The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1876-02-24
1 Wonderful Geyser in New Zealand

A Wonderful 6eyser in New ZealanA~
The State Of New York has its world
wide wonder In Niagara Falls; the State
Of California has its equ.lly marvellous
and renowned Yosemite Valley; and the
province Of New Zealand can boast Of o.
most as great = natural wonder In its Roto-
mahaua, or mighty geyser: This lies In
land from Tauranga-whicli may %
reached by steamer from Auckland-sbons
qt1erters Of the Arawa contingency, ana
the residence of Capt. MAR, is the old
missfon.house, kept by Frenchman, and
surrounded by familiar trees, on lovely
site overlooking Lake Tarewers. There
is plenty of fruit here, especially cherries
In the mission house one pleasantly re-
poses till four O'Clock in the morning,
when he is aroused for breakfast, sitter
which he enters log canoe, thirty or forty
feet in length, propelled by four Maori
men, an6 starts for nine-mile row up the
pretty Tarawera Lake. The time occu-
pied to the mouth of the Little River Is
two hours and half. Here the water is
found to be lukewarm, being supplied
from the hot springs. The current of this
stream is very swift, and h requires hard
work to force the canoe up against it, but
by padding and pole-pushing, and some
times jumping out into the stream and
pulling, the Maoris manage to reach
mina,ion Of our hopes" The hills all
around the geyser TEEN with hot springs
and hot mud in a liquid state, and con-
stantly bubbling up and emitting horri-
BILE sulphuric smell which 10 almost sti-
fling. The ground appears to be but
mere crust over boiling springs, and oten
so yields to the step that one feels as If he
were about to descend immediately into
the earth. The great geyser itself Is up
in the top of lofty hill, which appears to
have been the extinct crater of volcano,
now filled with light blue boiling water
of an unknown depth. The water is for.
ever seething and boiling, as if all the
fires of perdition were af1ame beneath it.
1t is constantly shooting up in columns
from six to thirty feet in height. which
sometimes looks very beautiful when the
sun converts the falling gsobules into
showers of pearls and silver. The great
geyser Is approached from below by
series Of crescent shaped terraces, bowed
outward, a few feet in height each, and per-
haps 10O yards in width, all overflowfug
till you come to the two principal terraces,
the top one of which is always boiling
over into those beneath it. The steam IS
almost binding and suffocatiug when the
wind is blowing toward you. In many
of the pools there are pleasant bathing
places. The water is hot on the surface
but cool beneath, the boiling water from
the great geyser above not seeming to
penetrate far below the surface Of the
more distant terraces, which it overflows.
There are two sets Of terraces,
the first of which are called the
White Terraces. The rim around
the boiling caldron is formed Of . white
substance, like the most delicate filagree
work, almost resembling lace work, such
is its regularity and beauty. This white
rim, which projects some distance over
the boiling fountain, shows to all the
greater advantage because of the intense
blue Of the waters. These beautiful ter
race brims are formed by deposits Of sui
phur and silica from the boiling springs
on the top Of tho hill, which pour down
the sides and crush the tea-scrub and 9th
er trees growing there, and form the in
crustation. For, strange 40 it may seem,
there is green grass and shrubbery to the
very verge Of the boiling fountains Many
of the basins appear to he made of peril
fed tea scrub or ferns. These brim- for.
nations are very rough and sharp edged,
and very hard on boots or bare-ieet,
though the Maoris, whose feet are har-
dened, trip over them without any serious
inconvenience The water in all the YER
races is beautifully clear and blue.
Near the great geyser, there Is a spring
constantly boiling out Of assure in
rock, and called the steam.pipe spring.
The noise from this spring can be heard
long way of, and it sounds just like
vessel letting off steam; while the hot
water which shoots out of 1t reminds one
of the manner in which 4 steamer, when
she is light, sends up the water with her
screw, and the action seems TO be accom-
panied with thud-like sound of SINH
lar character. The ground is literally
honey -combed with these boiling steam
springs.
From the white terraces one enters .
canoe and paddles over to the pink tex.
races, but q short distance from the FORM
er. Their formation is the same as tho
first, but they are smaller, and, instead Of
tinted border, which is exquisitely beauti-
ful, and it is questionable whether they
are not the prettier of the two. The effect
is lovely and quite enchanting. Between
the two sets of terraces one may spend
several hours very pleasantly anu protita-
bly,. For this is certainly one of natures
most wonderful phenomena. And while
it differs from Niagara and Yosemite, and
comparisons may he odious, it certainly
is in its way quite as marvellous as either
of these two great resorts Of tourists. As
yet the Rotomahaua is almost inaccessi-
bic to travellers, owing to the roughness
of the route thither, and to the miserable
native accommodations on the way.-San