The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-09-01
A Boiling Lake.

Professor Henry A. Ward, formerly
Of the University of Rochester, N. Y,
is writing letters touching his travels in
New Zealand, some of which detail
singular experiences. In his last he
says: I came from Auckland by
steamer south for 1875 miles along the
east coast to the town of Tamanga. I
hired twenty-ton cutter and started
to visit the sea volcano. We called all
night and at daybreak we had before us
a great mountain of black scoria, $50
feet high, from the top of which, with
much force, went white clouds of vapor
to height Of fully 1000 feet. Reach
ing the shore ii was not easy travelling,
for in places the black pebbles of the
beach were al ostir with water boiling
up through tn water so hot that q
misstep might scald the foot seriously.
At this point the crater wall has been
broken down almost to the sea level and
we could look into the great hollow isl
and. The crater is circular, full mile
in diameter, and hemmed in by walls
many hundred feet high and very pre-
cipitous. The crater floor was an un-
even plain of volcanic ash and scoria,
with many little fumaroles or blow
holes, through which hot sulphur va
pors came wheeling out, while every few
minutes there was beneath our feet q
smart trembling and low, dull rolling
roar The smoke Of vapor began to
thicken rs we went along and we soon
found the cause. We were stopped
short by a great lake of steam
ing water, quite filling this end
l,Nf Il
see when the clouds lifted, nearly half
a mile from either side. The water was
too hot to comfortably bear the hand in
it, and was further insupportable to
either touch or taste by q strong infu-
sion of alum and sulphuric acid which bit
painfully at any scratch or sore upon
our skin. On the further border of the
lake and half around its shore was a
row of the most violent solfataras 1
have ever seen. They had built for
themselves little pillar-like cones from
ten to thirty feet high and yard or
| two in diameter at its base. and through
these open chimneys they were trumpet
ing steam and roaring sulphuric gases
with violence that was frightful to con-
template, and such demoniecal screech-
ing and din as afflicted our ears, even as
the long distance where we stood. We
dragged the rowboat along the vol
cano's floor and launched it upon the
boiling lake. The water of the lake
was of milky Opaque cast, but we
could feel with our oars that it was in
most places not over ten feet deep.
Lines upon the shore showed that it
daily rose and fell slightly with the tide
of the sea outside. In many spots the
water was boiling furiously with SC
much froth and foam, while still it's heat
was much below the boiling point ol
212 Fahrenheit. These were dangerous
places, the abundant air in the water
diminished materially its buoyancy, and
our boat sank alarmingly low in cross.
ing them. We landed across the lake
at one of the solfataras nearest to the
beach and proceeded to demolish il
with our oars. 1t was chimney about
two feet in diameter, clay without, and
within it was lined with crystals of sui
phur of a beautiful yellow
splashed with vermilion spots. Pushing
in the top of this chimney the frag
ments would first fall down its throat
and then come flying out into the air
with explosions that were amusingly
like prolonged stentorian cough.