, but an extinct crater, with a few steam-holes, hot springs, and a small lake on the summit (which we conld see from Auruhoe), and is comparatively easy of ascent, it being some 1500 feet lower than the volcano. So far as Auruhoe is concerned, I may add that no white man or Maori was ever before permitted to make the ascent. The following account of the ascent published in a Hawke’s Bay journal is acknowledged by Mr Manson as correct: “ A successful ascent of Auruhoe has been made by Mr Manson, an American tourist from New York. He at first experienced great difficulty from the Natives, who demanded £IOO before allowing him to ascend the mountain; but they eventually accepted £lO, exclusive of the charge for five guides whom he was compelled to employ at Tokano. On making the ascent, when at an altitude of 2500 ft it rained heavily, and was blowing a heavy gale from the south-west. On reaching a further altitude of 5000 ft a violent hailstorm was experienced, and at 7000 ft it snowed heavily, and at the same time the wind was so violent that the party were compelled to throw themselves on the snow so as to prevent their being blown off their feet, Mr Manson describes the crater as being about three-quarters of a mile in circumference, with a cave in the centre which was continually throwing boiling mud to the height of about 50ft. The inside of the crater was studded with numerous blowholes, and a slight tremor of the ground was occasionally felt. As it was too late to return, Mr Manson was compelled to remain on the mountain all night without food or blankets, and with very little clothing. The cold was intense, the thermometer registering several degrees below zero. About 2 a.m. the wind abated and the moon rose, when a really magnificent sight was witnessed by Mr Manson and the guides. The upheaval of mud in the crater and the hissing noises all about are described by the party as being the most weirdlike that could be imagined. At daylight Mount Egmont conld be plainly seen snow-capped. The ascent and descent, with the time Mr Manson spent in the crater, occupied 21 hours. He has already made the ascent of the principal mountains in the world, including Kilauea, in the Sandwich Islands, and he says that Auruhoe far surpasses anything he has yet seen in its grandness and weird-like formation* I may add that this is the first occasion on which the Natives, who are principally Kingites, have given leave to any Pakeha to ascend the mountain, which they have always regarded as sacred. Whether this will prove to be a breakingup of the ultra-Maori feeling which has hitherto existed in this respect remains to be seen.”