Omaha daily bee., 1885-01-15
"A LAND.
rheumatism Cured by the Boiling
Mud-pools OF New Zealand.
\ ornhill Magazine.

ICornhill Magazine.
The Maoris, with a faith born of long
experience, bring their s~orely-tried rheu-
ma'ic friends from far and near; and well
are their pains rewarded, for many who
have been crippled for years are here re-
stored to comparative comfort and health,
We saw one poor lad who literally lived
in a mud-pool, just like one of the African
mudfshes. He was suffering from an
agonizing hip disease, and his friends had
carried him from afar to try this blessed
remedy. He certainly obtained relief
from lying in thu muddy water for hours,
but, in his weakly state, he very naturally
tainted on being removed, so his kindred
thought the best thing they could do was
to build a hut over the pool and keep him
i'll it permanently. So there he had
already lain for months, and would prob
ably remain until he died.
Some of the boiling mud pools are hor.
ribly repulsive. They lie In great natur.
al pits Of ~craters, and, as you stand on
the brink watching the surface of the
black boiling mud slowly upheave with
a dull gurgle and then burst into q form
of a monstrous bubble, you can scarcely
repress q shudder at the thought of how
one slip Of the foot on hat greasy soil
might plunge you hesdlopg into that
horrible pool, therein to be hopelessly
ungulfed. The very silence with which
1t works Is on element Of horror, con.
trasting with the noise and energy of the
clear boiling lakes and the roal of the
9 am.clouds that escape from a thousand
assures In the rocks and from chasms all
over the mountain sides.
There 10, however, one mud-lake in
which interest predominates over horror
1t is an expanso of half. liquid gray
mud, from the surface of which rise u
multitude of small mud volcanoes
really miniatures, not more than three or
four feet In height, but each q perfect
model of an ideal.conical crater, like
Vesuyius, or any other volcano OF grace.
full outline. From each little summit
comes putfs of white steam, and then a
small eruption of boiling clay, which,
trickling down the surface, gradually
builds up the tiny mountain.
The Maoris not only absorb this mud
externally, but they take largo quantities
internally. There are several places
where q thick dark mud exudes from
assures in the rock, and this they have
discovered to be edible, and eat large
handiuls with the greatest appreciation
One boiling mud-hole Is known as the
po~rridge.pot in consequence of this pecul-
iarity, and the natives who visit it swal.
low enough to satisfy an ordinary ap.
petite.
What with mud-pools and mud-volca-
noes, and one large volcano of pure sui
phur, and columns of steam rising on every
side from the well. baked hills, and from
the surface of the lake-what with muddy
colored boiling pools, and the silvery
wilderness of snowy terraces, Roto Maha-
ma is, in truth, such a center of marvels
as to seem to belong to some creation other
than these steadygoing world ON whose
solid surface we live our commonplace
lives. .
The sulphur volcano rises from the
brink of the lake, very near the so-called
"Pink Terraces" which, in point of fact,
are distinguished from the "White Terra
ces" by a most delicate tinge of pale sal.
mon color, like reflected sunlight on snow.
The sulphur volcano produces a most start
ling effect of colorng in contrast with the
vivid blue of sky and lake. 1t is certainly
yellow-just the color of bright primrose
and the great column of steam ascend
ing from tits primrose-hued, and all the
water near it is thus tinted, while the
rocks far and near are coated with a de-
post of pure sulpher.