DR. HECTOR'S REPORT.

Press, Volume XLIII, Issue 6492, 14 July 1886, Page 3

DR. HECTOR'S REPORT.

WELLINGTON, July 5. t»r. Hector's report on the recent vol-. canic eruptions in the North was presented to Parliament to-night. After describing hie arrival in the district, be says that a complete geological examination of the district has been deferred until a more favourable eeison for .field wmrk and until the volcanic activity has sufficiently Bubeided. He then continues s-r- ---, LOCALITY OF THE DISTOBBASCX. The focus of tbe disturbance was ascertained to be in a line extending from seven to ten miles in a north-east to south*west direction from the north end of the Tarawera range to Ofcaro Late. The northern part of this line is occupied; by the Tarawera range. This ranjje has three summits, the . northernmost beine Wahanga; the central Buawahia, 3606 ft altitude; and the southernmost Tarawera mountain proper. The southern part of the line previous, to the outburst w»s*» depresrion occupied by Sptomahaaa lake, surrounded by low., undulating - country* composed of pumice sands and spreading depoeita of sfliceotis sinter, most oT which weife connected- witii geysers, amongst which the most famous were those at the Pink and White Terrace*. HISTOBT ©r XHB OTTTBBBAK. Front the moat reliable evidence it appears that the outbreak commenced at ten minutes past two on the morning of

the lOth by an eruption frora the top of Waibanga, atteaded by a loud, roaring noise and sVght earth shock*; In a few minutes thia was followed by a similar but more violent outburst' from the top of Buawahia, the middle 3 peak of the range, aad after a short inter- 1 yal this phase of tho eruption, culminated 1 in»terrific explosion from the south end or Tarawera range, north-east of Lake' Batomahana. For nearly two hours this was the only phaEe of the eruption, and was accompanied by the ejection of vast quantities of steam, pumice dust, and hot Btones, forming a huge towering cloud, illuminated by lightning flashes. It was at this time also that a great crack or fissure was formed along the east face of the Tarawera range. I only had a distant view of this fissure from the eastward, but Mr Percy Smith ABfliatant Surveyor Qeneral.who had a near view from the Bides, reports that the whole east end of the mountain has been blown away, and that the debris covers the country to a distance of many miles. The white terrace of pumice sand that I saw was singularly topped and seemed to slope abruptly from the mount with a huge embankment 600 ft high. Besides these heavy sands that' lodged dose to the fissure on the mountain Bide the lighter dust waa spread out in the form of a stratified cloud, which was distinctly seen at thia period of the eruption from Botorua, Tauraoga, and Taupe. The cloud thus formed discharged its contents for the greater part in direction to the eastward of the mountain as far as Te Teko and Fort Galatea, and to the westward as far as Wairoa. The earth shocks, however, during the period of the eruption do not appear te have been of extreme violenoe, or to have created much alarm beyond that part cf the district lying in the immediate vicinity of the eruption, but shortly after 4 aan. a violent outburst of a totally different nature was experienced, accompanied with loud reports that reverberated through the atmosphere to enormous distances. The first notice of this outbreak was an earthshock that appears to have been much more widely felt than those previous, and chiefly in areas where hot springe occur. This development was attendant on the outbursts of an immense volume of steam, carrying pumice duet end fragments of rocks to an enormous altitude, which proceeded from the site of Botomahana Lake, causing the formation of a dense cloud in the higher atmosphere, that spread in different direction?, its advancing edge being marked by electrical discharges of the moat awe-striking character. At first the wind was from the south-east, and the inhabitants of Rotorna appear to have been terrified by the approach of this hideous cloud, when suddenly the wind sprang up from the south-west and arrested its progress in that direction, turning it off towards the .north-east, at tbe eametime condensingjthevaponrof the clouds to such an extent that the suspended solid matter dropped on the surface of the earth in the form of mud, smothering the country and leadinar to the disastrous results experienced at Wairoa. By 6 a.m. the period of active eruption appears to have closed, and since then the display of energy in a modified form has also rapidly declined.- ■

POINTS TO BE CONSIDEBED. The following are the chief points which require notice in this report :—

1. tocos. The Tarawera range, about 8600 ft above sea level, is an isolated and very conspicuous object in the scenery of the take district. It slopes from the Tarawera lake, the level of which ie about 1000 ft above the sea, and previous to the eruption rose very abruptly, with mural precipices and columnar rooks, especially on its western and southern escarpments. It was no doubt judging from this feature that Dr. Yon Hocnstetter was led to class Tarawera Mount with the Horohoro range as being part of his older or submarine formed volcanic series, and a remnant of the great plateau, the surface of which 1 denotes the original level of the country prior to the production of its present broken surface by the excavation of valleyE, by the up-bursting of volcanic mountains, andithe consequent Bqbeidenoe or breaking in of large cavitdee that are now occupied by lakes. He, -nevertheless* maps Mount Tarawera as belonging to his recent volcanic series, and also alludes to it in other parts of his. work as being composed of obsidian. I have never ascended Tarawera range, but have examined its slopes and found them: to be composed of lavas of a rhyolite type in the form- of floes intersected by dykes, and containing, amongst other rooks large quantities of compact and: ■ i vesicular obsidian. From this, I conoludo that the mountain really. is one of recent volcanic origin, belonging to Yon Hocbstettet'a new volcanic series, and, ♦bat it 3 abrupt outlines have resulted from fractures and subsidencies of its flanks According to this-view it is aatural to assume that L the; still imperfectly cooled mass of lava in the heart of this volcanic mountain has given rise to the lojtg - oot> tinned (historically -speaking) sqlfatara action at high temperatures that created the attractive wonders of the Botomahana. It has be si stated that no Native tradition exists of Tarawera having bsen the Site of previous activity, but the range culminates in three distinct, peaks, the meaning of the Maori names of which, according to Mr Locke, M.H.E., and- other authorities, dearly contradicts this assumption. 7 Tbis consideration has. interest, as « sudden development of volcanic activity ia a new locality, or in an ancient and greatly denuded formation like the tracbjte breccia that forms the Horohoro,. would have been more eerions and significant than the mere temporary;revival of the expiring energies . of a reoent focus of volcanic force. 2. TOT VENTS. ■ As viewed across Kotorua lake on the 13th from the point where the Taurauga road emerges from the' bush; the Tarawera range appeared to have quite lost its former characteristic 'outline. The deep gap-dividing Wahanga, the northern peak, from Buawahia, the central one,-was .almost obliterated, and the abrupt precipitoue sides of the mountain were everywhere softened by the great slope deposits of material ejected ; f rdm the yplcanio veuis, consisting of stones aandMusfcof a grey color. Along the edge 'of the range seven distinot point] were seen to give off steam from flattened conical heaps of, dark colored debris, and at intervale these vents threw off; large vblomesbfetaam and'vap-Dr darkened, to a reddiah hue by solid matters, which were i discharged to a height estimated at from 1200 ft to ,600 ft. Pour days later, when viewed from the eastward, the name range iehowed a similar appearance, allowing for sthe5 the change in direction, but the cone on ■the summit of Euawahia had evidently accumulated with greater rapidity than the others, and had acquired lateral cone*, giving its outline a Similar appearance to that of Bangitoto, near Auckland. Daring 'two clear nights I watched the eruption from these vents, and could distinctly see them against tbe aky with a powerful binocular telescope, but t never observed any illumination of the ascending steam clouds as if from the surface of an incandescent. mass within the vent;nor was. there any eign of any outpouring of lava either from these vents or from cracks or fissures in the sides of the mountain during the time of my visit. Iα addition to tho above-mentiorei conical vents on the summit of the range along the eastern side, the line of fissure already alluded to was distinctly visible, emitting wreaths of steam. This Hue of fissure lay in an oblique direction, so that it appeared to gain in elevation alongside of the mount from north towards soutb, but not sufficiently .so .as to indicate for it a direction that would make it continuous with the great fissure south of Tarawera, but rather in the direction of line* A C on plan 2. It i« below this fissure line on the eastern flask of the range that bulky •texracea like arcumulatiote of pumice ssnd have-been formed, and if tnis eruptios should ever reschtbe stage of producing lava, which from other cirenmstanoee I think hardly likely, it is irom this fissure that I should expect the lava to exude. . ■ 8. THH GBSAT 7153088. Thfs is the most remarkable and ohmracteristic feature of the late eruption and the chief origin of the disastrous

wanlta which attended it A good view, but much obscured by steam, wu obtained f *°™ the BiU called Tehape-ctoroe, an altotnde of 2300 ft, by Mr Park on the 14th «>d by myself on the following day. Thia tfeeure seems to commence as a narrow rut of the northers end from the great rent which hae been formed in fth* wrath end of Tarawera mount. Thia rent isa moat wonderful feature. It i> not ft aup from the mountain side, bat appears as **• portion of the mountain, measuring 8000 ft by 600 ft and 300 ft deep, had been blown out, leaving a ragged reeky chasm, &om which steam was bein* discharged in. rapidly succeeding noffs. The eastern side, of this chasm waabriphtiy tintea as if by the efflorescent deposit of a mineral substance, probably ferro ohlorides. Bulphnr ha» been mentioned as a deposit from thie recent outburst by some who have witnessed it, but this is hardly a possible retult of such rapid volcanic development The \ view I obtained of the extent of thia chasm eoath was much obscured by numerous volumes of steam blowing off from the newly-formed fomaroles that cocupied the I site of Botomahana. From the eastern slope of Tebape-o-toroa we looked right into the fissure, and as far as I could see it appeared to leave a nearly straight boundary of undisturbed ground on ita eastern side, extending from the Tarawera chasm to within a tow chain* of Lake Okoro, thus intersecting the Botomakariki, or the cold lake, the Botomahana Lake, and the valley extending from thence south. The west aide of the fissure, on the other hand, ia very irregular in outline, and ia continually being altered by the falling in of its precipitous walls, as the hills are undermined by the action of powerful geysera, seven iat number, which at irregular intervale throw up great volumes of boiling water with stones and mud to & heijrht of 600 ft to 800 ft from the bottom. It is only by occasional glimpses darirg the breaks of the steam that any idea can be formed of the nature of the bottom of this huge I fissure, but it seemed as if it was entirely occupied by large circular areas of mud, seething and boiling in euch a fashion aa> to convey the impression of its being in a> very liquid state. These mud pools axe separatedfromoneanotherbyoomparativejv solid ground, and in some cases, especially towards the eastern side of the fissure, what appears to be email pools of water with sedgy margine could even be distinguished, but the difficulty of estimating the distances and depths through the tteam clouds rendered the observations niide very uncertain. The largest of these mud geysers a; p eared to be that rising from the position formerly occupied by the Pink Terrace, but the most interesting is one a mile further south, which, anlike the other, does not spring from the bottom, but front the comparatively high ground on the west eide of the fissure, and owing to the obliquity with which the fragments are thrown out, is gradually building up e> conical mound, which already has attained !an altitude of several hundred feet. Ab the Boutbern extremity the. nVsure ia bcunded by a bold semi-circular extremity from the base of whioh powerful steam jetsare escaping, but there was.no evidence that it was prolonged by a crack or fissure or fault or other displacements of ground, nor was there any evidence that the fissure' had been produced by any in.'sgu.ality of the movement of the ground bounding it* but rather that it waa caused simply by the removal of material whioh formerly occupied its space. Ita direction, as fa* ac could be ascertained, is N. 60deg. IL, whioh ie the general line of direction that would connect all the more active .geyeera between Tongariro and White bland.

4. MATTBB EJECTED DUEINQ TH» KBUPTIOST, The quantity of matter which was ejected auring the different phases of the : eruption was very large. lathe first place etone fragments were soattered bom the earlier eruptions of Tarawera over an. area of country extending to the eastward as far aa TβToko, and even, some say, to FortGalatea, while in the opposite direction they are sot reported to have fallen at any place farther west than Wairoa, a distance of six miles. None of the fragments which, I collected are other than portions of rooks of the nor do they present in the slightest degree the character of volcanio bombs or lapilli formed from lava*, or rook material in a. state of fusion; yet there can be no doubt, if we can accept the evidence of the eye witnesses, that these rock fragments most have in some cases reached the ground in a partially ineandeeoent state. Next followed the' great ejection ,of pumice sand, whiohforms enormous deposits in two localities, the one ie on the eastern elope , of Tarawera mountain already described, the nature and origin ofwbichl had no opportunity of ascertaining: the other deposit of this nature is chiefly on the western eide of the Rotomahanafisaure, : and was no doubt ejected at the commence* 'meat of the second phase of the eruption* Over a district of twenty-four square miles; south of Tarawera Lake, and on an almost '■ equal area to the north and east of the lake, the whole surface of the country has been covered with this pnmice'sand, to thickly as to obliterate in a great measure the natural features, partly filling the gullies; and enveloping all the hills as if with a deep mantle of snow, so that not a trade of vegetation can be eeen from the highest peaks, such ss Tehspe-o-Toroa, which is • 2300ffc above the sea, down to the level of the lake. The thickness of this deposit could not bo ascertained at the time of my vuifc, as so slips had occurred in it, end no sections were to be seen. It oonsiste&r of fine-grained and gritty pumice sand, slightly crusted on the surface by the action of the rain, which also caused it to assume a slightly greyish tinge, bnt underneath it waa a pure white, and at a dejtb. of 12in to 18In from the eurfaoe had stillsv high temperature on the sixth day aftar the eruption. Lying on the surface of this deposit, especially on the eloje* directed towards the fissure, fragments of considerable sise of various kinds of roeke were scattered about, and among theee were, masses evidently derived from the sinter of terraces, and from the manner in which' these fragments Appeared to occur in qmantities where the finer dust had been blown from the surface it is probable that the lower layer of the deposit will prove to ba composed of coarser material than the upper. The boundary line of this daezlipg white deposit ia. very distinctlr marked. * It can do well eeott where it passes over KakorameaMotintain, dividing; it aa it were into two portions, one white and the other green. While traversing ft , we experienced o> great downpour of rain, which formed the powdery material of the surface into little pellets, bat it did no* appear to be very absorbent, or to flhow any tendency to wotk up into an adhesive, material. This is very different from what may be termed "the grey deposit" which is next to be mentioned, and which coverathe country from about; two miles eonth of Wairoa in a northerly direction towards the Bay of Plenty aa far as the Tβ Puke settlement. Th s ia the mud forming deposit, and wherever it appear* to have- descended in a thoroughly paatgjr condition it coated the vegetation so heavily as to break the limbs of lofty trees and to crush smaller scrubs fi «t, aim ply by its weight. The sand, aa already ntated, appears to have fallen hot—so hut indeed as to set fixe to trees, stumps of whicawereseen burning in many places, but there is nothing to lead us to soppoae that tbie grey mud when it fell was even warm. Ithas been sugjretted by some that this moist deposit was mud thrown from the bottom of Botomahana Like, but it v difficult fe» conceive how, in that ewe, it ehuuld have overleapta strip of country four or five miles wide where there ie nothing but dry eaod, before it reached Wairoa j and I think ttat a more likely source forit] origin is to be found in the sudden condensation of the ;front edge of the great vapour and doss cloud when it suddenly met the violent sou'west gale which averted it from Botorua, and directed it towards the «c* coast, where it spread over the aky\«ad icaueed the darkness that was experience* at Tanrangs, and all over the country to the > eastward. The great volume of tbjsdtut cloud was directed to war da the Bait Cape, 'dropping over the country in that |d«eotion • comparatively heavy deposit or brownish Wack dust, so coarse as almoefc to be sand; while aa. its northern edge, ac

far aact as Taaxanfa. the dart is of a light fwy eoler and aiataftvaly €aa la gnu. A.ooQeet»bnof all that* different deposits ha* been obtained and will be reported on aa aoo& M the chemical analjsis is earnpiete. Ike impact of th* moist deposit what it fell matt have been very great from the effects which it produced at Waateoa, where it appears to have attained is nurmmm th'ekness c£ about ISia in S level places, free from as; inflnew* waold «wk it to drift. Or ihe flat apex above the bridge at the outlet of it* depth was foond to be 9ia, yff/f ia tbe Tikr-apu bash 4in. and from thai point it gzadoaUy decreased towards the north- Tbe actisn of the rain upon Horn mad rapidly converts it into a semiSoidocmditi3o,in which state it slides off tike hill sltpea and fills the low grounds mad water c">cxaee.*ad where it has been thkfcly depcsHed it win thus be a eonatast aooree o! daager for some tune to oome, be* where only an inch or so in thickness, is will, I believe, rapidly disappear, and excepting that it may far a time deteriorate tee pasture and destroy the existing vegetation, it wffl in the long ran be an advantageous »dditioa to the light pamk* eoile upon which it has ten deposited, owing to its *&*! absorbent properties. As for the hght deposit of dost which fell in a dry state, tarn Is very little donbt that it win be aU washed off into the soa with the first heavy raios that come. The distance to which this fine dost was carried was very Sat, exoeedisß at least ISO miles from (ocas, in a direction between north and oast, and the time it remained suspended in Hie atmosphere was at least eighty-four boors, as we in the Hineno» when creating the Bsy of Plenty on Saturday afternoon, as a peculiar yellowish tog charged with pungent add vapour and das*, and on tbe following afternoon we recognised the same fag cloud still suspended in the atmosphere towards the north-east. S. TJDI KTOtUTIOX OF BTMIM. The enormous volume of steam rising from the sit* of Botomahaaa Lake gives rise to a pillar o< dead that is visible ia all directions over the country, bavins * diameter of about an eighth of a mfle, and rising to a height of not less than 12,000 feet Ita effect ia mast impressive, especially in the m"rrvf™g and evening, when it is lighted cp with gorgeous tints by the rays of the sun when it w below the hcrfaon, and all the surrounding landataape is in twilight. Although this steam dead receive* rapid additions in ita lower part from scu«*ive explosions, these do not generate any rapid movement through the ssaas of this cloud, so that if viewed free a distacc* it appears to be almost solid •ad immorabk, except for the changea that are gradually effected upon its lower portion by the movement* of the atm> aphere.

6. tbm Fmoroxnov or m maxrsqiTAKß TBXXOSS.

KartbqaakM are the usoal results of the viokst ooacwkea attendant upon violent OBtbarsU, and they afford the only else waieh we caa possibly have as to the depth b*low the surface of the earth at which, the voleanis energy has been exacted. Taxes, if the earthquakes are felt with only slightly decreased violence to great dJataaees from the focus, the disturbaaeebadwp seated o&e. On the other hand if the earthquakx* although extremely visleß* eke* to £be focus are oaly fat* to a • WMtante distance, the conclusion to be drawn is that the forces at work are only . •ojerfieiaL Ail reports agree that at the Wairoa, about foar miles distant, which is the nearest point to the erop'ion from wbkh say parson has survived, the shocks ef «r&quaxe during the first phase were violent sad ooottouoar, whereas at Rotona, twelve mike distant, they were comparatively slight- The great earthquake «fc«*»omieeaeeaestof the second phase ' ffwinn to hare been felt with considerable violesm at Botorua, and distinctly arrested attention for a distance »tlei*t from sixty toaeresty miles, bat does sot appear to oav* done savdsmasre. Xhning our visit the earthquake shocks in the vicinity of -Batoaabaea w<?ra still frequent and r violent bat at Rotoraa they were only expmesocd as gwrtle undulations, and I aeoKtabwd that they proceeded frem the effeots of the explosion from the Botomaan»fi*(BZ«, and tbat the eruptions from tfee somrait of Tarawwa, which wee deerJy vi«bl« frosß Eotorna, did not pro4sm the slightest apparent tremor at that ■rtjffri't Significant earthquake rents vet* ana crossing the fi»e south of Xsitariris, bat only where there was a deeper supported bank. 7. ram sotnrne.

i Tba Krasis produced daring the amp. tte ■Mβ* hare been, from all aeeoonie appslS&gtothoseata moderate distance. ••flte thoader produced by the electrical discharges, the terrific rowing of &* Ugh pressure BtWkaa escaping throogh the voteaak rents, were combined with temifyiag effect. Muet baa been said •boat Bobes beard at Auckland, Wangaanf, aad other places. From the time aieatiocwd 13mm appear to hero been doe to the T-wrberatiag reports accompanying tha Tarawera outbreaks. Some of these traisee ■mj saw been propagated through the atutotpbete, aad reflejtei to the earth -firaa lE* «nder serCtee of the •tratifutm dood «heets that were widely jjjimert ia vuriooa direstionß over tiw eoloer on that morning. Othere, aga*n, *4Ugrba«e be«a propagated throngh the «Mt bot I have bdea informed chat a «h» whafctg aettleiaeat cf Tarawiti, oa tiie «aat «stnsce of Tory Channel, from 4 'Horn, ep to about 8 p-m, oa the evening of «M 9th, th* night preceding the emption. load booniog reporta were heard, as if ttroaga the earth. A.% these reporta were pwkw to any symptom* of tiie load d»at Tar&wera, this sngj«Btß that tfaew may bave leralted from a alight movenest atoac the great fault lines ttat tcavcae the North and Sooth. Islands in a Tmirti mli iTj din rfimi.iTTrtfn thin rsnnthn " "liwwiir fthrtm eaaie of the Taraweia ontInat ear be fovad in a local fraetore from tuck morement. S. rUSUI ITOiIT STX7TOKB. Th* oaly premoaitory sjmptomi of the eosKbucootbanS whica have been de•adM fwse as oeeillation in the level of XiKMHsaaadßotoraa Lakes and the- oo<»irwKi»of otrtbqoakes for some months past ta that distnet, whew, as a rale, eßTthqe&ket are rarely felt. Bat neither of thaw are very characteristic incidents, aorwe&Mit be safe oa faterd occasions to has* any expectation of an eruption on ■eah phgnomeea atone. The iacraased ■swtijrity of the geyters and hot spdnga 4anßg the pasft season has also be*n advaaeed a* haiiog been a symptom of an appxsaching oatbreak, bat those who were ■as* familiar with tha district will agree thai tkair vartatias was no greater titan is ««sl«Bder tie icSaenoeol rapid changes of wiad axd auaor&hcrie preuare. The *sfwtts of sympathetic oatbreaks ia other yitaoes along »t>« Use of volcanic energy fraaa Whit* I*Uad to Eoapehu appear uafoanded. Tae oetbartt has ahowa coaclonrely that the rpringa as Beboraascad Kctnmahana are quit* indeffltde&t of e*cb other aad of those at other jlfes, thaa ew&immg the obcerratian SMi» byVoa hootistgttec lopg sg», that all the vazfeas pciaU at wbicn tb< ratal sprixgs oeser. ar« sita*ted round the i—niiis of l«k*s fanned by the <>abaidence of cecals* a***** aad are sot ooaaeded by am wadergtosad system of gravitational

9. OOIKXCSXOX

Free the focegeia* «*«ti of the rhsimtit of the arantka I think there am b* Utefe qtMstkm that it is purely a Bydro-tiwmm phenomenon, but on a gigantic scale; thu it is quite local and sot «f 4mp wetrd origia. aad that all rtsngrr is past fee taa prtMct, so fa* as ees «•« venture to form aa miairi «• «*ek s> subject. The extia sMtirfry «f the pnas wMek hask beta observed is so dcoM owing to the heavy mis*: tbrt oa the 9th set fen after the liwjlf psriodof dry nsther which ha* bswi ■■iiiiriptwiiiii ia th»t dutrk* for maay 9sss% sad probably the freqoeat earthaswrw whiah fa»w» of late agitated the nssad thsre ooatnbated to tatv activity % atizrisg op Uae soorccs of the water ssqsairy, sad, , faeilitatnig tae accae* of dneam£* water to the soeress of the beat i ee»Bwfoadwbe.tsay be accounted for in Vm SBsassr I believe tbere is bo increased

disturbance at Botorua, Wairakei, Tanpo and other places. Th* quieaoeateoadition of Tongaxsto and Xgaroahoewas plainly shown by the manner in which we observed it to be emraloped in snow. A* • rale, on the saoria cone of Ngatuahoe snow rarely lies excepting in a few of the gullies, but melts almost as rapidly as it falls. On the morning of the 17th, however, the cone of Ngaxuahoe was covered with a great mantle of snow, while the puias on Tongariro showed lees than their usual amount of steam «««n»iT»g The only fresh activity which may be reasonably expected is that which ,1 anticipate when sufficient rain has fallen to cause the overflow of Okaro Lake into tbe south end of the great fissure, as its former drainage outlet to the Botomahana lake appears to mc to be completely filled ep. If tide should occur and a fresh explosion take place in consequence, it wdl be comparatively moderate in ita effects, as, unlike Botoaahana, the soft incoherent pumice deposits between the. fissure and Okaro Lake are not sealed dawn by an enormous weight of sflidons t inter. For some time to come great variations most be expected in the activity of the newly-formed puias, according to the manner in which changes occur in the atmospheric pressure, but unless it can be shown that any local change in the barometer is experienced which is not shared by the surrounding district the barometer affords no indication as to whether an eruption is or in not imminent. One of the most unfortunate results of the eruption, in addition to the disastrous loss of life and tbe destruction of the country, is the disturbance of the tense of security which has grown up amongst those residing at the Hot Springs, and I believe that many persons are so thoroughly shaken by the horrors experienced on the morning of the 10;h that they will not recover their equanimity until they have been for some time resident away from the sounds, smelts, and shocks that characterise the district. An analytical report on the nature of the volcanic deposits is appended, and a series of illustrated views will be furnished as soon a> executed. I hare, Sμ., Jamwb Hbotob. The results of Mr Jkey's analysis of the dust ia summed up aa follows»—" Both these dusts are much inferior to even very indifferent soils; for day lands they might be of service mechanically."