HOLIDAY SKETCHES IN NEW ZEALAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7258, 21 February 1885, Page 1 (Supplement)

HOLIDAY SKETCHES IN NEW ZEALAND.

[BY AKTHUR SMYTH.] HI. BOTOMAHANA. Having spent a very pleasant week at Ohinemutu, we decided to push on, as my friend, Monsieur Chaleyer, «o£ Melbourne, was rather pressed for time. We were at last to behold the terraces, famed throughout the world for their delicate beauty and fairy like loveliness. (NF.B. I must use my adjectives sparingly, for I shall want them all by-and-by.) To get to the terraces, you must first take the coach to Wairoa, a distance of ten miles, and stop there for the night. It is best to make up your party, which should consist of aix or eight persons, at Lake House before you start. By doing this, you secure a coach to yourselves, and a boat to row over the Lake Tarawera. We did not, however, avail ourselves of this means of transit, for Mr. Graham, with a generosity for which he is notorious, gave us two of his best horses. So, after dining at six, we started out for Wairoa. The ride, after you get out of the scrub, is extremely pretty. Leaving the lake behind, and passing Whakarewarewa on the left, we entered a magnificent native forest, which forms over the somewhat uneven road a perfeot avenue. I shall never forget the sight as we entered this exquisite piece of bush, for two reasons. First, because the banks on either side from., end to end were studded, like stars, with glowworm*. The night was dark, and the brilliant dazzling effect of these beautiful creatures flashing out from the gloom gave us indeed an earnest of what we were to see on the morrow. But there was another reason why I am not likely to forget our introduction to the glowworms, simply because, as we came suddenly upon them, our horses took fright, and Charlie, who was supposed to be as quiet, as a lamb, assumed more of the character of a kangaroo. One leap did it, and my gaze was suddenly diverted from the stars that studded the banks to the planets in the firmament of heaven, whilst, in a recumbent position, 1 seemed to see nothing but 41 stars." However, I may well draw a veil over this terrible discomfiture and ray friend's uncontrollable mirth ; for, emerging from the bush, we came to Tikitapu Lake, with the moon shining over the bine. It would be difficult to find a lovelier sight, so I say, if you want to see Tikitapu "aright," you must visit it, as we did, in the calm stillness of a summer night, when the moon is shedding her light to catch the ripples as they steal across tue lake, and the trees just waving a gentle whisper of Siste viator. We did rest, and gazed in silence for some time on this glorious scene. No sooner were we out of sight of Tikitapu, than we came upon Rotokakahi, another lake, separated from its neighbour by a narrow atrip of land. The water is a dirty green, so we did not stop here, and another quarter of a mile brought us to Wairoa. Before we got to the hotel, we met a large number of tourists and natives on their way to the whare-puni, whero they were about to dance the haka. We hastened on to the Terrace House, another of Mr. Graham's hotels, and, having seen to our houses and obtained comfortable rooms, we set out to join our comrades at the wharepuni, Entering, we squatted down on mats spread over the clay floor, and, by the aid— I had almost said "in spite of—two small dip candles, we saw the dance. The inside of a whare-puni, at the best of times, is neither cheerful, clean, nor airy, but at night, when the dull raupo lining is lighted by two sputtering candles, which " sets the dark a-mutter" round you, and you see crouching beside you dusky forms, grotesquely tattooed, and hideous with age, or restless black-haired imps, with eyes that flash like—well, glowworms!—you might be excused if you imagined you were in Pandemonium or the legendary resting-place of the damnei. The dancers are sixty in number, thirty men and thirty women, the women standing in front. Some of these women are remarkably well-built and handsome, but the great majority are very decidedly passees. Want of space will prevent my describing the dance, and I am rather glad of the excuse, for it is nob quite as delicate as the Lancers, and I should be very sorry to be obliged to take ladies to witness it. The whole thing, like the huia of the Hawaiians, is sensuous, suggestive, and immoral ; not to them, because it is part and parcel of their religion, but to the mind of the pakeha it presents nothing that is elevating or capable of other than one idea, and that is—let me speak it out—sensuality. The Wairoa waterfall is well worth a visit, and, by payment of a small fee, any of the boys will guide you thither. Wβ rose early the next morning, and the weather was fine. Breakfast was soon disposed of, and by nine o'clock we started in two canoes to cross Lake Tarawera. Lake Tarawera is noted fer its beauty. Its shores are rocky, rugged, and steep; its waters very deep, and darkly blue. The lake extends some seven or eight miles in length, and is about five miles across. The three fiat-looking peaks of the Tarawera Mountains loom loftily to the south-east, 2000 feet above the level of the sea, and, eastward, through a gap called " Awa o te Atua" (River of Gods), the towering summit of Mount Edgcumbe might be seen, shooting up its glorious peak to the highest heavens, and, watching, as it were, with silent disdain the liver at its feet, overflowing from the lake, to presently lose itself in the Bay of Plenty. At some distance from its source, this river forms a magnificent waterfall, Te Tauhapi, over which is a curious natural bridge, which is tapu, for it is sacred to the Maoris as a place of sepulture. Rounding Mora Point, we stopped at a native village to buy peaches and kouraa, a delicious kind of lobster; then, shooting into a long, narrow arm of the lake, called Te Ariki, we ascended the hot stream Eaiwaka, by which the water of Kotomahana finds its way into Tarawera, and come to the landing-place. Then we took our way on foot through tea-tree bush for about a mile and a-half to Rotomahana, but, before reaching the terraces, we had to embark again into a canoe, in order to cross the hot stream, and at last we reached Te Tarata, the White Terrace. No doubt most tourists who visit the terraces have an ideal of their own. They have read so much of the extreme beauty of the terraces, they have heard so much on all sides and in all parts of the world perhaps, that they have formed a conception of what they are going to see in their minds. To such people the first sight of the White and Pidk Terraces will be a bitter disappointment. But, if the man is true to himself, he will not be long disappointed. Man is a twofold creature, and fixes his eyes on the type only to read the antitype—that is to say, he reads the spiritual through the natural. And surely here, on this monument of Nature's great handiwork, one can feel almost the voice of Nature, speaking in no unmistakable manner.- "For Nature comes some times, and says, 'I am ambassador for God. , " It is no use my attempting to desoribe either my feelings on first seeing the terraces or the terraces themselves; and why should I ? Others have attempted to do so, hut in each case have miserably failed to give the least idea of them. The only exception, perhaps, may be Mr. Alexander Wilson in " Maoriland,"* to whose unparalleled description I *vould refer my readers. But, after all, I think the beet way to see and appreciate the terraces is to go without any preconceived idea of them, if possible, and then there can be no disappointment. Some are certainly disappointed, but they are the few that are not physically able to appreciate what is grand and beautiful in Nature. They cannot see the beauty and the glory. Earth's crammed with heaven, And every common bash afire with God; But only he who sees takes off his shoes, The rest sit round and pluck blackberries. And doubt their natural faces unaware More and more from the first similitude. * " Maoriland:" An illustrated hand-book ol New Zealand. George Robertson.