TO THE EDITOR.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume XIV, Issue 2005, 29 June 1886, Page 2

TO THE EDITOR.

Sir, — Your loader, in issue of 19th instant, gives hope of immunity frr residents for the future, and we are grateful for the small ray of light with which you endeavour to illumine the darkness of our uncertainty. Btill^_ a few items of the stay here of a very ■oitn-'^' tific gentleman, may bo quoted as a guide to the worth of any future published opinions and which many here will agree with me in. estimating at their true value. Hia stay here was very limited, but sufficient to render his nerves so very sensitive, that he, so it is commonly reported, found it impossible during tho constant recurring" earthquakes to assume the usual recumbent position taken nocturnally, and remained seated ready dressed for any emergency, till th#. dawn of morning, and the outgoing coach enabled him to pasa from our yaze to regions of greater safety. The very important parts of our immediate locality, viz., the Government Baths, Sulphur Point, and Native Settlement of Ohinemutu, were not favoured with his expected presence ; nor was any idnpection made of the numerous new steam holes broken out all over the place. Still the assurance was given that all was pafe and we are therefore expected to rely on judgment imperfectly formed and pro- ■ mulgatert from a distance. We really think a strict examination should be made of the locality referred to. Much agitation and •■- --cominotiou still exists and even some springs

hitherto quiescent! havehit this, date shewi activity and increasing- heat, , notably al Whakarewarewa, where a geyser is "no-w playing after yearn of silence. The NsraHwhakane are greatly disturbed and disheartened, being in the midst of these boiling holes, with fresh emanations breaking forth all round therein, they naturally feel insecure. Examination by some competent special authority, and if the native location may be thought inleoure, the removal of the wham to a higher position, would be necessary. If for no other reason, such inspection should tend to allay the existing feeling of uncertainty now prevailing-, both among Europeans and natives. We know that many still pass the hoars of night in dread, ready for any repetition, of eruptive force ; snooks and tremors of the ground, formerly unnoticed, cause naturally muoh anxiety and fear. 1 All this wear and tear of the nerve I must be detrimental, not only personally, but also to the best interests of the place. We do not in any way assert that these feelings. are general, many firm spirits are perfectly reliant, but still those more inclined to anxiety deserve sympathy, more particularly the native race, who depend so much on the paternal care held over them by the ministerial pakeha. The native pluck has been^illy- evinced, both Here and round the dis^ssK *nd they deserve every assistance and commiseration.— l am, &c, - Action. Botorua, June 24, 1886.