As we mounted terrace after terrace the mountains unfolded themselves beyond, and Kakarama, and Maungaonga-onga, and bold Tarawera, towering into the air, cast their fantastic shadows on the lake below, and as we mounted still higher and higher towards the steam-clad summit, we seemed to be ascending to some enchanted land of fable and romance; and when suddenly the vapoury cloud from the boiling cauldron rolled over our heads, tinted with all the prismatic hues of the terrace beneath, and wrapped us in its warm embrace, it seemed as if we were really entering some brilliant "castle in the air." Then, when we had struggled through the steam, and hopped in and out of pools of hot water, we reached a broad, circular platform, some seventy feet above the lake, and stood on the brink of the steaming cauldron, formed by a round alabaster-like basin, about a hundred feet in diameter. Here the deep, dark-blue water, within a few degrees of boiling-point, lay without a ripple upon its surface, which shone with the brilliancy of transparent crystal, and beneath which the silicious deposits which encrusted the sides of the crater, and assumed all the marvellous and fantastic designs of a coral grove, tinted in glowing colours of yellow, blue, and pink, looked exquisitely delicate and brilliant beneath the golden light of the sun, which, shooting through the clear, transparent liquid with a vivid power, sent its glittering shafts far down into the grotto-like recesses, which appeared beautiful and fantastic enough to serve as the abode of fairies, gnomes, and genii. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 33: The spring of Te Tarata is an intermittent geyser, which, during its active intervals, throws up a column of water to a height of over 100 feet. The crater is, however, always overflowing, and the water, which is highly charged with silica, has by a gradual process of deposition, extending probably over a long period, formed the present system of terraces. The temperature of the water varies from boiling-point to 70° Fahr. at the foot of the terrace, the summit of which is about 80 feet above the level of the lake. The geyser is said, by the natives, to be most active during the prevalence of easterly gales.] [Footnote 34: The term _Rotomahana_ means, literally, "hot lake." The mean temperature of the water is about 80° Fahr. In the vicinity of the hot springs, beneath its surface, it rises frequently to 100° Fahr.] CHAPTER IX. OHINEMUTU TO WAIRAKEI. Te Hemo Gorge--Mount Horohoro--Paeroa Mountains--Orakeikorako--Atea-Amuri--Pohaturoa--The land of pumice--Te Motupuke--The glades of Wairakei.