VISITING THE WONDERS. A NEW BATH OPENED.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 9172, 14 June 1901, Page 3

VISITING THE WONDERS. A NEW BATH OPENED.

The Sanatorium Grounds, which were first visited, presented a very bright and attractive appearance, having, under the adorning hand of Mr Matthews, Chief Forester, been transformed from a wilderness of scrub into beautifully laid out. gardens, with spacious paths, bowling green, tennis court, etc. The inspection included visits to the various baths, in which waters of different temperatures and different curative properties may be tested. A spacious bath, beautifully fitted up, and constructed specially for the occasion, was opened by His Royal Highness and appropriately named the Duchess bath, the Royal pair having the first opportunity of using it. Calls were also paid to the Blue, Rachaei, Postmaster, Priests' baths, and many others, and the Sanatorium itself, a spacious building for the reception and treatment of" invalids, was inspected. The Royal party then pro-j ceeded through Rototua to the Ohinemutu old township, where in the Maori pa of this place there is a handsomly-caryed Maori whare, which excited the admiration of the visitors, who were also curiously interested in the performance of the juvenile Maori bathers in the hot water on the shores of the lake, and also in the methods of cooking— the food being placed in boiling pools alongside their whares. At this place an address was presented by an ancient chief of the Arawa tribe. Thence a visit was paid to Whakarewarewa, four miles away, which is the first of the infernos. In the neighborhood here there are fearsome pools of boiling water, porridge pots of mud, and suffocating cauldrons of sulphur. The chief feature here, however, is the geyser Wairoa, which throws a column of water a great distance into the air. Wairoa, however, is sometimes stubborn, and before being nersuaded to exhibit himself he has to be liberally soaped, a process which greatly amused the English visitors. At the last place visited large parties of Maoris gave the party a welcome according to custom. On their return to Rotorua for lunch, their Royal Highnesses called at the vast Maori encampment on the racecourse. There they were received with a great

haka of welcome. Several hakas and poi dances were performed. The Ohinemutu pa was crammed with Natives, and 400 dancers gave a. fen-id welcome, a party of women with white blouses being at the entrance, waving blanches and dancing vigorously, one old duenna with rolling eyeballs making terrible grimaces. Bronze-skinned warriors witli battle-axes took up the refrain with groat spirit. In front of the statue of Queen Victoria, mounted on a carved wooden pedestal, offerings of mats, greenstone meres, and Maori kits were laid at their Royal Highnesses' feet. These, it was explained, Mr Carroll interpreting, were presented in accordance with Mflbri custom, in memory of those who had departed, and as a token of their love. They begged their Highnesses not to disregard their presents, unworthy though they might be, but take them with their flag, which was presented to the Arawas by the Duke of Edinburgh, and was rescued from Tarawera eruption," which wis specially brought under their Highness's notice. Major Fox, an ancient chieftain of the Arawas, clad in a flax vest, was introduced, and he presented to the Duke a greenstone tiki of Whakare* warewa. Maggie acted as guide to the Duke, and the famous Sophia, one of the survivors of the Tarawera disaster, to the Duchess. The Wairoa geyser was soaped, and spurted a splendid column a hundred feet high, which, glistening in the noonday, formed an exceedingly pretty spectacle. Potutu, the larger of the two geysers at this place, was not on exhibition, having played prematurely just before the arrival of the Royal party; nor was the Torpedo in action, from the same cause. The visit was brought to a close after watching the juveniles diving into the water after money thrown by members of the Royal party. CHIEFTAINESSES PRESENTED TO THE DUCHESS. Several Maori chieftainesses were presented to the Duchess last night. To-day's functions at the racecourse were generally regarded as a great success, and gave a foretaste of what may be expected to-morrow forenoon, when those taking part total four thousand. The function at the racecourse was a great success, and was evidently highly relished by the Royal party, the Duke frequently leading the cheers which followed the performance of the various tribes. After several exhibitions of poi dancing with remarkable precision of movement, several companies of the various tribes competed with hakas. A finished display was undoubtedly that of the Ngatiporou, four hundred strong, who-, with great ferocity and tremendous yells, astounded all the English visitors. Another squad, stripped to the waist, of beefy men from Hawke's Bay also danced well, springing high into the air.