A WEIRD ADVENTURE

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 49, 26 February 1916, Page 18

A WEIRD ADVENTURE

IN THE CRATER OF NGAURUHOE A DAY AMD A NIGHT WITH Ai VOLCANO. j (By W. L. WEISS.) Many Tears ago, having a sis weeks' holiday. I resolved to spend part of it! in climbing the active volcano Ngauru-' hoe. I had climbed some of the moun- j tains of Xew Zealand, including Tapuaenuku in the inland Kaikouras. some 9.400 ft in height, but never an active volcano, and I felt a keen desire to come into contact with nature in one of her terrific aspects. So. mounted on a fine roadster which a friend was kind enough to lend mc for the trip. I made my way to Tokaanu. a Maori Tillage on the southern shores of Lake Taupo, and thence to Maunga-te-popo. a stream issuing from Ngauruhoe. where the manager of a sheep run in the neighbourhood very kindly extended his hospitality to mc. OVERCOMING THE 'TAPU." Kgauruhoe was at that time very "tapu," for the bones of the great warrior Te Heuheu had been cast into the crater, and not long before my visit a lady and two gentlemen who had attempted to ascend the mountain were turned back and their belongings seized. My host, howerer, who was on good terms with the natives, offered to ask them if I might make the ascent. I [ was present when he spoke to them, and ] he translated the conversation. He said : that I had a great fancy for climbing! mountains, and that I wanted to climb , Ngauruhoe if they did not object. Their! answer was, "In the first place he will , never reach the top; but if he does he! will fail into the puia (crater) and never come down, so it doesn't matter." A PASSING STORM. Making an early start nest morning, I crossed the foothills, reached the base of the cone at 9.30 a.m.. and at once < began the ascent I had not proceeded far when the wind began to rise, and before long it blew with such violence that I was obliged to lie down flat against the slope to avoid being blown away. I began to fear that I should have to give up the attempt to climb the mountain, for it would have been quite impossible to climb with such a wind blowing. However, in about twenty minutes the wind dropped suddenly and it became quite calm. Toiling "on, I reached lie point where the scoria ceased. Here the cone became comparatively smooth, with a certain kind of scaling in places. The surface was hot, and from many fissures a sulphurous vapour poured forth which caused an incessant flow of water from my eves, accompanied by a considerable smarting. So steep and slippery was it here that I was compelled to go down on my hands and knees, taking care at the same time to avoid the fissures. A PEKTLOTJS DESCENT. At 11.30 ajn, I reached the lip of the crater, and I then found that I had been lucky in choosing that way to ascend, for here was the only place where a descent could be made into the crater, the walls all round in other parts being quite steep. At this spot there was a gentle slope of a few chains on to the floor of the crater. Down this slope I proceeded until I reached the floor, the surface oi which I may describe as undulating, with here and there a small flat. The floor was so hot that I could not keep my hand on it for more than a few seconds, and the heat could be felt through the soles of my boots. Feeling , that it was necessary to proceed with caution, for on knocking the floor it gave forth a sound that showed that it was quite hollow, I made use of a stick which I bad brought up to prod tbe floor in front of mc before taking a step, but after going forward for a chain or so thus I began to find it slow, and it occurred to mc that I was too cautious. AMONG BURNING SULPHUR. Therefore, discarding the stick, I went j on without it, but had not taken more than a dozen steps when, crash—my left foot went throngh the floor. Fortunately my right foot was on a firmer epot, and I instantly flung myself over en my rignt side, at the same time pulling up my left foot and with it a mass of burning sulphur. I was wearing stout lace-up boots, and my foot went in only up to the ankle, so I received no injury, but it was a most unpleasant sensation. To plunge down through a black abyss into & seething lake of sulphur is scarcely the way that most of us would choose of ending life. This little adventure caused mc to return to my prodding before I advanced a step. THE CRATES DESCRIBED. I had now got well into the crater, and there was much, that was interesting to be seen. The walls on every side except where I entered, were vertical, and rase in places to a height that I should >3stimaie as considerably over one hundred feet. From every crevice in these walls blue smoke issued, and small portions of the rock were incessantly falling. The atmosphere was so loaded with gnlp&nr -vapour that water never ceased to stream from my eyes till I left the crater. In many places on the floor there were circular mounds with a basin in the centre—this I found out afterwards. The "walls of these mounds would be afcont seven feet in height. I could see steam rising from their centres, and I "was curious to know what was within flrase walls; but on prodding them I found the crust so thin that I hesitated about mounting one of them. However, at last I laid my whole length, against the sloping side of one of them. although it was a shade too hot to bo pleasant, sod iy means of a sort of creeping movement managed to reach the top and look over the edge. It was then thai I found that the walls encioeed a bass, in the bottom of which there was a small pool of dirty, hot water emitting a emell like that which rises from the water in which a pudding has been boiled. steam: and flames. Other mounds there were, with walls not so iigh, and having numerous holes aleng the top, from an inch to, say, two inches in diameter, each one eurrounded with a bright yellow rim of sulphur. Out of some of these issued continuous jets of steam, one or two of them with a shrill whistle, while others again, at intervals of a few seconds, cent forth fiames about an inch or an inch and aihalf in diameter to a height of cix or seven inchesi I have seen it stated, on the authority of an eminent vulcanologist, that a volcano does not emit flames; but, with all dne deference to this great expert, I declare that I have not alone seen nnmbeie of these small flames, but upon, one oi them I boiled

my billy to make some tea. And not I alone did I see small flames, but in two j places, one within the crater and one some distance down the side of the cone, flames sis or eight inches wide reared forth continuously, accompanied I by great volumes of smoke. A NERVE-RACKING TIME. I particularly wished to see the great vent of the volcano, which is at the eouthem side qf the crater, but such volumes of smoke were issuing from it that I feared that would be impossible. I was determined to try, however, to pet to it, and I was fortunate in that tbe breeze was from the north, thus blowing the smoke from mc, but every ! now and again the wind would veer round, and 1 then became enveloped in smoke and surpuurous vapour. For tho few moments that this lasted I was in complete darkness, and when I attempted to draw my breath it would "catch, -, and I could only cover my face, stop my nose and mouth, and wait till the smoke cleared off. As I neared the vent these envelopments became more frequent and lasted longer, till on the last occasion I thought it was all over with mc, for I was just upon the point of suffocation when the wind veered and I got my breath. It was a horrible feeling, and I then decided to relinquish the attempt to get a view of the vent from the crater, and to skirt the lip and endeavour to attain my end at the poi,nt just above the vent. STOPPED BY FLAMES. I accordingly retraced my steps, and, leaving the crater, tried to get round the lip on the western side; but here I came upon a very unsound" portion of the lip. with a large fissure running down the side of the mountain to the crater already mentioned, which was J sending out flames furiously. I turned ; back, and tried the eastern "side. This : was better going, but at one point it ! was very steep, and so slippery that I , had again to go down on my hinds and ' knees. On this side, some short distance j from the summit, there was an immense J deposit of snow, not yet melted, though it was well into January. On the highest point I found a trig station, put up by an Auckland surveyor some years before. AN INTERESTING "FIND." 1 While standing on this spot I caught I sight of what appeared to be a metal disc on the ground, but which proved to be the lid of a cocoa can containing a portion of lead pencil with point protector and a piece of paper, on which was written a declaration that one "Kerry Nichols" ascended the mountain in the year ISS2, I think it was. There was also a shilling, with his name rudely punched on it. A FRESH QUEST. I succeeded in getting round to the southern portion of the lip, but the smoke was so thick that I could not get even a glimpse of the vent. The way round the crater on the eastern side was so steep and slippery that I decided to return to the point at which I entered the crater by the western side, risking the rotten spot. I lay down and crawled over that bit; it was not wide, but it was nervous work. It was now about 4 pjn. I had spent about four hours in the crater, and though I had not been able to reach the vent I had seen much,, that was very interesting. I loblJed-'longingly over to* Tongariro. There were yet several hours ,of light. Should I take a hasty glance at it! It might be many years before ■■ I could return here. I- was especially ! desirous of having a closer view of one of the lakes which can be seen from the ■ summit of Ngauruhoe. They are several thousands of feet above sea level, and are of a most exquisite light blue colour. LOST IN THE DARKNESS.

I yielded to the temptation, with the result that darkness overtook mc, I missed the place where I should have crossed the hollow, and realised that I was to have a night out. ,That did not disturb mc, but I was troubled with a devouring thirst, and no water could I find. So I determined to walk on till I could find some. After a curious adventure, in which I groped my way down a vertical cliff in pitch darkness by the aid of outgrowing trees, I at last heard the trickle of water, found it, lit a fire, camped, had a meal of biscuit and tea, and—l was goi,ng to say "turned in"— rested my head on a rock and went to sleep.'

Next morning I found that I was many miles out of my way, and had a horrible time floundering through deep gullies with spear grass in them on the side of Ngauruhoe. My host was kind enough to send a man to look for mc, but when I met him I was mounted and well on my way to the hut at Mangatepopo. There I met a young man who had also lost his way and camped out the night before not very far from where I pulled up-