Page:Picturesque New Zealand, 1913.djvu/204

130 shown by the collapse of a boat that had been left on the lake. As strange, too, are the eroding effects of the acids present in crevices and holes around the lake's shores, and apparently permeating the atmosphere. An iron tramway used by sulphur miners long ago became streaks of rust, and a metal bucket left outside a camp building was reduced to a heap of ruins by the same uncanny agencies. Strange tales told me of acid-eaten shoes and clothing also testify to the presence of acid in unexpected places. White Island shows its hostility to its visitors in peculiar ways. It does more than awe them—it plays tricks on them. When the wise embark for the volcano, they wear old clothes and shoes. The more like tramps they look, the better for their wardrobes. On White Island a man sits down in an innocent-looking spot to rest. The next day he may need another pair of trousers. Or perhaps he plants a foot in an equally harmless-appearing place. Before he leaves the island he may need the services of a cobbler. "I have seen tourists returning from White Island with heels and soles clattering," said an Opotiki man to me.

"A friend of mine," another man informed me, "told me he was going to the island, and I advised him to wear old boots. "'Oh,' said he, 'the boots I have on will do.’ "'Be careful, or you'll lose them,' I warned him. "The very next day the soles of that man's boots fell