THE PINK AND WHITE TERRACES

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10140, 10 December 1910, Page 7

THE PINK AND WHITE TERRACES

HOW THEY CAN BE RE-FORMEto. An interesting proposition for the reformation of the famous pink and white terraces and one which might well be seriously considered by the Tourist Department, was put forward by a visiting scientist when interviewed by a New Zealand Herald representative. The gentlemen in question recently paid.a visit'to Rotorua, and while there devoted considerable time in investigating the various theories advanced for the recovery of the lost terraces. These theories he regards- as altogether absurd, as they are based on the assumption that the terraces, though hidden, still exist, and in his opinion they have been totally destroyed. Moreover, he declares that if the terraces did exist, it would be highly dangerous to attempt to recover them by lowering the waters of Lake Rotomahana, as in that event anything might happen. "No," he said, when questioned further, "the ten-aces can never be recovered, because they are destroyed, but thy can be re-formed. As is generally known, slight terrace formations have already been created by the hot waters miming down the hillsides which the former pink and white terraces occupied, but at their present rate of growth it Will be hundreds of years before they assume any great scale, if they assume any such proportions at all. If, however, nature were assisted a little the terraces might be re-formed in a comparatively short space of time, and present New Zealanders would have the pleasure of seeing them in their grandeur. I suggest that if artificial terraces were formed on the original scale the silica contained in the waters, instead of being allowed to run into the lake, as at present, would be caught and would gradually coat the terraces in a perfectly natural way. I should say that in five years timo you would get a thin coating over the terraces with some traces of artificial work, but with each successive year this artificialness would gradually disappear until it was lost trace of altogether." ."The work, however," concluded the scientist, "woiild not have to be done by a bricklayer or an engineer. It would require-to be done by , ■air artist, the-very best artist you have got, and I am sure if it were caned out on the proper lines you would soon have pnk and white terraces on something approaching the grandeur of their predecessors."