The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1886-08-04
The Gully q ,lletin.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST d, 1886.
THE WONDERLAND or NEW ZEALAND

ut one of the largest sections of til,
Hot Lake district of New Zealand,
that some of the most lovely and
marvellous portions of it are still TN
known to the ordinary tourist. But
we are informed, upon the best and
most trustworthy authority, that
other beautiful terraces exist at no
great distance from those recently
destroyed. lie Tarata and Otuka-
puarangi, the lost marvels of Roto-
mahana, have so generally been
spoken of and written about as tic
Terraces, that we have been prone
to look upon them as unique of their
kind. They were indeed unique, in
the sense that they were, far beyond
all comparison, the most perfect speci-
mems of silicious sinter terracing the
world has ever seen. But they were
not the only lovely ones in New Zea-
land, although they were the largest.
There are others at Maungakakara-
mea, on the left track leading to Ga
latea, skirting east of the Paeroa
range, which are very little known
to Europeans, as they are quite off
the well-known track of tourists,
and near them there are no hotels,
or guides, coaches, or accommoda-
ton of any kind. They are situate
in native territory, and virgin coun-
try, but could easily and readily be
opened up by roads and tracks, at
small cost. The whole of this part
of the district is of most marvel
lous character-ho springs, geysers,
mud volcanoes abound; and it is to
be hoped that in future tourists will
extend their researches along this
road to Orakeikorako. Hitherto the
sole object of the hotelkeepers at
Ohinemutu has been to retain
tourists, as nearly as possible, with
in sound of their own dinner bells
or, at least, not more than days
distance from Ohinemutu. The de-
struction of the Rotomahana Ter
races will, however, undoubtedly
tend to make the district better
known, in that it will send tourists
further afield in search of other
countless wonders and beauties
hitherto neglected.
But the best now of our Terrace
system, and the one, or rather the
series, most worthy of comparison
with the two that are lost is to be
found at Orakeikorako. A great
part of the banks of the Waikato is
here silicated into terraces, pink,
white, and numerous other colors.
The secret of this coloring, and of
its source, was long a mystery to
scientific visitors. 1t is, however,
now known to be caused by the
growth of conferva, which give the
extraordinary variety of coloring to
the Orakeikorako river terraces.
This, as a matter of course, does
not apply to the pink coloring enter
ing into the very substance of the
material, as in the late famous Pink
Terrace. The principal of the ter
races we are now describing is the
one leading to Waiwhokato, the
famous alum cave, the exquisite and
yet weird beauty of which would
alone be sufficient inducement to
undertake the journey from Rotorua
to Orakeikorako. When to this is
added the countless geysers-the
long ranges of other terraces,
colored from white to every tint of
the rainbow, the exquisite beauty of
the scenery, the natural marvels of
every description, it will be seen
that though the central beauties of
Rotomahana have departed, yet that
numberless others, scarcely inferior,
remain to attract the admirers of
the beautiful, the picturesque and
the wonderful, and to reward the
researches of the naturalist.
We have interviewed Mr.. Percy
Smith, Assistant Surveyor-General,
who is well acquainted with the
almost unknown terraces, and he is
convinced from personal knowledge
that they not only exist, but that
they will be speedily opened out
and made accessible to tourists.
Mr.. Smith himself has seen some of
them, and although he does not
deem them of the same age or per-
lection as those at Rotomahana, he
believes that they are likely to prove
very attractive. He thinks that
some of the smaller terraces are
still in process of formation.
1t may not be generally known
that DR.. Hochstetter, more than
twenty-seven years ago, drew very
marked and prominent attention to
the hot springs of Orakeikorako,
and described two terraces there.
They are small, compared with those
that existed at Rotomahana but he
observes (page 398) "the water
flows from one basin into the other,
80 that there is a triple choice OF
temperature. In the first basin l
found 1l6F., in the second 110F.
and in the third 96F. The latter,
at depth of three to five feet, has
the dimensions of bathing tub; its
basin is formed of snow-white sill
cious deposit, resembling the purest
marble, and its crystalline water
looked SO inviting that l could not
resist taking n bath in it," n