THE KERMADECS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 80, 28 December 1907, Page 11

THE KERMADECS.

SCIENTIFIC EXPEDITION. DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLANDS. - (rEOM OUR', SrECIAL COBEESPOKDENr.) ■ •■ Auckland, December: 27. , The scientific" 'expedition to tile Kermadecs has aroused' very considerable., interest here, but the islands are not the almost unknown localities generally supposed. The geology, flora, aiwkfauna, have already been studied on a comprehensive scale. - Tho Herald" publishes an article ■ nf great -interest regarding, these lonely islands. The writer says .the. expedition which is. to sail from 'Auckland: in,:thb Hinemoa to-day, and the members''of which will dwell 'on these lonely fragments qf New Zealand for twelve months, mil have opportunity for good: and useful work in the-cause of science, in the studying of ' the"breeding habits' of ocean birds, which .frequent the Kermadecs in enormous numbers. It must not, however, be supposed that the expedition is going to accomplish anything revolutionary iri regard to the investigation: of-vegetable "or animal life, because already ..both flora and fauna have been ;well studied .-awl -the scientists'who are to form,: this expedition are too well versed in the work- already done to imagine their investigations are going to revolutionise previous ideas. They know that by patient search and by long residence ..they, .will' be able.to add to. the : knowledge already possessed along certain/lines, and'it itfay-.be" saidat, once, the' greatest opportunity for. good work lies in the studying of the" breeding ha-bits-of,the birds. A. year's residence should enable the expedition to study these habits to great advantage. .J ; ; The Islands. The Kermadecs wero innexed to New Zealand'in 1887, and they are 600 sea miles north-east of Auckland, lying" in-between the, routes to.Tonga and.Rarotonga.. The. group is a , very- small one, and ..would,, bo of. very little value were it not. for, its position .and the great, fertility of the. soil on the principal islands. With the exception of-theChat-hams, .however, the Kermadecs are the most yalua ble of. the: several - groups., of. oceanic islands attached' to the Dominion. The principal island is R'aoul, or Sunday Island, about 20 miles- -in ; cifciiniferencey'and, aboutV 6S miles south-west', is Macaulay Island, the next in size, while',l42 ; '-miles in the .same.-direc-tion from Raoul is Lesperance, the -mostsouthern of the* group, but only a bare , rock., About 20 miles .from Macaulay Island., are the Curtis Islands; With the addition qf. a few- islets and rocks, those mentioned com--prise:the whole, .which has'a-total area of- 8200 acres,. Raoul accounting, for, 7260, of. those acres. Raoiil. and Lesperance .;were discqi;pred - by D'Entrecasteaux ■ in ...1793, but it was■ not .till 1837 that'- the first settlers >arrived, and from that time it has*been-occu-pied by. various parties ,of.settlers. .The cli-. mrfte is mild, the,insular position tempering the heat of ; the latitude,: and in summer the temperature is just- slightly .higher than that of Auckland. ■-In winter, however, -high gales are common. . .. ...; Volcanic Action. The-group is of volcanic origin, and,,from the geologists', view point, of recent': date. Mr.. S. Percy Smith found that, just as the volcanic action from Ruapehu' to White Is-' land followed a .'distinct line, there was ievidence "in, the Kermadecs - of, the : ruling' pro/ cess by which-yolcalioes',.are built up .along linear . .fissures. ,' He observed- that by" prolonging, the. axis', of, the;, Bay of .Plenty, vol., canic district it would strike-V-through-" the' group, and if continued .still .further iri,„;the' same .general .direction, Tonga and;: Samoa would .he found iiv tho same line. ;Th'e violent eruptions in' Samoa, and the strange submarine disturbances of ; . ; Tiqnga ~within':.the'. lastyear of so give, striking point to Mr. Percy' Smith's, remarks in 1837. He further pointed out that this line 'appeared.- to- mark, the centre of a region of .elevation, separated from similar, ones on either side ,bv oceans of abysSmal depthe. The Challenger's .and later soundings show that, although tliq .lino ni3y ibo called an ocean plateau, ,it - has' still, .a" 'great depth of. water, greater' than -the' height of most of tho northern mountains of. New Zealaiid. The islands are all the.tops of volcanic mountains, and Mr. Percy Smith believed they originated in. the eruption of matter from-.the: gr'ea't linear fissure lie indicated as probably extending from .Ruapehu to' Samoa. - He found very" little to guide-in an estimation-of the age of the-islands,but; having regard'to Hector's statement that-tho activity >which .elevated the .central plateau of-, the Norths -Island of New, Zealand -.commenced in Eocene-times, he inferred that the' Kcrmadccs.were of tho same age, as it tvbuld be atthat--period the great fissure was. formed or re-qpened, the Eocene times being the ago when'-volcanic force first commenced, to build up -from the sea -bottom the: mountains' we '.ndwi'see. .-All round Raoul,. except on .the'nortli',- there: is a distinct..series, of lava , flows, composed- of black 'and. brown an-, desitic rock, "lying ■ horizontally,.'.' aricl.''. sejia'-.' rated in many cases'by- bands; qf .' red. laterit.o,' and in this .the geologist sees the history of the - building'/iip .of- the island',-: and argues that- the.'lava-.flows were intermittent, and' that- - there - was long enough between eachfor the'collection; of soil and tho''appearanco of vegetatiori/'-In spito of the/'sea.having ocr. cupied the abode of the god of fire, the'forces, were- by no'me,ins extinguished -f or good and all, for there.wre.still fum'aroles at the foot: of.the' cliffs 1 sending forth a little steam at the time of, .Smith's .visit in 1847;. the.-set-' 'tiers, took a hurried - departure,., earthquakes and signs of,thermal activity convincing. 'them

that their island was going to blow'itself out" ; of existence. Y In 1853 the'next settler got . out in a-hurry, and in 1872 there was an' eruption in the other' great crater, followed by one at, Denham Bay, and the. settlers departed in ' a whalo boat • with all possible speed. An island .was thrown up in the bay at that time, but it gradually wore away to . a shoal. A Curious Sight. . . v In 1872 a curious sight was witnessed there, the water in a little lake a quarter of a mile south commencing to boil furiously, and a column 'of firo-spouting up through it, but practically all signs- of. that eruption hav4 now disappeared. At the great crater, however, the action was much more violent, the qjecta tearing down the vegetation and form- . ing a deposit 12ft. deep on the crater rim. • At the, time of- the Stella expedition steam " escapes were found ,irt several places,) and there was a remarkable ■ falling off in the ' ■ steam'volume just after the Tarawera' eruption. The whole island: is now covered. with.. dense vegetation of trees and- ferns. Tho Curtis,. Islands the. Stella' expedition found ' most interesting, ; as 1 the islands seemed to / be'formed of massive lava, standing: up -in * perpendicular cliffs of 500 ft. The crater situ- ■ a ted on the north side had its floor orly 15ft. above, sea. level, and scattered 'over' .the siiiv face were solfataras, fumeroles, boilng mud holes, and heaps of, sulphurous mud. A ' strong stream of .'very hot water, ran qutfrom ; the crater, and there was considerable acti-Ls vit-y shown by' the fumaroles, - ' ; /Sn Interesting' Find, . '' , : Throughout the whole group Mr. Percy Smith found nothing but igneous rocks', -and these, withouti one exception, l - belonged to-'the basic,' "or rather, the ' transition I.: from the acids .to - ; the. ; basic.;, clast, ; of volcanic ejector. The exception ■ 'min-, tioned -was- of great interest. It is a"", rock found in boulder form mirth and east ; of Raoul, and microscopic examination . . proved it ,as syenite, one of/the plutoniri rocks, and its presence'can onlyi.be. explained ~ by- assuming that'-it was brought up by vol-., canic action-from great depths, as .was-'.the. case at Tarawera ui'lßß6, and ,-Mr. Smith concluded,-that "With.the solitary exception' .of - this" syenite," the islands, geologically .af« forded,no/support to. the' theory" that a con- . tineut, now "submerged, extended formerly in this 1 direction'and'to'the other-islands of -tho Pacific', I 'at'ariy. rate' more', recent v geological periods, and l -by which means.New Zealand flora and fauna travelled down .from ■ ', the' north! If ever such land connection: existed itmust have been, in very ancient times, probably, long before the dawn of-the v tertiary period.; ' V' v.- * Flora, ;'.".0• , Tip.to the t-inie'of, the Stella 1887, the ; sole knowledge of the;vegetatiotf of \»" the' EermadecS was based on-a' small-colle&-, tioii. of plants- made oil- Raoul in 1854, turalists on board H.M.Si -Herald. -; The lection wasjiahded to Sir J.. D. Hooker;-and - the' total''number, 'qf ..species. collected <was' 41., Hooker-came; to-three main' conclusions -(l)'v Tliat the-flora-iwas most.nearlv allied to-thab' of New Zealand, the'greater portion of,the species being absolutely, identical with plants . found tin the Dominion.' (2) That .there was a remarkable absence : of 'any plants peculiar to Norfolk Island, which is practically tho . same distance away as New Zealand. (3) That .1 the proportion of t Polynesian species - is much 4_ less than might reasonably/have been; es-.*:r pe'et'ed. At the time of the Stella expedition a - most' comprehensive study of the \ flora, was v. made by Mr, T. F. Cheeseman,.of' Auckland .j| Museum,, arid to his most, interesting and expressive notes bearing on his. observations y ' the - writer is indebted. for' the material relat- , irig.to''tie.-vegetation-of these;- lonely islands' -of-the sea.;. . Mr. Cheeseman's larger, and, more ■ complete, collection bore,out in tlip 'main. Hooker's conclusions."': i '