Beyond, are several small cauldrons, and near the lai'ge geyser a circular coral cup, known as the Devil's Basin, owing to a legend concerning a bargain which the Prince of Darkness is said to have struck with a young lover, under which he was to see the face of his sweetheart reflected in the basin. Like all simi lar contracts, it, of course, turned out badly. Forty feet above, m dense manuka scrub, there is a small cave, the bottom strewed with fern, which the natives .regard with. superstitious dread, and will never point out unless asked. It is said to have been inhabi ted by an old chief Avho died there. 'Returning along the hill towards Ta rata,- another -small white terrace and, further on, a boiling cauldron, with no visible bottom, attracts attention. The Maoris aver- that one of their wahines, engaged cooking, unintentionally al lowed the child' from 'her back to slip into. the : basin; and on the impulse of the moment, jumped in after it, neither being ever seen again. It is impossi ble to describe in detail the whole of the remarkable centres of volcanic ac tion on this lake. It is estimated- that there" are twenty-eight hot springs and innumerable small ones, solfata'ras, sul phur pools, and other forms- of volcanic activity. -In the ; : raost unsuspected places it is only necessary to make a hole iri the ground 'to prdduce a steam Jet, and a person; afteiv carefully select ing a spot and sitting comfortably down for the mid-day repast, may dis cover a painful "current of hot, moiat aifj l ! tiidLt' r xjuiok;ly'-'lead3. him to, change-:

his quarters. The ''seething; the roar-, ing, the sighing and grunting, the" bub-, bling and hissing of the confined steam keep un a constant turmoil, while a cloud of vapor- hanging over the lake obscures the view-. -The Koingo is an intermittent fountain, from which dis charges of water take place three or four times a day* alternating with the. neighbouring one of Whatapohu. The name Koingo, or • Sighing,' is given to it because of the gentle sighing : sound which at times proceeds from it. The poet already quoted (Domett) thus re fers to the scenery on the. 