OUR TOURIST RESORTS.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XIV, Issue III, 19 January 1895, Page 52

OUR TOURIST RESORTS.

T _A_ TT ZE 3 O_

THE LAKE—THE TOWNSHIP, AND THE ENVIRONS.

IN the prosperity which must follow the increased tourist traffic to the Hot Lakes now that the railway to Rotorua township is in everyday working order, Taupo’ will without question share. And most deservedly so ; for there are beauties as well as wonders to be seen at, and round about Taupo. Our first attention should, however, be devoted to a brief SKETCH OF THE TOWN OF TAUPO. The town lies on the right bank of the Waikato River at its exit from the lake, and was first named Bowen’s town, after a former Governor, Sir George Bowen, but the name was never used, and is now almost forgotten. It consists of about thirty wooden houses, a redoubt built by the armed

constabulary in the stormy days now past, two hotels, a court house, sometimes used for the sittings of the Native Lands Court, and post and telegraph offices. The main coach road from Napier to Waikato and Rotorua passes through it, crossing the Waikato river about half a mile from its exit, by a wooden bridge. The sketch of the town was taken from the low pumice slopes on the left bank of the river, on the site of the old native village of Tapuaeharuru, the echoing footsteps. In the foreground is the port with its shipping, consisting of two steamers, the Taubara, whose name by the way is wrongly spelt on her register, and the Hinemoa. and some sailing crafts. In the background rises Mount Tauhara, 3.600 feet above the sea-level. This is an extinct volcano with a well defined crater. Numerous hot springs issued from its base, advantage of which has been taken at two points by the erection of hotels with hot baths attached. One is situated about two miles from Taupo near the Napier Road on a high ridge overlooking the lake and the native village of Waipaihihi, which takes its name from the hot stream running through it, which after crossing the coach road, falls over a small cascade, and then spreads out over the rocks before it enters the lake. The other hotel, about the same distance from the town, is in a beautiful gully, running down to the Waikato River, and near which are the group of geysers and steam holes, from which the gorge of • Hell’s Gates ’ derives its name. The most remarkable of these is the ‘ Crow’s Nest,' a raised funnel of silica about eight feet high, with old timber cemented in it; when the river is high, a column of boiling water at irregular intervals is spouted up to a height of about 20 feet into the air. THE LAKE. Near the old village of Totara on the eastern side are sortte peculiar vertical and columnar rocks. Hochstetler states these were cailed * Taupo * by the natives, and hence the name of the lake. He says the formation is volcanic rock of a very striking lamellar structure ; like the leaves of a book, sometimes of microscopic fineness, the thin lamellar sheets of stone lie one above the other. The origin of the word * Taupo ’ appears to be enveloped in doubt as stated above. Hochstetter says the name is derived from these peculiar rocks. The natives say it is a compound word. * Tau ’ signifying arrival or alighting as a bird, and

*Po ’ night; having reference to the meeting of Ngatoro irangi and Tia. A possible solution, I would suggest, is this. Fornander, a resident for thirty-four years in the Hawaiian group, in his interesting work, * The Polynesian Race,’ translates the name of a place in Hawaiian mythology called in the ancient Polynesian tongue * Kaupo a Kane ’ as * the heart of Kane ;’ in Maori the K is always changed to T, Tane being one of the chief Maori deities and identical with Kane, thus in Maori the reading would be ‘Taupo a Tane.’ The word ‘Taupo’ signifying heart or interior is certainly not known in the language at present, but, being in the original Polynesian tongne, may it not have been used by the earliest

immigrants and have since dropped out of the language ? Words formerly were frequently made * tapn ’ by chiefs assuming the name, and the word could not afterwards be used on any account, so possibly with the word Taupo. Considering the whole island is ‘ Te Ika a Maui,’ the fish of Maui, and the wonderful intelligence displayed by the early natives of the configuration of the island they lived in, this inland lake may have been called the heart or interior of the fish. Its form is that of an irregular heart, and the natives are said to designate the localities of the respective parts of the fish thus : The southern portion, the head ; the north western part, the tail ; Cape Egmont, the back fin; East Cape, tbe lower fin; Wanganui ate ra (Port

Nicholson) is the salt water eye ; Wairarapa, the fresh water eye ; Rongorongo is the upper gill ; Te Rimurapa, the lower gill ; Tongariro is the stomach, and Taupo the belly. THE LAKE IS UNFORTUNATELY POORLY STOCKED WITH FISH,

the only native kinds being the kokopu and the inanga. Kokopn when full grown vary from six to ten inches long ; the natives catch them with baited wicker baskets called * poraka,’ in the season from December to tbe end of February. On the east coast of the lake they were formerly caught in the following way : fern tied loosely in bunches was fastened on at intervals to a long rope, and in the evening sunk with weights into the water. The fish would hide themselves in the fern, and in the morning the natives would carefully draw the rope np and open the bunches in their canoes. They are fonnd in numbers thrown np on tbe beach after a gale, and these appear generally to be half grown and attacked with a kind of piscine leprosy ; part of the body having turned white

and decaying. The full grown ones also contain long tape worms of a reddish colour, which coil out of the fish a short time after it is taken from the water. Inanga resemble the English white bait, and are caught from September to tbe end of November in * hinakis,’ a kind of wicker eel baskets, set at the mouths of rivers running into the lake. The Koura, a small black crayfish, is also found, but not in abundance. Its size varies from two to fonr inches long. It is fished for with a net tied to a frame, very like, but larger than a shrimping net. It is weighted and dragged along tbe bottom with ropes. This net is called * Haau-koura.’ Carp were introduced first to the lake some years ago by a man named Morrison, and are hence called * Moribana ’ by the natives. They have become numerous, and much affect the hot water at the south end of the lake, where some fine specimens of the gold and silver carp are often caught. WILD FOWL SHOOTING ROUND THE LAKE now is very indifferent. Black swan were numerous a few years ago, but have now almost entirely disappeared, and the duck and teal, which once swarmed round the reedy banks of the lake rivers, are fast following them. Unfortunately * Kawau ’ cormorants or shags are plentiful, especially in Western Bav and round the rocks of Pukawa. Of these there are two kinds—a large and a smaller bird. Tbe karoro, so called after the large sea-gull of the ocean, is constantly hovering over tbe lake in flocks. The terapunga, another species of gull, is also found. It is a whitebreasted bird, wings, back and head black, a red bill slightly curved upwards, and long red legs. The natives snare them on posts at the openings of rivers; they are then cooked and preserved in fat. If well preserved they are very good eating. This mode of preserving birds or any meat by first cooking it then placing it in a vessel and covering the whole up with melted fat, is called * hnahua.’* Tbe whio, the blue mountain or whistling duck, is found on all mountain streams. It is said to climb up rocks by means of the joints of its wings, which are bare of feathers and horny, using its short strong tail as a support. It is frequently caught by dogs or knocked down with a stick, as it seldom rises but runs along the water. The pukebo somewhat resembles the English water hen. It once abounded in the swamps round Tokaanu. It is in shape like the guinea fowl but smaller. It has long red legs and toes and a bill with a protuberance above of the same colour. The back is black, and breast a bright mazarine blue ; the under feathers of the tail are pure white, forming a fine contrast with the black of

“ So called from the ‘ hua ’ or calabash they were packed in.

its short tail. The flesh makes very good soap. The kiwi, the wingless bird of New Zealand, is still abundant in the mountain ranges round the lake. When I was camped on the slope of Pureora, the highest mountain of the Hurakia range, the natives with us caught over twenty in four or five nights. They are rather larger than a full-grown domestic fowl, with extremely thick thighs, the bill is long and curved, with nostrils at the extremity. They possess only rudimentary wing bones, abont j an inch long and curved with long brown feathers resembling coarse hair. Some have been caught entirely white on the Kaimanawa Ranges, one of these was sent to Sydney by Mr Grace. They are night birds, burrowing under the roots of trees, and utter a whistling cry at intervals. The larger species lays only one egg. but this is a monster, considering the size of the bird. The egg measures over five inches long and over three in width.! The

smaller kinds are said to lay two eggs. The natives hunt them with their dogs, trained to scent them. Cloaks made of their feathers are highly prized and are now rare. PHEASANTS ARE NUMEROUS ESPECIALLY ROUND THE SOUTH END OF THE LAKE, but a good dog is essential to obtain much sport as they run like the red-legged French partridge. The Kereru, the native wood pigeon, is not abundant, and is said by the natives to be getting scarcer every year. This is a grand bird and capital eating. It is as large as a duck. The upper breast is a beautiful metallic green and gold, the lower part white, the legs and bill red. It is very stupid and easy to shoot for the pot, for if two birds are on one tree and one be shot, the other seldom flies away. The miro berries are their favourite food, and when these are in season the bird is in the best condition. Formerly the natives snared them in large numbers, but since firearms have become common they have almost abandoned the practice. The mode was thus: a point in the bush near miro trees and as far as possible from water was selected, here a small stage was built, on this a small wooden trongh containing water was placed, with perches for the birds and sticks running entirely round it at the height of a pigeon’s breast. The whole length of these sticks was hnng with loops overlapping one another, so that when the pigeon thrust his head down to drink, he must pass it through one of these loops, which were made of thin, tough strips of cabbage-tree leaves. The length of the loop was so arranged as to tighten round his neck just as he reached the water, he started back suddenly, perhaps fell off the perch, and was strangled. This stage and trough is called a ‘ Waituhi.’ The natives also used a long spear called • Te Here,’ which when the birds were feeding on low trees, they rested on a suitable bough and speared them. In high trees, which the birds frequented, they built small stages, and hiding on this, rested the spear on a branch as before. THE TUI OR PARSON BIRD IS ALSO SEEN. It derives its name of parson bird from two remarkable tufts of small white feathers on the under side of the neck* like a clergyman’s bands. It is of a beautiful black bronze hue with delicate white hair feathers round the neck. It has a beautiful note' and is full of activity, and is the pluckiest bird in the bush, not even a sparrow hawk daring to attack one. They are easily tamed and taught to imitate every sound, and are also excellent eating. When large quantities of these and pigeons are obtained prior to a great feast or * tangi ’ they are preserved as * huahua. ’ THE COUNTRY ROUND THE LAKE for a radius of from 20 to 30 miles is known in Maori as

‘ Taupo Niwa-Tia,* the great Taupo of Tia, and under this name was passed throngh the Native Lands Court in 1887. WAIHI. This settlement is at the south-west end of the lake, on the edge of a semi-circular bay, of which the projecting months of the Upper Waikato River and the rocky points of Pukawa form the horns. It is prettily placed on a strip of flat land between the lake and the hills, sloping down behind it, through a chasm in which the Waihi stream throws itself in a fall of about 150 feet, and near to the village about 100 yards before reaching the lake. Above on the side of the mountain, probably 500 feet above the lake, steam issues from innumerable places. The whole north side of the Kakaramea Mountain appears to be boiled soft by hot steam and to be on the point of falling in. From every crack and cleft on that side of the mountain.

hot steam and boiling water are steamiug forth with a continual fizzing sound, as though hundreds of steam engines were in motion. These steaming fissures in the mountain side, upon which every stone is decomposed into reddish clay, the natives call ‘ Hipaoa,’ the chimneys.

Several hot baths line the shores of the lake in front of the village, seldom unoccupied at any hour of the day or night, the children especially playing in them constantly in fine weather. Of these baths Hochstetter states :—• These are alkaline springs, but strange to say amid them is also a chalybeate one of 156 deg. Fahr., which deposits large quantities of iron ochre.’ All the other baths have a temperature slightly varying above and below 93deg. Fahr. The large whare-puni in the centre, shaded by karaka trees, before which the flagstaff is erected, is named after an ancestor * Ponhaurangi,’ and the other whare puni, nearer the lake is ‘ Ngarongokahau.’ Specimens of carving from these are given. Near the flagstaff in a small grove of trees at the base of the bill is a cave, containing the bones of ancestors, and it was the proud

boast of the tribe that no enemy had ever looked upon them showing their country had never been conquered. The * Pataka ’ or storehouse near, under some karaka trees, is named * Hinana,’ and was removed here front Pukawa. It gave its name to the great Kingite meeting held there, described in the account of Pukawa. On the round green mound near the waterfall lived Iwikau, during the lifetime of his brother Te Heuken, but who removed to Pukawa after bis death. Peach, plum, and other fruit trees grow and bear luxuriantly around the village, and some of the native gardens, neatly fenced and cared for, would do credit to any English cottage. Near the river was a morere or native swing, t Here a young Maori maiden, named Te Huataka, disappointed in love, committed suicide. She swung herself to the full extent of the rope, till over the boulders of the river bed, fell upon them and was either killed outright or died shortly after. To the left but more in the foreground is the tomb of the late chief Te Heuheu Tukino, the son of the former. It is on the summit of a low rounded hill, formerly a nah, called * Whakatara.’ His death occurred in 1888, and the long thatched house in the centre of the sketch was built to accommodate the numerous visitors from all parts of the island, who continued for over a year arriving in relays, as a mark of respect to so great a rangitira. To the right in the foreground is the ‘ Watu tapu,’ or sacred grove, containing the graves of Ngatitnrumakina, the name of the hapn, and the * Tuahu,’ or sacred altar, a flat rock shown in the sketch. RUAPEHU. The sketch is taken from the Waihohonu stream on Rangipo to the north-east side of the mountain. The nearest peak is usually known as Rnapehn ; the highest of the three in the background is Para te tai Tonga. Their respective heights are Ruapehu, 8,878 feet and Para te tai Tonga, 9,013 feet above sea level. Authorities disagree on the meaning of the word Ruapehu, but the best interpretation seems to be rua, a hole, and pehu ashes or dust. Formander says that in Hawaiian * lehu," under varying dialectical forms of rehu, pehu, etu, etc , means ashes or dust. In Sanaa * lebu ’is also ashes ; in Maori, rehu, ashes. Para te toi Tonga is interpreted as * facing toward the south.’ This latter is the loftiest point in the North Island ; a little below it to the north-west is a large extinct crater, containing water of a milky dark colour, probably diluted sulphuric acid, and surrounded with huge masses of lava, ice and rock cemented together. Along the ridges are deep crevasses, nearly filled with snow all the year, as here is the region of perpetual snow. § At the foot of a precipitous spur running from Para te tai Tonga to the east is a large cavern adorned with magnificent stalactites; from hererushesout the sulphurous water which forms the Wangaehu River ; probably there is a subterranean communication with the crater. Hardly a hundred yards away over a slight ridge the Waikato bubbles up in a clear sparkling spring of fresh water—one, the Wangaehu, bending away due south, empties itself into the sea near Wanganni ; the other, the Waikato, taking a northerly course through Lake Taupo and joining the ocean a little below the Manukau Heads. So strongly impregnated with sulphur is the water of the Wangaehu that it is not even drinkable at the coast, a distance of over 100 miles.