CAPT. MAIR'S ACCOUNT.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2175, 17 June 1886, Page 2

CAPT. MAIRS ACCOUNT.

Ctpt. M*ir arrived in Rotorua pa Tuesday afternoon. The following account has been supplied to a correspondent of the Herald :— His complete boat's crew consisted of himself, Edwards (the interpreter), Alfred and Arthur Warbrick, Ainsley of Taurunga, Black df Rotorua, Gunnell C. Taylor Hurrell, North Shore, Auckland. After starting from the landing place at Wairoa for Moura, the native settlement, they were "accompanied by avalanches of sand falling from the cliffs on the right, which fell into the Lake with terrible velocity and weight, causing the Lake to make a series of pulsations. They reached the site of Moura village, where 45 Maoris were buried. Here the mnd was in a liquid state, running into the Lake with great rapidity. The whole site of the village had been shot bodily into Lake Tarawera. The large grove of karaka trees which grew there was found floating a mile into the Lake. All the rocky points about here appear to have been battered or shaken to pieces. Floundering through the mud over the site of the village, and finding no sign of life, we went on to Ariki. Between Moura and Ariki, the wishing stone, where the deity of the Lake was wont to be propitiated, has disappeared. We reached Ariki at three p.m. The whole front of Tarawera on this side had been changed by earthquakes. At the base of the mountain vast mounds of volcano grit, which was piled up half across the Ariki inlet between Tarawera proper and Rukunaha is completely filled up making the range like one, and altering the contour of the country. The south endof the Tarawera mountain is making an indentation like knocking in the front of a felt hat. This has formed a large crater, which is still active. The upper lip seems to be hundreds of feet deep. Immediately behind Ariki, In the direction of Rotomahana, is a very large steam hole near the White Terrace in violent action, and from which is springing immense clouds of black steam laden with dust. A chain of steam jets or craters appeared to run from near Okaro, through Rotomahana to Tarawera, and along it to the north end, the last being the N.E. end of Wahansa. Just above Tapahoro fluff or voleamc dust appears to have been dislodged by the crater. At the end of the Tarawera mountain it varies 10 to 50 feet in depth. At Ariki there were 30 natives covered by this. 30 feet deep, with a top dressing of two feet of soft mud. Kaiwaka Creek from Rotomahana was dry. Capt. Mair decided to go up it, with walls of hot dust on either side 20 to 30 feet high. They penetrated up it until the ground became too hot to go further ; then he got over the walls in the direction of the site of the village, struggling up to the knees. Near this point they could see steam jets seeming to form a quarter circle to the southern horizon. They tried to proceed over the wall, but found the stiff mud to deep, and had to return to the boat. Then they cruised round the eastern side of the Inke, and found a search party of natives, who had come from Matata and Ngatirangitihi, who had been. two s day« struggling through from Tapahora, in the endeavour to reach Te Ariki. * They were much exhausted, and Major Mairjs party supplied them with most of their stores of provisions, and then took them by boat to a place near the outlet of Tarawera, from which they could return utfely to their homes. Major Mair was unable to get ashore at the landing place, owing to fissures in the cliff, where the road is suspended, and put into Pouroria, one mile from Wairoa village, and abandontd the boat. It took two hours and a-half to get over the mile of ground, and' in struggling through the mud, which was slipping down the side of the hill, some of the party were completely exhausted, and had to lie down on the mud track. They arrived at Wairoa at eleven o'clock 4it night. Fortunately the light ram' at Rotorua at that hour did not extend to Wairoa. The party had decided, if rain set in, as the only chance of escape, as they could not land from the boat, to pull- down to the outlet of Tarawera lake, and push through, if possible, by Rangitake to Matata, on the East Coast.* Tha" 'party, with the exception of Sergeant Oahill, slept at Wairoa during the night, and experienced three earthquakes, which shook the wreck of Mr Mcßae's house where they were sleeping, and woke the party up. They started lor Lake Rotokakahia, crossing Kaiteriria in canoes, and got into Rotorua, arriving as above. Great credit is due to all the membars of the party for their courage and selfdevotion, especially to the two Warbricks and Mr Black, who got the boat overland from Rotorua to Wairoa. • Among the other changes at Lake Tarawera the grove of acacias at Karari is completely gone. The beautiful pohutukawa round the lake is all smashed.' The Tarawera river is blocked with sand, and is running at random over the sand fiats clear of the base of Mount Edgecnmbe. The forest at the back of Okataina lake seems to be intact, but everywhere else is utterly destroyed. Ninety-Bye Maoris died at the settle* ment on Ariki, among them Samuel Brown, baker, formerly of Ohinemutu, and his Maori wife and five children perished at Te Ariki. Four Taupo natives (on a visit to Kararoromaa), and the Catholic catechiat of tho Rangitihi tribe, were also lost. Wiki Kipara, the chief of the Ngatoi hapu, of Tuhoqrangi, was lost at Moura with his four sou and their wives and children.

[BT TKLKaRAPH.— SPECIAL OORnESPOHDXNT.] Rotorua, Wednesday. I arrived nt Rotorua at midnight ou the 12th. The bodies of the Hazards had jnst benn brought in from Wairoa, Oa the following day I went to Wairoa. For about three miles the road was in good order, thence for some miles there was a slight coating of mud until we came to the Tikitapu bush, where the coating was much thicker and much more difficult to walk over. Through the bush the road was exceedingly heavy, and numberless fallen trees, which were subsequently cut away, obstructed our progress. From the road around Tikitapu bush the volcanic mud was ex* tremely thick and adhesive, but alongside Rotokukuhi the deposit had set to some

extent, and travelling wa« easier. The Wairoa settlement presented a most desolate appearance. The European houses had been almost demolished. Mcßae's hotel was a wreck, and the other hotel and the Terrace was just at had< the weight of tho superinounibent mud paying crualied the roof in. I account for tho fact of several &f- the nativi buildings having withstood the weight frdm their sloping roofa and strong interior anpports. Especially was this the case with Sophia's whare. Most of the Maori whares had been either destroyed hy the eruption or by those searching for tho bodies of the inmates. ' The old tohnnga was saved by the roof of hit whare spreading outwards over the walls which were upheld by the drift of mud. The vapourous clouds began to rite from the mountain and lake, and in the evening both were visible. There did not appeir to be' any chango in the summit, and none of the new cones of were visible. Lake Tarawera presented a muddy appearance, which was of course to be accounted for by the quantity of mud deposited in it. On our return to Hotorna, we found tho road much worse. On Monday morning, we again went out to Wairoa. We found that a considerable amount of volcanic ,miid had slipped off the hills and the road was again much worse. Capt. Mairs boat party had preceded us, Dr. Hector going as far as Tarawera Lake with them to give them directions. Several people volunteered to go in the boat, including Inspectors Kiely and Goodall, but the orew declined to accept anybody but an expert oarsman, as all might have to work for their lives. When the boat reached the Ariki, nine natives from Matamata were met, floundering through the dry ashes. They were come up to look for their lost relatives. They were placed on firm ground by Capt. Mair, given food, and directed how to proceed for the night. Capt. Mair returned to Wairoa at 9 p.m. From the. observations he had made he expressed himself satisfied that Rotomahaua Lake had disappeared, and that on its site existed a number of active craters or steam holes. The Ariki settlement was covered by over 20 feet of volcanic earth and debris, and the Moura settlement appeared to have becu swept bodily into the lake, and on its site was some three to five feet of mud. The party were quite satisfied that all the natives of both settlements had perished. Ac Waitangi, close to the Moura, there resided only two natives, a man and his wife. The former was killed and the latter had a very narrow escape. She was brought in to Kaiteriria last night by Mr Percy Smith and Mr Raker, who had gone out in that direction with- pack horses. A native named Rawiri was found in a hut at Wairoa on Saturday, and declined to move or be removed, as he wished to die with the land. The police attempted to remove him, but he declared he would die if touched. He was given food and allowed to remain. On Monday Inspectors Kiely and Goodall tried to get htm rempred, but none of the natives would have anything to do with him, as ;they said he would die in their hands. On Tuesday morning Constables Kavanagh and Takari were sent out by the inspectors with instructions to remove Rawiri by force to Kaiteriria.' They took him to Rotokakahi and thence to the settlement, where he was handed over to the natives, Mr Dunbar Johnston providing for his maintenance. Rawiri was the last survivor from Wairoa. On 'Monday morning when Inspectors Kiely and Goodall were proceeding to Wairoa they noticed that the road from the bush to Rotokakahi was becoming more dangerous. They consulted with Dr. Hector at Wairoa, and that gentle* man authorised them to use his name to ( 'Wirn people off. He said that the deposit of mud on the hills would be washed .down by th« first rain, the result being that the roads would be made impassable, that] Rotokakahi would rise and the overflow would swamp Wairoa, taking everything with it In accordance with the advice of the Inspectors those who remained at Wairoa left the same night. The wisdom and the advice was soon apparent, as'ctargt. Cahill, who formed one of the boat party, had the greatest difficulty in traversing the road near the Tikitapu Lake. A horse had been left for hjjn at Wairoa and he rode into Rotorua with the news from Capt. Mair ■to . report to , Dr. Hector. jEne» same day a loaded waggon from Wairoa got stuck at the southern end of the bush- and though seven horses were : jertt out from here the next morning, and the greater part of the load was taken off, they were unable to move it more than about a chain, and the job was abandoned. The coach proprietors and others positively refused to send any horse or vehicle by the Tikitapu road, and those who went to Wairoa on Tuesday took the telegraph line to Koiteriria settlement, thence by canoe over Rotokakahi and within a short distance on foot, •the remaining portion of the journey on foot. Those who had braved the dangers of the 10th, shrunk from facing the difficulties of the bush road on the 15th. ' On Tuesday several people, including Messrs C. J. W. Barton, H. Steele, and other Waikato residents, rode to within four miles of Rotomahana, walking for the rest of the way through the dry ashes. They took the Galatea track. Their observations leave no doubt of the fate of the beautiful terraces. They are quite satisfied that neither the White nor the Pink Terraces remain, Rotomahana has sunk some hundreds of feet, and on its site are now numerous craters, or " steamers." Tho force of the eruption is evidently abating, as there is now little or no smoke from Tarawera. Huge cavities are visible in the mountain, and large patches of sulphur can be seen. Last evening at about six o'clock, a hftge column of steam was observed in the direction of Paeroa, but as this has often been seen, no notice was taken of it. Between midnight and 1 o'clock, four or five heavy shocks of earthquake were felt bore. I was sleeping at Kellys Hotel. I was awake when the first shock occurred, at 12 sharp, and felt them all. The building swayed, and the windows and moveable things in the room rattled distinctly. I did not get up, but when I got down at half-past five, I found that several other inmates had got up when the shocks were felt, and had not gone to bed again. The people of the hotel said this morning's shocks were much more severe than those of the 10th. A great deal of extra vapour had been seen about the township since the eruption, but this morning it appeared to have abated. Much concern was expressed, however, on account of the earthquakes, one of which lasted fully two minutes. Dr Hector left this morning in a buggy, en route for Napier, via Taupo. There has been great loss of life amongst the natives. At Wairoa nine were killed, but only three bodies have been recovered. At Monra there are said to have been 40 natives, all of whom have perished. At the Ariki there were 45, of whom also none survive. In this number is included Samuel Brown, a baker, a native of Scotland. At Waitangi, as I have already said, one native was lost, The total number of natives destroyed')*, therefore, 94, and Europeans of seven, the total loss being 101. Owing to the deposit of volcanic dust along the East Coast, tho cattle at Whakatane and Maketu and other districts are in great danger of perishing from want of fodder. The Government are taking every possible means to tide them over the hard time". A cutter, loaded with hay, has been sent from Taurangato Maketu. At this place there am 250 head of cattle. At Whakatane, 3000 cattle, 15,000 sheep, and 500 horses. How this large number of animals aie to be kept through the winter>is a mystery, unless the rain, which is imminent, washes the deposit off the soil. At Opotiki, the stock is not as badly off, as the settlers have a supply of hay and maize stalks. Tho dust here is

only two or three inches deep, and there is bush land convenient. Great credit is due to the officers and of the police force for their great exertions not ouly to render every assistaoce iv affording relief, but in allaying the fears of the people. Mr J. Dunbar Johnston, the Government agent, is simply indefatigable. Ho is everywhere, just where he is wanted and all unit* in saying that his presense ha* been a source of great comfort to all concerned. Ever since the occurrence the heroes of the 10th, Messrs Mcßae, Humphries, Blythe, Lundius, and others have been working like horses since, and if any men deserve to be apotheosised they are these. lam glad to see that you recommend that a national testimonial should be given to Mcßte. Everybody here, and more especially those most intimately acquainted with the circumstances, cordially endorse your sentiments. Everything here is pretty quiet at the present, though we are not without apprehension.