MOUNT RUAPEHU.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13465, 18 April 1907, Page 5

MOUNT RUAPEHU.

SIGNS OF VOLCANIC

ACTIVITY.

SUPPOSED ERUPTION.

[BY teleg HATH.—OWN con res pond ext.]

R a i:titi, Wednesday. A cjrkat deal or speculation as to the cause was occasioned to-day when it was found that a change had taken place in the appearance of Ruapehu Mountain. Yesterday the mountain was capped with snow, but this morning it was seen to have lost its whiteness, and become of a bluishgray colour. There is nothing whatever to explain this extraordinary transformation but the fact that an eruption has evidently occurred somewhere on the mountain. It is most probable that the hot lake on the east em side of Ruapehu, which has recently been more than usually active, has, instead of sending up clouds of .steam only, caused the upheaval of something more substantial. With the aid of a glass, there can be clearly seen a coating of what appear to be ashes 011 the top of the mountain, which has almost completely covered* it, and caused the melting of the snow. Rain, which has fallen since last night, or, perhaps, the melted snow, has evidently washed the ashes away from the steeper slopes and ridges of the mountain side, which are quite clear of both snow and ashes. It is scarcely likely tiiat lie Ngattruhoe voljano is the cause of the trouble, it being several miles away, and much lower than Ruapehu.

During the past two months Ngauruhoe has been very active, throwing ashes and mud to a considerable height. The lake on Ruapehu lias also, at intervals, emitted clouds of steam, on "veveral occasions tremendous volumes of steam rising above the mountain top. Heavy rumbling and explosions have frequently been heard at Ohakune, presumably from Ngauruhoe. At the present time the mountain is partly hidden by rain-clouds, and future events are awaited with much interest by residents.