First Sight of Waimangu.

The first published report of the outbreak of that famous geyser, or rather muddy-water volcano, Waimangu, was made by Dr. Humphrey Haines and the late Mr. J. A. Pond, of Auckland, who were camping at Rotomahana in March, 1901. They gave the new geyser its name, meaning “Black Water.” But it was really Mr. E. Phillips Turner, the present head of the State Forest Service, who actually saw the first eruption of the tremendous “puia.” Mr. Turner was on the summit of Haparangi Mountain, near the present Rotorua-Atiamuri Road, about October 20, 1900, taking theodolite observations—he was then a Government surveyor—and he saw all at once an extraordinary cloud rising, in the direction of Rotomahana lake. He saw the phenomenon repeated a little later, and at once concluded that a huge thermal eruption had taken place in the vicinity of Rotomahana. Mr. Turner was taken seriously ill before he could explore the district, and when in Sydney recuperating in the following year he read the account of the discovery and naming of Waimangu. There may have been eruptions earlier than October, 1900, unseen by anyone, but it is pretty certain that Mr. Turner was the first to witness the wonderful spectacle that presently became world-famous.