Page:Travel letters from New Zealand, Australia and Africa (1913).djvu/91

 *ing us the rapids, pointed out several deep caves along the rough path we were compelled to climb, in getting the best view of the rapids.

"Maybe dead man in there," he said, pointing to the deepest of the caves. "Stay tomorrow, and we'll look."

But I could not be persuaded by this tempting offer, and leave tomorrow for a trip that will keep me busy from 6 until 12  If anyone is finding fault because I am idle, I hope that day's work will satisfy them.

—Continuing our pleasure trip, we started at 6 o'clock this morning, and traveled almost continuously until midnight—by stage, boat, and railroad train. Our destination was Taumarunui, and when we arrived there at midnight, we left an order with the hotel clerk to be called at 5:30, to catch a boat on the celebrated Waunganui river for Pipiriki The first stage of our journey today was by coach to Lake Taupo, seven miles. On the way, we passed several waterfalls and geysers, but as we had been called at 5 o'clock, we were sleepy, and did not much enjoy them. At seven o'clock we were at Taupo, where we took a boat for a ride of twenty-six miles across the lake. There were only five passengers, and the pilot read most of the three hours, looking up from his book occasionally to see that the boat was going right. When we were out an hour, he asked all of us if we were going on by stage. We said we were, whereupon he produced a little cage containing a