A TRIP TO THE TOP OF THE PIRONGIA.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXXII, Issue 5247, 5 August 1876, Page 1 (Supplement)

A TRIP TO THE TOP OF THE PIRONGIA.

As compai ativoly few have been to the top of this mountain, perhaps a short sketch ol a trip up thcio may not be without inteitst. On Satiuday the 15th, at 0 a in., our paity, nunibenng 14, arrived at the foot of tlio mountain, about thite miles from Alc\andiu The tiack winds up one of the main inlgos and enters the forest close to the spot whcie poor Todd was shot. There is a farm house up here, but it has evidently been dcscited for a long time, probably through the above occurrence, and the panics we used to have so regularly. Upon entering thefoiest the horses had to be left behind, and now commenced a long climb, of course, in single file. Vov about a mile the track is good, and the gradient easy, but after that, progress be comes more difficult, the path is not so well detined and trees have fallen across it, so that occasional rests woic \eiy acceptable, especially to the ladies (five of them by the by). We reached the liisb peak after having tiavelled three hours thiough dense foiesfc, so dense that scarcely a glimpse could be obtained of the country beneath. The view from here was certainly good, but our monecr, a gentleman who had been up be fore, was determined upon reaching a higher peak, more to the south. It took us (gt ntlemeu only) about twenty minutes hard climbing to reach the highest peak on the eastern side <>f the mountain, and the panorama spread out before us was something never to be foi gotten. I am afraid my pen cannot descnbe it, but it was simply grand. To the cast, fiom the Lower Piako, up to the Matainata run, and the ranges beyond, tho countiy was as plain as a field. To the west we could see the inland waters of the Raglan Harbour, with Karioi Mountain looming in the distance, as also tho main ocean, near Aotea Harbour ; but, to tho south was the view most grand. Mount Egmont was clear and distinct and, had tho ranges been lower round it, wo could have seen New Plymouth. Iluapahua Mountain looked like a vast field of snow, ending in two peaks, and, more to the cast, Tongariro stood out with its mantle of snow. In respect to this mountain, we noticed that round the tip of the crater, tho mountain was dark, the snow had melted, which indicates internal heat, and corresponds with the leportof its recent eruption. From tho peak we were upon, the observer looks down upon tho whole of Waikato, and can hardly believe the statements occasionally made, that tho Waikato is filling up rapidly, and that land ia becoming scarce — not a third of tho country iscultivaterl, and the farms are dotted ht'ie and there, like plums in a pudding, and with a large per-centago of swamp. It lias been said that a lake exists somewhere in the Pnongia, but, as a deep ravine loaves the bed of the crater, and" opens away for all waters to the Waipa Eivcr, it is difficult to credit this. If it dors exists, it must bo. on the western side. Turning from thoughts like these to things common, we discover a bottle, and in it a paper, upon which was written the magic words: "Wonderful, efficacy of King's Worm Powders, to bo had of King, Chemist, Auckland." This is advertising with a vengeance. Wo left tho bottle and contents behind not, that we wish to try the wonderful efficacy, but out of respect to the genius that could hit upon such mi idea. Wo atao found upon tho top of this peak, a strong growth of tho dandelion herb or weed, — how it came there is pi obleuiatical. It is a proof, however, that

tills pi. lilt, W |ll( ll Is splcldlllL? (>\(l tin W ii k.vto pastmi's, h.i-> amongst its 1ml, tin good <(ii,ili<) (if hemg h.udy. At - ]>.in wo started tor the lower peak, and |oiiied the rest of the pai fcy. On the w.iy down, two of tin* party managed to lose theinsclvis, but, liapptly, turned up all light 1( U»>k only one hour and a half to descend, so tli it we were in Alexandra in s,nw\ tune I a cuisionists to the Piiongta slunild st.u t ciilv in the day, and a viewfiom the summit is an ample lewaid for any ( \ei tion and fatigue — Wm/yiito Tiiin v