near some sulphurous jets. A full-grown
aboriginal met the same fate not long ago; he had been partaking too
freely of intoxicants, and sank into the Stygian darkness without
uttering a cry. One coolly records these facts; but what an awful fate
to encounter!

The natural conclusion as to the cause of these remarkable phenomena
would seem to be that the waters of the lakes, rivers, and springs
descend by various channels to the fiery regions below, and are returned
by the force of the steam thus created, bringing up with them the debris
which is deposited about the surface. Of the hundreds of these boiling
springs only a score or so have been analyzed; no two, however, exhibit
the same properties. The various chemical combinations seem to be
without limit, and bathing in them is considered to be a specific for
some skin-diseases as well as for rheumatic affections. There can be no
doubt but that all the virtues possessed by similar springs in Europe or
America are equally combined in these of New Zealand, and the list of
remarkable cures which they have accomplished is annually increasing.

White faces are here the exception; dusky, bronzed ones, the rule. This
is the real home of the natives, and for ages has formed the chief
settlement of the Arawa tribe. Nothing could possibly be more grotesque
than to see groups of the native women--from the wrinkled old grandams
to the girls of a dozen years--bathing at all hours in the warm,
steaming pools without any apparent thought of undue exposure. It is
their daily, almost hourly resort. As a rule, a blanket forms their only
covering; and if they are cold, day or night, they at once resort to the
hot springs for warmth. Their chief occupations are literally bathing,
and smoking tobacco,--the women using the pipe even more freely than the
men. Of regular occupation they have none. A few potatoes are planted
and allowed to grow without cultivation, and these with pork form their
chief food. Some small lake fish are added to their diet occasionally;
but this amounts to very little, as a lake so under volcanic influences,
so impregnated by sulphur springs and super-heated waters, as is
Rotorua, is not a favorable place for fish breeding.

The revels incident upon a funeral are often kept up for a week or more.
To conduct the ceremonies with due eclat for the death of the late chief
of whom mention has been made, much extra food was necessary to
entertain the visiting represent