THE LOST TERRACES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14301, 22 February 1910, Page 5

THE LOST TERRACES.

; ' A ' PROJECT FOR RECOVERY. ' ■a . ' ' -■. : v " . •[Bt TELEGRAPH.PRESS ASSOCIATION.] f - . ' Rotorua, ' Monday. «"A project that . has been mooted more 'than once before is being seriously discussed again, namely, the possibility of - recovering' the famous terraces at Iloto-

, roahana. Guide War brick stoutly maini,i J . tains that they were never destroyed, but

simply buried, basing his belief on the fact 'that ho has searched the whole of '-I.V; the : ground in the neighbourhood of the !• '>?.'• lake, v arid never found a fragment of ter- ' race formation. Since the eruption in June, 1886, Lake has filled up to nearly' 20 times its original size, ■ \and;, is now vmore than 100 ft above its former level. There is no outlet, and it . -is' still rising. • Another 25ft will cause it to \ overflow ' ■ into its old channel, which . would soon be scoured out. The idea is to hasten this process by giving it a start by making a cut. The topmost layer of the terraces was originally 70ft or. 80ft • above water, and is, therefore, now submerged 20ft to 30ft. Above this- is a deposit of mud, which, it vis believed, . could be shovelled or washed into the V. : lake, : .with no great labour. If the ter- . races still exist, the lowering of. the water, it {is i fondly ; hoped, will bring them to - light again. , On the other hand, one au- ~ ' thority at least, believes that, if not de- . stroyed -in. the eruption, the steam confined below will, by this time, have con- ; certed : the ;! siliceous formation into pulp,

, and destroyed the beautiful contours of • these', famous beauty spots. Believers :n . their existence '.contest this theory and . contend' that the formation is much too hard to be injured by steam.