get there till it was just time to pitch the tent. They never vexed me so much before; but their reason for delaying me was that they were afraid, if they reached the end of the lake before the evening, I should insist on their starting with me for the mountain that night; and they thought it would be much more pleasant to spend it in the village than in the woods, which was just the contrary to my notion.
It may not be amiss here to give a description of Towpo, as I am but the second European who has ever seen it, and as it is not likely to be again visited for a long time. My visit having taken place only three weeks after that of my predecessor (Mr. Chapman), it is very certain my account of it, imperfect as it will be, must be the only one that has ever reached Europe, and may therefore be considered valuable.
Towpo (Taupo, missionary spelling) is one of the most superb lakes in the world—not from its size, although that is considerable, but from the extreme magnificence of the scenery surrounding it. Mr. Chapman considers it to be thirty-five miles long, and twenty broad. I do not think it is quite thirty-five miles, but the width is not over-estimated at twenty. It is situated in S. lat. 39° 35′; E. long. 175° (about). These positions are supposed from the bearings of Mount Egmont, as it is laid down in the charts. Mount Egmont is visible from a mountain which rises interruptedly from the lake. The form of the lake is a sort of irregular triangle, with the two most distant angles forming the north and south ends. The western shore is apparently nearly straight, and the third point of the triangle will be about the eastern boundary of the lake; at this eastern angle is a deep bay about six miles long, running south-east, which is invisible except almost immediately opposite the entrance. The most peculiar feature in the appearance of Towpo is the immense height of the surrounding cliffs; they are always perpendicular,
