THE VOLCANIC ERUPTION.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XX, Issue 143, 17 June 1886, Page 2

THE VOLCANIC ERUPTION.

I 7 [Pitß33 Association. | 3 ROTOItUA, The following arc the estimated losses by [■ the Europeans by the recent eruption : — Mr > Mcltac, £4,000 : Mr Humphreys, ;C2,000 ; MiRogers, £500 : Captain Way, £200 ; and W. Bird, XI ()«. Mr Mcltac was insured in the Union office, but they refuse to pay at prct sent, promising' to consider the matter. 1 It is doubtful whether Mr Mcßae will get 3 the amount of his insurance (.t I SOU) from t the Union Company, as the destruction was 1 by volcanic eruption. The matter will be fully considered by the directors of the 2 Company. I Mrs Haszard and daughter have left for Auckland. ' Most of those sent to the scene of the dist urbance on special duty are returning. ' Mr Percy Smith, Assistant Surveyor ' General, arrived here last night, He says ' he spent Sunday and Monday at the south end of the volcanic eruption, near Qkaro. ] The southern crater is 20U yards long 1 , 250 yards wide, and 350 feet deep. He examined I the back of the Pink Terrace, aud found that both it and the White Terrace are . blown up. and there is only a crater remain- > ing. The country is shelving- into the crater t as it oats down into the Lake, and the country round Lake JRotoinaljana is all in,

motion. He found that the Maori who had discovered a woman coming from Waitangi had abandoned her, and that the Natives had not gone out to bring her in. He started with a party of Europeans and Natives along the mud track, and found the woman three miles north of Wairoa. She had been six days without food or water and was wandering in her mind. She was carried to Kateriatia and it is expected she will recover. Mr Smith returns to Auckland on Friday, but hopes to return when the weather is better to examine the Tarawera mountain ranges, especially at the back. He believes that the rain now falling will clear the hills of mud and make them accessible, but will practically destroy Tarawera Lake, and still further alter its appearance. Not a living being is now in Wairoa, but it is believed the Natives will peril their lives to ransack and plunder Mcßae's store. Mr Edwards, the Native interpreter, has made a number of excellent sketches showing the main features of the volcanic action on Tarawera. A slight shock of earthquake was felt at 930 last night. Rotomahana is moderately active.