DISCOLOURED RUAPEHU.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 989, 2 December 1910, Page 5

DISCOLOURED RUAPEHU.

- . .'■- ■.■ —♦———-',' : : 'DISCOVERT OP ITS ACTIVITY. : ■With regard to the reported discoloura--1 lion of Ruapohu's snow-cap, thought to be caused by an-eruption, Mr. S. Percy Smith had something to about this . iambus mountain in his pamphlet -on the "Eruption on Tarawera" in. 1886. fie then wrote:—"Reference has already -.teen made to : the fact that the grand mountain of Ruapehu, situated-at the southern end of tno Taupo zone, and • irhieh bears oh its shoulders a deep mantle of perpetual snow, had until quite .recently been supposed to bo a.volcano, ■flrhoso firos had ages ago died out. But on the ascent of the southern peak, ,Pari-te-tai-tonga, by Mr. W. Cusscn, in 3884, the lake lying in the critter-like hollow near it exhibited: somo differenco ■from'ordinary basins of cold water, which inclined Mr, Cussen to suggest. the pos- ■ tibility ,of the water, being warm, if not hot. . It was impossible to descend tho Bteep snow-bound walls to decide the . question, and it, therefore, Temained in ■}■ abeyance'until March of the present year ■: (188G), when Mr. L. Cussen, in the exeeu- ■'• tion .of his • triangulation, again made ■' the' ascent-dn two occasions. All_ doubt iras then set at rest .by. his finding the '" brater-lake to be steaming, . and tho , ; waters shewing that turmoil' of surface, •common to hot-irater lakes, while the enow ' bad been melted, for some Tray up around •the mariyins, ■ particularly so on the side !ivhere: the prevalent, westerly wind had Iblown tho heated vapour on to it. ■. . . .;. "The Maoris have no tradition of any '■~ either volcanic or thermal, ever having been noticed on Ruapehu, nor have ■■'. ithe European settlers ever seen or sus- .: pected anything of 'tho kind previous to the. twelve months before tho eruption '; Of Tarawera in 188 G.". ' • • . . Since that time Rnapehu has shown ,■ ■; 'varying degrees of activity. The feature i>f the present, outbreak,is that it follows .'. closely on tho heels of. the' recent eruptions of Ngauruhoe, suggesting that the . Volcanic twins are acting in. concert.