The Phantom Canoe of Lake Tarawera
Eleven days before a volcano erupted, a boat of tourists on a New Zealand lake saw a war canoe glide out of the mist, paddled by people in mourning.
What was reported
On 31 May 1886, a boatload of tourists was crossing Lake Tarawera to see the famous Pink and White Terraces. Through the mist, several of them and their Māori guides saw a large waka, a war canoe, approaching, its paddlers wearing flax cloaks and feathers in their hair as if in mourning. It vanished before reaching them.
No such canoe was known on the lake. Local elders said it was a waka wairua, a spirit canoe, and a warning. On 10 June, Mount Tarawera erupted, destroying the terraces and burying the village of Te Wairoa and other settlements; about 120 people died.
Explanations offered
Sceptics suggest it was an ordinary canoe from another settlement, made strange by the mist, and that the story grew after the eruption. Others note the lake's water had been rising and falling oddly in the days before, a sign the volcano was waking.
- When
- 31 May 1886
- Where
- Lake Tarawera, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand
- Witnesses
- Tourists and their Māori guides on the lake
- Status
- Unexplained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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