THE LOSS OF HUMAN LIFE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7693, 19 July 1886, Page 12

THE LOSS OF HUMAN LIFE.

CONTINUED ACTIVITY IN THE LAKE DISTRICT.

Singh the last monthly summary, there has been a sustained activity in many of tho points of eruption in tho Lake district, but upon a comparatively mild scale. On several occasions there have been wonderful displays of latent energy, but all these have been very tame affairs as compared with the terrible exhibition of force on tho morning of the 10th of Jane, which sont up tongues of flame to a height of nine miles. Many of the boiling springs, however, havo manifested an unwonted energy. Some of them have boiled at a fierce rate, and many of tho geysers have thrown up water te a great height. The level of some portions of the jand in the Lake district appear to have changed. The plain where tho township of Ohinemutu is situated is said to be now at a lower level by something over throe feet. But whether this statement is based upon a good foundation, or whether tho apparent difference is due to a fuller supply of water in Lake Rotorua, will require some time to determine with certainty. Ka rthquake shocks aro still far more convnon than was tho case before the great eru'ption, but they havo hitherto resulted harmlessly. Several of the new volcanoes w'nich have been opened up have sent steam 0 nd flames to a very great height on different Occasions, sometimes to a height of upwards Of 9000 feet, but these fits of energy are of short duration, and the residents in the district give little heed to them; The large quantity of volcanio ashes which Was thrown out in the first terrible outbreak, and whioh has spread over some 200,000 Bores, are now found to be not hurtful to vegetation. In places where the depth has Hot been great, the grass and other vegetation is springing up quite freely, and many believe the ashes will yet prove a benefit to the district; and several people have tested the fertility of the debris thrown out by Bowing various kinds of seeds therein, and Watering with distilled water. In each cane the seed has grown, and the plants luwe thriven wonderfully in their new Situation. So satisfactory indeed have these 'trials been, that the Government have granted a sum of money to have several portions of the district (which are covered with too great a depth of volcanic ashes for the covered vegetation to break through) sown down with grasses and clovers as experiments on a large scale. If these are satisfactory, as it is belived they will be, the greater part, if not the whole of the covered district will be sown with artificial grasises in the spring, before the dry and warns weather sets in. It has now been ascertained that the . Volcanic energy has been felt over a considerable extent of country. At several points in the South Island increased activity appears to have occurred just prior to tho terrible outbreak at Tarawera on June 10. 'A boiling spring is reported as having made its appearance underneath one of the glaciers o£ Mount Cook, Ruapehu, the giant; mountain in the North Island, has a large lake of hot water on the top of it, and smoke is reported to have been seen rising from it on several occasions. The eruptive joints on Tongariro, and the boiling springs j>n the southern shores of Lake Taupo, are '• all reported as having displayed an unwonted • anergy recently, and the escape of the ' pent-up forces of nature at so many different points cannot fail in soon bringing about a state of quiet, without doing any material injury. The changes which have taken plaoe, though the Pink and White Terraces are gone, are expected to largely increase the attractiveness of the district for tourists, large numbers of whom are expected from Australia as soon as the winter is over. During the last week or two Professors Brown and Thomas of the Auckland University College, and Professor Hutton of the Canterbury College, have been exploring tha disturbed district. Their report is amaously looked for. They have already stated, however, that the Lake district is now safer for residents and tourists than it bas been for the last one hundred years. It is now ascertained that the total 'number of deaths, including Europeans, amounts to 111, The following are the principal items of interest, in connection with this wonderful district, which have appeared during the ,paßt month : — REPORT BY DR. HECTOR. Wellington, July 5. Db. Hectob's report on the recent eruption was laid on the table of the House this evening. He recapitulates the well-known features of the outburst, already fully described, and gives the results of what he forma a rapid inspection under the headings : (1.) focus ; (2.) vents; (3.) the great fissure; (4.) matter ejected during the eruption; (5.) evolution of steam; (6) propagation of earthquake tremors ; (7.) the sounds; (8.) premonitory symptoms. The doctor states that a complete geological examination of the dust has been deferred to a better season for field work, when the volcanic activity has subsided. He combats th idea that the mud deposit which caused pc> much destruction was blown out of Jiotomahana, as if bo it must have leaped •over five miles of country. Altogether, he thinks it was dust in the air, turned into mud by condensation of the steam. The conclusion of the report is as follows :— "For some time to come great variations mast be expected in activity of the newlyformed puias, according to the manner in which changes occur in the atmospheric pressure; but unless it can be shown that any local change in the barometer is experienced which is not shared by the surrounding district, the barometer affords no indication as to whether an eruption ia or iB not imminent. One of the most unfortunate results of the eruption, in addition to the disastrous loss of life and the destruction of country, is the disturbance of the sense of security which haa grown up amongst those residing at the Hot Springs, and 1 believe that many persons are so thoroughly shaken by the horrors experienced on the morning of the 10th that they will not recover their equanimity until they have been for some time resident away from the sounds, smeliß, and shocks that characterise the district." The Press Association sends us the following extracts from the report:— 1. Focus: From examination of the slopes of Tarawera I conclude that the mountain is really one of recent volcanic origin, belonging to Von Hochstetter's new volcanio series, and that its abrupt outlines have resulted from fractures and subsidences of its flanks. According to this view it is natural to assume that tho still imperfectly-cooled mass of lava in the heart of this volcanic mountain has given rise to the long-continued (historically speaking) solfatara action at high temperatures that created the attractive wonders of Rotomahana. It has been stated that no native tradition existß of Tarawera having being the site of previous activity, but the range oulminatea in three distinct peaks, the meaning of the Maori names of which, according to Mr. Locke, M.H.R., and other authorities, clearly contradicts this assumption. This consideration bas interest, as a sudden development of volcanic activity in , a new locality, or in an ancient and greatly denuded formation, would have been more serious and significant than a mere temporary revival of expiring energies of a recent focus Of volcanio force. • 3. The great fissure : This is the moat remarkable and characteristic feature of the late eruption, and the chief origin of the disastrous results which attended it. A good % view, bat much obscured by steam, was ob» £7 —

tained from the hill called Te Hapa o Toroa (altitude, 2300 feet). This fissure seems to commence aa a narrow rift at the northern end, from the great rent which has been been formed in the south end of Tarawera mountain. The rent is a most wonderful feature. It is not a slip from the mountain side, but appears as if a portion of the mountain, measuring 2000 feet by 500 feet, and 300 feet deep, had been blown out, [ leaving a ragged rocky chasm, from which steam was being discharged in rapidly succeeding puffs. The eastern side of this chasm was brightly tinted, ns if by the efflorescent deposit of a mineral substance, probably ferro-chlorides. Sulphur has been mentioned as a deposit from this recent outburst by ome who have witnessed it, but thiß is hardly a possible result of such rapid volcanic development. The direction of the fissure, aa far as could bo ascertained, is in the general line that would connect all the more active geysers between Tongariro and White Island. 4. Matter ejected during tho eruption.— The quantity of matter which was ejected during the different phases of the eruption was very large. In the first place, stone fragments were scattered from tho earlier eruptions of Tarawera over an area of country extending to the eastward as far as Te Teko, and even, some say, to Fort Galatea, while in the opposite direction they are not reported to have fallen at any placo farther west than Wairoa, a distance of six miles. None of the fragments which I collected are other than portions of rocks of the district, nor do they present in the slightest degree the character of volcanic bombs or lapilli, formed from lava or rock material in a state of fusion. Yet there can bo no doubt, if we can accept the evidenco of eye-witnesses, that these rock fragments must have, in some cases, reached the ground in a partially incandescent state. Next followed the great ejection of pumice sand which forms enormous deposits in two localities. The one is on the eastern slope of Tarawera mountain, already described, tho nature and origin of which I had no opportunity of ascertaining. The othor deposit of this nature is chiefly on the western side of the Rotomahana fissure, and was no doubt pjected at the commencement of the second phase of the eruption. Over a district of 24 square miles south of Tarawera lake, and on an almost equal area to the north and east of the lake, the w hole surface of tho country has been covered with this pumice sand, so thickly as to obliterate in a great measure tho natural features, partly filling gullies, and enveloping all the hills as if with a deep mantle of snow, so that not a trace of vegetation can be seen from the highest peaks, such as Te Hapa o Toroa, which is 1:500 feet above the sea. Down to the level of the lake tho thickness of this deposit could not be ascertained at the time of my visit, aa no slips had occurred in it, and no sections were to be seen. It consisted of fine-grained and gritty pumice sand, slightly crusted on the surface by the action of the rain, which also caused it to assume a slightly greyish tinge, but underneath it was a pure white, and at a depth of 12 to IS inches from the surface had still a high temperature on the sixth day after the eruption. Lying on the surface of this deposit, especially on the slopes directed towards the fissure, fragments of considerable size of various kinds of rocks were scattered about, and among these were masses evidently derivod from tho sinter of the Terraces ; and from the manner in which these fragments appeared to occur in quantities where the finer dust had been blown from the surface, it is probable that the lower layer of the deposit will prove to be composed of coarser material than the upper. The boundary line of this dazzling white deposit is very distinctly marked. It can be well seen where it passes over Kakaramea mountain, dividing it as it were into two portions, one white and tho other green. While traversing it we experienced a great downpour of rain, which formed the powdery material of the surface into little pellets, but it did not appear to be very absorbent, cr to show any tendency to work up into aD adhesive material. This is very different from what may be termed the grey deposit, which is uext to the one mentioned, and which covers the country from about two miles south of Wairoa in a northerly direction towards tho Bay of Plenty as far as the Te Pnke settlement. This is the mud-forming deposit, and wherever it appears to have descended in a thoroughly pasty condition it coated the vegetation so heavily as to break limbs oS the iofty trees, and to crush the smaller scrub flit simply by its weight. The sand, as already stated, appears to have fallen hot, so hot, indeed, as to set fire to the trees, the stumps of which were seen burning in many places. But there is nothing to lead us to suppose that this grey mud, when it fell, was even warm. It has been suggested by some that this moist deposit was mud thrown out from the bottom of Rotomahana lake, but it is difficult to conceive how, in that case, it should have overleapt a strip of country four or five miles wide where there is nothing but dry sand before it reached Wairoa, and I think that a more likely source for its origin is to be found in the sudden condensation of the front edge of the great vapour and dust cloud, when it suddenly met the violent cold south-west pale which averted it from Rotorua, and directed it towards the sea coast, where it spread over the sky, and caused the darkness that was experienced at Tauranga, and all over the country to the eastward. The great volume of this dust cloud as directed towards the East Cape, dropping over the country in that direction a comparatively heavy deposit of brownish black dust, 30 coarse as almost to be sand, on its northern edge, as far east as while Tauranga, the dust is of a light grey colour, and excessively fine in grain. A collection of these differant deposits has been obtained, and will be reported on as soon as the chemical analysis is complete. The impact of tho moist deposit when it fell must have been very great from the effects which it produced at Wairoa, where it appears to have attained to a maximum thickness of about 12 inches in open level places, free from any influence that would cause it to drift on the flats, for about the bridge in tho outlet of Rotokakahi its depth was found to be nine inches, and in the Tikitapu hush four inches, and from that point it gradually decreased towards the north. The action of rain upon this mud rapidly converts it into a semi - fluid condition, in which state it slides off the hill slopes and fills the low ground and watercourses, and where it has been thickly deposited, it will thus be a constant source of danger for some time to come, but where only an inch or so in thickness, it will, I believe, rapidly disappear, and, excepting that it may for a time deteriorate the pasture and destroy the existing Ivegetation, it will in the long run be an advantageous addition to the light pumice soils upon which it has been deposited, owing to its slightly absorbent properties. Aa for the light deposit of dust which fell in a dry state, there is very little doubt that it will be all washed off into the soil with the first heavy rains thai come. The distance to which this dust was carried was very great, exceeding at least 120 miles from the focus in a direction between the north and east,and the time it remained suspended in the air must have have been at least 84 hours as we pasßed through it in the Hinemoa when crossing the Bay of Plenty on the Saturday afternoon, aB a peculiar yellowish fog, charged with pungent acid vapour and dust, and on the folfowing afternoon we recognised the same fog cloud still suspended in the air towards the north. 5. The evolution of steam : The enormous volume of steam rising from the site of Rotomahana Lake gave rise to a pillar of cloud that is visible in all directions over the country, having a diameter of about one eighth of a mile, and rising to a heighth of not less than 12,000 feet. Its effect is most impressive, especially in the morning and evening, when it is lighted up with gorgeous tints by the slanting rayß of the sun when it is below the horizon and all the surrounding landscape in twilight. Although the steam cloud receives rapid additions in its lower part from successive explosions, these do not generate any rapid movement through the mass of this cloud, so that if viewed from a distance it appears to be almost solid and immovable, except the changes that are gradually effected upon its lower portion by the movements of the atmosphere. 7. The Sounds: The sounds produced during the eruption must have been, from all accounts, appalling to those within a moderate distance. The crackling thunder produced by the electrical discharges, the terrific roaring of the high pressure steam escaping through the volcanic rents, were combined with terrifying effects. Much has been said about the noises heard at Auckland, Whanganui, and other places. From the times mentioned these appear to have been due to the reverberating reports accompanying the Tarawera outbreak. Some of these noises may have been

propagated through the atmosphere, and reflected to tho earth from the under surface of the stratiform cloud sheets that were widely spread in various directions over the colony on that morning. Others again may have been propagated through the earth, but I have bean informed that at the whaling settlement lat Tawato, on the east entrance of Tory Channel, from six p.m. up to about eight p.m. on the evening of the 9th (the night preceding tho eruption) loud booming reports were hoard as if through the earth. As these reports were previous to any symptoms of tho loud disturbances at Tarawera this suggests that they may have resulted from a slight movement along the groat fault lines that traverse tho North and South Islands in a north easterly direction, and in this case the immediate cause of the Tarawera outbreak may bo found in a local fracture, and resulting from such movement. 8. Premonitory Symptoms: Tho reports of sympathetic outbreaks in other places along the lino of volcanic energy, from White Island to Ruapehu, appear to bo quite unfounded. The outburst has shown conclusively that the springs at Kotorua and Rotomahana are quite independent of each and other places, thus confirming the observation made by Von liochstctter long ago, that all the various points at which thermal springs occur are situated around the margins of lakes formed by subsidence of circular areas, and are not connected by an underground system of gravitational drainage.