NGAURUHOE IS GREAT SPECTACLE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17854, 24 May 1926, Page 10

NGAURUHOE IS GREAT SPECTACLE.

SCHOOLBOYS VISIT LIVE VOLCANO.

(Speria‘ to fhr “Star,“\ AUCKLAND. May 22. According to the observations of Mr C. P. Worloy, who spent. last week at Tonga-I'm National Park with a. puty of Mount Albert Grunmar School boyn. the volcanic action of ‘Mount Ngnmhoo is more or less regular.

Mr “"orley says VNgauruhoe's action is like that of a gigantic forge. It‘ is as if some subterranean Vulcan operates the bellows and sends a breath of life through a banked fire. A red-hot funnel is bored up through the fire bed and fiery ashes and smoke and du t are blown high into the air. Then \‘uqcan takes his hand from the bellows, the crater falls in. and the banked forge smokes sulkily until the bellows are again applied. That is a fanciful image. but it applies almost exactly to the action of Ngauruhoe as described by Mr “‘orley. if the scale be taken as-several thousand times larger. ' ' Mr W'orley and his boys had four beautifully Clear days and nights to observe the mountain. and on one occasion they even ascended part of the final cone. It was a remarkable occasion for all concerned. and every one of the party was keen to study the habits of the smoke-crested monster raising its head so high above the land. Most of the time the mountain is quiescent. but about once every hour, ac-

cording to Mr \Vorley's observation, the hidden hand is on the bellows and elemental forces are unloosed. Generally there are three gigantic explosions of shots at. short intervals up to five minutes. Sometimes there are as many as seven shots at these periods of activity. The explosions are marked by quantities of red-hot. rocks of great, size. which are shot hundreds of feet into the rain These rocks can be singled out even at a distance of six miles. and. by a rough calculation Mr “'orley estimated that some of them would he the size of a small house. Along with them the crater emits volumes of steam massed with fine dust, which blows ofl’ with a great roaring noise. Three of these shots generally follow each other in quick succession, Ihcn it is as if the crater caves in upon itself and the subterranean fires are banked. A quiet period of about an hour supervenes. while a dense pall of black smoke from the crater Spreads its sinister shadow, Then the hand is again at the bellows. the vent is blown vlear. the shots recommence and the whole process goes full wheel again.

At night the spectacle was a glorious one. so much so, in fact. that Mr \\-'orley says some of his boys could not tear themselves away from it, but remained outdoors in the clear. frosty night until they caught colds for their pains. A succession of shots would throw masses of red-hot material thousands of feet into the air, and on their descent they shattered intb a glowing red carpet covering the slopes. sometimes for more than half-way down the mountain. Extensive masses of this ejected spoil collected in one deep valley. and as they rolled down it gave the appearance of a lava flow. Although Mr Worley said no actual lava was emitted. some of the material was semimolten. This on landing broke up into thousands of ‘pieces.

Mr “torley and some of the boys Ichose a. quiet _hour last Tuesday to climb a short distance up the final cone, but it was not considered safe to proceed too far. As showing how far boulders are thrown the party came on a lot of newly-ejected Cinders on the adjoining peak, Tama. These, still fresh and dry, were the shattered remains of great boulders reduced by their {all to fragments the size of peas. A tremendous shot was fired by Ngauruhoe when the party was in Rift \‘alley. close to the final cone. One enormous boulder was shot more than halfway down the mountain. leaving a long dark smoking trail behind it. The partyof twenty-five schoolhoys. with two masters. stayed at \Vhaka~ papa Huts, six miles from the volcanic cone. but even there they were perforce mindful of its presence owing to the rattling of window panes during the explOSions. -