THE GREAT ERUPTION. ROTORUA ITSELF AGAIN. The Native Meeting. (FROM "STAR" SPECIAL REPORTER.)

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 158, 26 June 1886, Page 2

THE GREAT ERUPTION. ROTORUA ITSELF AGAIN. The Native Meeting. (FROM "STAR" SPECIAL REPORTER.)

Rotorua, June 20. No stranger dropping into Kotorua to-day would have supposed that within the last eight days a terrible disaster had befallen the country, and caused tho inhabitants of this township to flee for thoir lives, in the bright, clear air of the frosty morning, a party of seventeen, well mounted, with the colour of health in their face?, sot out to vi«ifc the new wonders, aud to wade through the sandy sea of desolation around Rotomahana, juBt a3 in tho hoight of the season they started to feast upoo the glories of the terraces. The township people lead the same sleepy life, and the ralk of Native Lands Courts and purchasers beginning to dominate the absorbing topic of the great eruption. The labt earthquakes and the thickening of the tmoke as it ascends the hills from the huge crater, may cause a momentary digression into the recent wellworn channel; but even such an event as that which lately occurred can be thrashed threadbare, aud this is the stage upon which the topic of the Tarawera outburst is now entering, and men soon fall back into the natural groove suggested by their pmsuita and means ot living. Such pursuit? ftuU-d to keep them. Tbero is u good denl, of no.-<c-rubbing aud mild wailing ur parties c>mo in, but tho aspect of the cjnat Maori ireeting houie where tho refugees and visitors are is anything but one ot mourning. the men and women laughing togcthfx, feasting upon potatoes, or lounging at lull length on the etonet, which ar« heated b^ a never-failing service of st^am pint*. Hair the little boys spend their tame in ihe wash-baths, and the other half in chit ing their tops about the stiver. One party of you'hs called on mo to-d jy to be umpire in a h nr-cutfing c mip<Milk>ii against time Anyrh-M^ ana e\ei\ thii.\: »* being done to pa->- the Lint uxc-ept tlu thing most nceoful- em.rgctic iw.ik to repair the damage or ro erect, homes for the houf-elecS natives. The.-o has, ir is triu, been a good deil of talking about site*. opinions being a»vided a* to v heth-i Rotorua natives should g.ve them 2,000 acre* for a new villatre do An Lv the bridge On tli3Waivoaßoad,or whether the refuse.'? shall remove to Makeru. ruciv to their own settlement. fiiu jv certainly cannot go, An easy, loan ig, conte:ii«d lite, j.fcrh_.p- ie is, but one thatmako» the ciecuienoe o> u fine race. Tho natives nr .'his d-stii t ojitrast very poorly uith ih ,-q of tie dt?tncts where they ccme less m contact with European civihsjLtion.

A Generous Proposition. The native mce.iiia i-, continued at the village to-rngln, tl.e ?cent> looking picturesque in the b-ight moonlight, the whares built on tho slope bi-rrlcnug the lake t»ein<4 visible through columns of stem from hundreds of cooking pot 3 and bulling holes In the meeting hou-e, tho g^eat diecus?ion continued - this time upon a propo=ititn from tbe Taupo natives, that thj \Va.ioa tribe should take up their residence at Tokano, on the south side ot Taupo. the natives of that district promising them, on accepting th?ir oikr. to provide for all their wants. *even prominent chiefs bulon^ing to the district opposed the proposal. However, it is creditable to the tribes making it. The meeting-house was dimly lit up. On the floor aien and women were packed. They could crowd together, and, when business was over, lie down.

Railway Matters. The survey conducted b> Mr Roche under the direction of Mr Stewart if* neailj finished, leaving only the middle ci.d—the bush section— of the line to put the whole length ready fur contract. The lino is an easy ono to make. It will not prove mere costly thnn the average of the Government lines. Theio 13 sure to bo a great rush of tourists next yoar, and th« biirile track propo.-ei ie- in tdequate for tho tiatfi; that wiii bo iiir^'-'.ii up_>n n. Li it is uottu while to conduct the raUway.oßotoiua it is worth while to foim :> road to the mo^t wonderful part of the oistnc'. An effort was made to-day to got out a large dray which was boirued on tlu Waiioa Road, but, the attempt failed.

The Eruption Dying Out. There is very little frou T.uvnvera. The volume of gmoka comes fi orn Kotomahaua The visitors who went out yesterday 10turned before seven, having enjoyed themselves. Their reports' show thar although rather more active than the day before, the fires are dyin^ down. Only one of the Rotomahana volcanoes was throwing stones Columns cf Bteam we.c being emitted, except toward«« the centre of the Lake, where a gigantic mud geyser was playing. About an acre or more of water was seen in the Lake The record of the great eruption is now deemed to have been practically closed, and p-ess-men are leaving the district.

Atmospheric Pressure and the Eruption. Barometrical readings by Dr. Ganders made at Kotorua during the eruption show that there was in Auckland a marked decrease of atmospheric pressure on the earth's surface at the time of the eruption. This bears out the theory of Mr Cheeseman that when an eruption is imminent low atmospheric pressure may precipitate it.