NIGHT ON NGAURUHOE.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 14449, 8 November 1917, Page 3

NIGHT ON NGAURUHOE.

VOLCANO CONTINUES ACTIVE

TWO ERUPTIONS WITNESSED

STREAMS OF MOLTEN LAVA

AUCKLAND, last night. The vceather conditions, which for the past few days had been unfavorable for observing the intermittent eruptions of Ngauruhoe, changed on Thursday evening and enabled: a. clearer view ( to be obtained of the mountain and of the

lava that has been ejected from the crater. On Friday a party, consisting of the president and vice-president of the Ruapehu Ski-ing Club, who are selecting new sites for winter quarters, and an Auckland pressman, set out for Ngauruhoe with the intention 'of climbing, the mountain, if it was reasonably safe, to obtain a glimpse into the abnormally active crater. •

The cone of Ngauruhce, symmetrically beautiful- -wheri^aefsn; ■ifi'om a changes as one- approaches to ,m inpressive ugliness. Passing up a rising sandy valley, the starting point of several snow-born streams, a narrow gorge, wildl beyond description ,m its great accumulation: of old solidified: lava deposits, is, i entered 1 «intl the ascent begins m earn&st Prom this the going becomes particularly laborious, the. way being intjersected , with imiumeirable deep ravines, which, starting m . insignificant riit-s m the precipitous, upper regions of •the ■■■Volcano, widen and' deepen rapidly as they drop abruptly into the desolate i valley below. Unofrtunately the earlier promise, of a. fine day was not fulfilled, arid the summit remained hidden by clouds, but frequently ■* hollow . boomings ancl muffled. subtewr&nea ! n explosions tojd' of the mountain's state of unrest.

SQQRIA STILL HOT. The climb up, the steep walls of the volcano Tras coiinhehceii^alpng a tortuous spur that led towards partly concealed old frozen snow deposits, upon which ejected .matter from the crater hart fallen or rolled down the mountain's side, .fust before the plant life limit was reached, varying areas of burnt tussock were met' with. Next recentlycooled! pieces of .scoria, m. coral and sponge-like formation were discovered, and the arduous . part of the climb was forgotten hi : the eager scramble for mementoes. A loud exclamation from a member of the party coming up from a near "declivity, -brought the others apprehensively toward^ ilnm, to find an »iexcited individual iJoihting to his latest find — a heat radiating boulder. The explorers utilised its warmth to restore the circulation to their .'!iltnost ; .p_rished. feet.

While the i>arty -were thus -wanrning themselves, a sharp earth tremor shook the mountain, and a deep detonation came from the cloudte, followed immediately by the i-attle of a shower of aJkme** striking soft earth m the vicinity. Tlie members of thei;. party*, realismg k that they had! wandered" into a danger zone, started l for the valley, each carrying a piece of half -cooled lava, as a means of .maintaining bodily warmth... , As the icloud 5 belts still Temained, two members of the party decided to make an immediate start for Waimarino, but the pressman, being equipped with a sleeping outfit, decided) to pass the night upon the nearei^tUJia'ge.adjlicwt' to the now, apparently, slowly expiring eruption. Toward sunset a terrifying report, like the sound! of artillery, seemed! to shake: the whole mountain range to . its very foundations, and! offered little encouragement towards a prolonged sojourn in/the; forbidding locality, bub it was too late to alter the plans. EXCITING NIGHT'S EXPERIENCE.

'ThVnext outburst came shortly before ten o'clock, creating an awe-inspiring spectacle; < Witb.*a lurid! glow :l a^gjeatf mass of molten matter-Nsnot up vertically into itiie now -clears-- atmosphere,-*- ■and,, spreading, dropped) Cits white-heated mass upon the country below* Boulder after boulder bounced and raced down the steep slopes. Prom the crater dense gyran waves, of steam issued!, and", from under this streams of : mfolten» lava belched forth* •

The. slow movement of the glowing stream of lava, even upon, the most precipitous slopes wag; caused partly ; no doubt,' by the rapid icoolingfc of the Java and the adhesive .nature* --©f the J soft sartid! deposits peculiar; to 'the wpper heights of the '.'■mountain. Every now and then the heavier bulb-like head

' would of its own weight detach itself ■ . from the parent stream, and roll quickly S. out of sight, while the new i ormed.head. would! a second later dto likewise, until • m places there was the .appearance of a string of glowing beads evenly spaced!,' moving with slow, deliberation down. the hillside. ' • • .; ;

a double eruption:

With an abruptness equalling its com ' mencement all activity seemingly ceased, and' a,, darkness doubly intense settled >' upon the now quiescent valley. An hour : lat«r repeated! cannonading echoing and reverberating like the prolonged roll of heavy thunder again disturbed the .silence. No -words can adequately de- ". scribe the grandeur of the molten mass, | 1 as it rose many hundreds of feet into • the darkness of the night. \ The crater ''' .seemed to have instantly filled^ with< ari--1 other wave of molten matter, even be-' ',- fore the ejected mas had reached the l apex of its flight, and when the rapidly cooling Biassj fell .back iiito^;.this sea- of fire another stupdendous explosion took place. ..Immediately the whole aky was again aflame with broken mUsess of redhot lava,, and) a cascade ,oi .white-.hot/ boulders dkrted! down the serrated sides, ' }. of the trembling mquntain. At the same •:1 moment a great •wave of lava flooded over the briik' : of the crater lip,' and '''■ swept with decreasing pace down the ■;l sides, giving the cone a remarkable'bril- ;'■' liant fan-shaped appearance. As the ! rivulets of lava cooled! the white glowing 5 boulders that studded!, the hillside resemn) bled the street-lamps of a hilly city. s The glow usually lasted) about twenty v minutes, but one gigantic boulder left Jl upon the fringe of the crater-lip glowed! '.« like a lighthouse beacon for nearly two ' hours. „-.•-•■•.■;■' . ...

"*' Attd&ylight the mountain side/ pre^' ,'1 viously particularly clean on acouht of 5 the rain of the past week, was mantled 1 \n a greenish-grey coating. -,