TONGARIRO IN ERUPTION.

Colonist, Volume XL, Issue 8746, 21 December 1896, Page 4

TONGARIRO IN ERUPTION.

A MAGNIFICENT. AWE-INBPIBING

SPECTACLE.

WHv,Lt OCCURRENCE G3APHICALL2

DESCRIBED.

(Special to thb • Naw Zealand Times.')

Napieb, December 17*

Or Tuesday morning considerable onrioeify was aroused by the fact that there had been a heavy fall ol volcanic dast during the night. All broad-leaved foliage was covered with R sediment which was palpably volaanio asb, and looked like floor pomice. It w»s tbonghi there had been some volcanic eruption, bat, as (here waß no news of Buoh a thing, nothing m re was thought of it. A representative of the 'Even'og News' interviewed Ml! Edmund Peter?, the well known coach pro* i prietor of Tok-sanu, last week, and from hia lips ascertained the cauee of the fall of dost in greater or Isbs quibtUiea all over the Hawke's Bay provinoe, and eapesia'ly heavily in and around Napier.

It appears that the first outbreak took plMd about five we ka ago, Tongariro belcbing forth at a tpot about 200 feet above the summit of To Mb are on the nor. hern slope— < considered, lightly or wrongly, to be one ot Tongariro'a ssfetv valvee. Mr Fetera was only eight miles distant at the time. He Bays the sight was beautiful teyond description ■ Tbe eruption was preceded by a Buooesaion of earthquakes, no less than 140 being recorded as baying been felt at Tokaanu daring the night. Just before the first outburst, em oka and flames w re Been and a terrific roar was beard like the sou e h of a monster rocket. A long, l'ud rumble tben oocurred and the earih in the vicinity oscillated with a peculiar rocking motion - Clouds of smoke flameß and dust intermingled, deft the sky, it is estimated, for about a mile, and spread mushroom like. Soon the whole of the highetf atmoephere in the neighborhood became obecared, and an awe-inspiring darkness en« wrapped the locality. The air at the same time became heated almost to an nnbearable pitch. Soon a Bhower of small stones began to fall and a havty retreat on the part of the spectator was detrmd advisable. Miniature stones the, size of peas rattled like hailstones on the roofs of some of the houses in the vioinity during the whole of one night. There were several smaller eruptions from time to time ( but the second big outburst took place on Friday week, when tbe mountain emitted even a greater quantity of debris in the ehapa of an almost '.impalpable grey dußt whiob oovered the country in the vicinity, in some; plaoes to the depth of several inoheß, and! for 11 m : les all round with a deposit about 2in thick ; whilst flax bußhes, fern trees and other vegetation drooped with the unusual weight of the volcanic dust. The country* Been from an eminence, presented a peculiar* ly weird appearance in its coating. Mr Peters doea net think that the dusl from either rf these explosions reached Napier, bat that tbe visitation there was caused by emanations of a minor and yet considerable eruption on Sunday morning last, when a stiff easterly wiod was blowing from Tongariro, whiob. is a'mosfc doe wfcst from Napier. Boapehu, Mr Peters ioforuoed the inter* viewer, shows ro sign of disturbance. Ngaaruboe is emitting a white, sulphurous seam, but it is not of an unusual description. He is very emphatio on that head, in view of prrcneous reports which have been circulated from Auckland with xegard to the matter, and he is in a position to have his statements coneidered authentic, as his usual coach route lies close round the base of the mountain from Tokaanu to Waiouiu, and enables the traveller ta make a close inspection of the whole group of mountains, the nearest point of the road being only fiva milea distant from Buapehu. Dr Friedlander, the famous Swiss Alpine explorer, under the tutelage of the well-known guide, Robert Gray, was on Tongariro during one of tbe outbur-.ts, and had to beat a hasty retreat to windward in consequence of the soffcoa ing fomes and sulphurous emoke. As may be imagined, the party bad some rather hazardous experiences. The Doctor says he has visited all the famous volcanoes of tbe world, but nowhere before has he seen so grand, so awe-inspiring, so truly beautiful a sight bs that whioh he viewed on this occasion at Te Maare. So impresed is he, in* deed, with bis experience that he hRS determined to prolong Mb stay for another week, atd is even now encamped on an adjacent mountain in oompany with a friend and the g. ifle, Mr Gray, No immediate danger id apprehended by the residents, as the eruption is looked upon as having ben tbe outpouring of a safety valve, and it is anticipated that it will ensure the quietude of Tongariro for a time at least. Aa for tbe dust shower, the fact that it has covered up the grass and herbaceous vegetation hi the immediate vioinity is looked upon with comparative equanimity, because it is recognised that with a few showera of rain this will be remedied, and everything will grow better than before, bsoanse of the fertilising top coating. The sunsets at Tokaanu at present are Baft to be so beautiful as to baffle description. This is owing to the play of tbe iridescent rays of the setting sun on the moleoulas myriads whioh have been floating in space, ever since the beginning of the eruptions.