314 CHAPTER XXIII. t Tauranga—Formation of coal—Mr. Bidwill—Roturua —Hot springs —Solfataras — Lake Taupo — Ascent of Tongarido — Eruption- Anecdote—Native sculptors—Names of the islands—Tavai-poena- moo —Akaroa—Harbours in Cook’s Straits—Stewart’s Island. I much regretted that urgent circumstances prevented me from visiting the interesting district of Taupo, and the volcano of Tongarido. An interesting account has very recently been given by Mr. Bidwill, of his journey from Tauranga to the lake and hot springs of Roturua, and from thence to Tongarido, to the summit of which he ascended. Tauranga is the most southerly of the mission stations on the east coast. For ten miles inland the country is very level, and being covered with fern, its inhabitants are subjected to the great disadvantages of a scarcity of firewood. It has an easy land communication with the valley of the Thames, by way of the Oheinemuri. Here, according to Mr. Bidwill, is to be witnessed the actual formation of coal. It is in some places a foot in thickness, and quite recent, consisting of nothing but the leaves &c. of the living plants of the country. “It is regularly separated by layers of soft earth, of just the colour and