The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1886-10-30

brink Of the basin, % kind OF rock
island. about twelve feet high, decked
with manuka, moses, lycopOdium and
fern. Itmay be visited without danger,
and from it the curious traveller has a
fair and fun view into the blue boiling
and steaming caldron. Such was the
famous TIE Tarata. 1t is now feared
that nearly all these beautiful wonders
have been destroyed. The terraces are
buried in lava, and the villages OF the
Maoris have been swept away.
AS regards Auckland the first intima-
ton received of the terrible catastrophe
was the sound of loud explosions as OF
heavy guns. and from elevated pc ,itions
in the city the fash as of artillery was
distinctly visible. The impression on
the minds of those who witnessed these
phenomena was that vessel was
ashore at the Manukau heads and was
firing signals of distress. and as there
appeared to be more than one fred at
q time it was thought to be q Russian
man-of-war which was known to be on
the coast. sas s.....s 90
News was flashed from Rotoma that
. dreadful night had been passed.
Every man. woman and child thought
his end had come. The sensation
was fearful and Undesirable. It COM
menced about one o clock in the morn
ing by several severe shocks of earth
quake. The vibrations were strong
and frequent. The windows in the
houses ratified violently, the feeling be-
ing similar to that on board of a vessel
in storm. People were running about
frantically, when all at once great
roar was heard, which was accepted at
first as that of an earthquake, and .
great glare appeared upon the horizon:
The scene was grand, but awful toward
Rotomahana. The flames were distinct,
with huge volumes of smoke, with
sparks Of electricity illuminating the
whole sky, and it appeared as il hum
dreds of bright stars were chasing one
another. When this was at first seen
by those who were outside they rushed
about calling people up. Males and
females of all ages left their homes and
general rush was made for Ngatata
mountain for safety. Many left their
homes in their night-dresses with
shawls around them, mothers car
rying babies or young children
with but one arm, to flee from the
devouring element which was expected
at every moment to engulf the entire
community. so great was the terror of
the people. This was about two clock
a. m. On the approach of daylight the
vibrations lessened, but they by no
means ceased. About four o clock there
was shower of ashes similar to sand,
supposed to be lava. sai ~ se''
Mr.. McRae, the hotel keeper at
Wairoa, gave your correspondent the
| following account of the destruction of
his hotel: ssAbout 1880 p. M. the place
began to shake and shook continuously
/ for an hour before the eruption broke
out. When this was first seen. 1t was
] just like q small cloud on the mountain,
with flashes of lightning of great bril-:
liancy. All were got out OF bed and
went up to the old mission station to
ascertain the cause of the occurrence.
We saw sight that no man who saw
it can ever forget Apparently the
mountain had three craters, and the
flames We're shooting up fully . thou.
sand feet high. There appeared to be
. continuous shower of balls of FIRE for
miles around. As storm appeared to
be coming on. we returned to the hotel,
and shortly afterward what seemed to
be heavy hailstones came pouring on
the roof, which continued about every
quarter of an hour. This was suc-
ceeded by heavy fall of stones. fire.
balls and mud, the lava falling after
the manner of rain. The weight of
these substances upon the roof soon
began to tell upon it. The first por-
ton that gave way was the detached
kitchen and pantry, and then we Ill coli
lected in the smoking-room. The roof
of the hotel gave way at about half
past four .. m. with loud smash, and
the whole of the upper story collapsed.
the debris falling into the rooms below.
We left the smoking room and went
into the drawing-room, which,. - 1t
was the newest part of the house. we
thought would stand the longest; but
it was with the greatest difficulty that
we got there, going through fallen
! stones and mud which impeded Us.
! The back part of the house, in which
was the dining-room, gave way next,
and all of q sudden we heard q fearful
crash and roar as if thousands Of tons
of stuff were falling, and we heard the
balcony come down. At this we agreed
that we should make an effort to save
ourselves, and with this object We de-
termined to leave the hotel. At $50 I
went up to the residence of the Hazard
family. The house was in ruins and In
flames then could see no signs Of
Mr.. and Mrs. Hazard and their chill
dren. As soon as a glimpse Of daylight
came we commenced to dig for the
bodies of the Hazards, and to our great
establishment discovered Mrs Hazard
alive. Her two children were found
dead beside her. but she was not greatly
injured. We continued operations un-
| til we were quite exhausted. but found
no more bodies"
| 4 &c., <sn ~ l. s~~ L.