ed and beautiful natural curiosities the Terraces, so
completely is the configuration of the country changed for many miles in
all directions, that it is quite impossible to discover their former
site. An area covering nearly thirty square miles is now but one sad
picture of desolation, strewn with ashes and lava, to look upon which
was both depressing and awe-inspiring. One bowlder was pointed out to us
which must weigh at least a hundred tons, that was thrown a quarter of a
mile from the mouth of the crater.

The country over which the boiling springs and geysers occur is about a
hundred and twenty miles long by seventeen or twenty wide, their
activity varying somewhat at different localities. The fiery region
extends beneath the sea after reaching the coast at the Bay of Plenty,
being doubtless connected with several remote islands of the Pacific
Ocean,--the immediate vicinity of Ohinemutu being apparently the centre
of thermal development. It is only necessary in many places to make a
hole a few feet deep by thrusting one's walking-stick into the ground,
to bring forth a vigorous demonstration of the hissing steam. On first
rising from sleep in the morning and looking out upon the remarkable
scene, the low-lying dense clouds of vapor all about the hamlet give one
the idea that the activity of the underground forces is greater in the
night than during the day; but this is probably not the case. Except
occasionally, when owing to some great unknown disturbing cause an
unusual explosion takes place, the result varies but little at the
surface from one year's end to another.

Is idleness infectious? One dallies with time in the midst of these
strange phenomena, wandering among the native huts and their lazy,
bronzed inhabitants, studying their gypsy life in all its phases.
Everything is not quite agreeable, but all is quaint, novel, and
interesting. We were shown some of the native carving which was executed
a hundred years ago, mostly in the form of war-clubs and idols. There
were images representing strange human beings of both sexes; but they
were always grotesque, and often disgusting. There was not even an
approach to excellence or a spirit of art observable in any of them. A
certain consistency is discovered in the manners and customs of this
people who live so nearly after the style and laws which governed their
ancestors, and which have been carefully preserved for hundreds of
years. Superstition is born in a M