little more than a huge rock pit, facing a mass of water which fell from
quite two hundred feet above them into a vast cauldron of white foam,
which chafed and roared and cast up clouds of spray as it whirled round
and then rushed out of the narrow opening along the jagged gash by whose
side they had come.

The appearance of the vast body of water falling in one clear bound was
bewildering, while the noise, as it reverberated from the rocky sides,
produced a feeling of awe which made Don stand motionless till Ngati
passed him, and sheltering his face behind a tuft of fern, peered round
the corner they had just passed.

He withdrew his head, looking fierce and determined, signed once more to
Don to follow, and went on climbing carefully along the sides of the
huge pit.

"Where can he be going now?" thought Don, as he caught sight of a
refulgent rainbow spanning the falls, and his eyes rested upon the
brilliant, sun-illumined greens of fern, bush, and grass, with pendent
mosses, all luxuriating in the heat and moisture of the wind-sheltered
place.

These were but momentary glances, for his whole thoughts seemed to be
taken up by the struggle for life imperilled in a hundred ways.

For still Ngati climbed on, turning every now and then to extend his
hand or spear-shaft to Don when the place was unusually difficult; and
by this means they went on and on till first they were on a level with
the side of the fall, then partially shielded by it, and at last, when
the Maori paused, unable to proceed farther either up or down, they were
standing upon a projecting mass of rock with the great veil of water
between them and the daylight, one vast curve of hundreds of tons of
greenish water falling, ever falling, into the chasm below.

It was dim with a greenish light where they stood, and the mist wetted
them as they glanced sidewise along the way by which they had come, to
see whether their enemies were in pursuit; but after watching for some
time Ngati smiled and shook his head.

"No," he said, or seemed to say, for they could only judge by the
movement of his lips. "No," and he shook his head, and seating himself,
gazed calmly and placidly at the water, as if there were no such thing
as danger.

In fact, to the great savage there was no such thing as peril in any of
the objects of nature. Full of strength and calm matter-of-fact
courage, climbing rocks or making his way into such a place as this was
a very commonpla