154 Willis’s Guide Book oe New Route for Tourists,

6 M. Hiruharama (Jerusalem).—This is a large kainga witha R.C. Church, Mission Station, and Convent. It is very picturesque;and the scene of civilisation and homeliness will come upon the travel-ler as a very pleasant change after the wild uninhabited country he haslately passed through.

On the opposife hill, Puke-ika, there was formerly a strong pa,some of the terraces of which can still be made out.

A bridle-road runs eastward from Hiruharama to the MurimotuPlains.

A little below Hiruharama is a pa-tuna (eel-weir), which is anuisance that at any price ought to be abated, as it is very dangerousto the navigation.

7 M. Kauaeroa. —Here, R. bank, is a small kainga at whichformerly was the R.C. Mission, which now has its headquarters atHiruharama. There was a pretty church, built in the style frequentlyseen in Normandy . When, in the pre-steamer days, travellers, weariedwith the slow progress of poling up-river in canoes, and longing forsomething again a little like civilisation, turned the point above theWhakamatakai Rapid, and suddenly caught sight of the white spireand gilded cross at Kauaeroa, it was a delightful sensation, never to beforgotten. The orchard and vineyard planted by Father Lampila stillremain to show where he passed a large part of his self-sacrificing life.He lived here with no civilised companion except poor Lay-brother Euloge, who was killed at the Battle of Moutoa. The writer well re-members the kindly reception he received from the good Father, whenhe called on him at Kauaeroa when surveying the Hiruharama Blockin 1866.

At Kauaeroa, close to the river, is a hot spring of which nothingseems to have been known till quite lately.

The following is an analysis of a specimen of the water of theKauaeroa Hot Spring forwarded to Mr. Skey by Mr. Alfred Martin,from whose photograph of the spring our illustration is copied. [Thename is wrongly spelt at the bottom of this picture: it should beKauae-roa (Long Jaw) ].

“ Clear, colourless, of decidedly alkaline reaction. 42-82grs. offixed salts, and 2T4grs. of organic matter per gallon. The fixed saltsare principally composed of soda and chloride of sodium. Lime andsulphuric acid occur only in traces. I do not find iodine. The wateris very soft and belongs to the class of mineral waters, but is not ofany great strength.”

Below Kauaeroa the river valley widens out and the slopes aremore gradual.

8 M. Tawhitinui. —R. bank. Here is a small kainga atwhich the path from the Waitotara strikes the Wanganui River. Bythis path the Hauhaus came across before the Battle of Moutoa, whichbattle deserves a heading in large caps.

THE BATTLE OF MOUTOA.

The Island of Moutoa is about a mile above Ranana (London),a large kainga on the R. bank. It is a little below Tawhitinui, asmall kainga on the L, bank, It is diamond shaped, being about half