"Towards the end of February all necessary preparations had been made; Capt. Drummond Hay, well known as one of the best Maori scholars, was commissioned by Government to lay out my route and act as interpreter. The Government, however, forestalled my utmost wish by furnishing me with a photographist, as well as an assistant to aid me in meteorological observations, and generally to make himself useful in collecting and sketching. The latter was a young German, M. Koch, who proved himself a most invaluable ally, while M. Hamel took charge of the photography. There were also an attendant, a cook, and fifteen natives, to transport baggage.
"I was likewise accompanied by my friend Mr. Haast, who had but recently come to New Zealand, sent out by some mercantile firm in London to explore the country for colonizing purposes. On the 6th March I set out with my numerous company, intending to proceed first from Auckland to Mangatawhiri on the Waikato, the chief river of New Zealand that flows from the interior. Crossing the Waikato in a native canoe, and afterwards its tributary the Waipa, I directed my steps westward from the Mission Station on the last-named river in the direction of Whaingarva, Aotea, and Kawhia, on the west coast. From Kawhia I struck landwards towards the upper course of the Waipa, as far as the Mokan district. Thence, after crossing frequent mountain-chains thickly wooded, I reached the source of the Wanganui in the Tuhua district, and on 14th April arrived at the majestic Lake Taupo, surrounded on every side by the most magnificent volcanic caves. Here I was at the very heart of the country, at the foot of the still smoking volcano of Tongariro, and its extinct neighbour Ruapahu, 9200 feet high, and covered with perpetual snow. At the southern extremity of the lake is a mission-house, where I received a most hospitable welcome, while my Maories received at the hands of Te Heukeu, the great Maori chief, a most cordial reception, in conformity with the excellent customs of the country. After I had laid out the chart of the lake, and examined the springs along its banks, I followed up the Waikato by its outlet from the lake, till I reached the very singular chain of boiling springs, Solfatare, salt-springs and Fumaroles, which extend in a N.E. direction between the active crater of Tongariro and the still active volcano of Whakari or White Island on the east coast. On a longer stay, the country adjoining the sea along the prolongation of this line furnishes the site at Lakes Rotorua, Rotoiti, and Rotomahana (or Hot lake), for the _Ngawhas_ and Puias, i. e. boiling springs and geysers with siliceous sintu-deposits, as in Iceland, which there display their greatest activity. I look upon this locality as presenting the most remarkable and extensive chain of hot-springs in the world, Iceland itself not excepted.