Traditional Depiction of a New Zealand War Canoe
The Phantom Canoe of Lake Rotomahana signals the eruption of Mount Tarawera volcano according to legend.
Legend and History[]
One legend surrounding the 1886 eruption is that of the phantom canoe. Eleven days before the eruption, a boat full of tourists returning from the Terraces saw what appeared to be a war canoe approach their boat, only to disappear in the mist half a mile from them. One of the witnesses was a clergyman, a local Maori man from the Te Arawa iwi. Nobody around the lake owned such a war canoe, and nothing like it had been seen on the lake for many years. It is possible that the rise and fall of the lake level caused by pre-eruption fissures had freed a burial waka (canoe) from its resting place. Traditionally, dead chiefs were tied in an upright position. A number of letters have been published from the tourists who experienced the event.
Explanations[]
Though skeptics maintained that it was a freak reflection seen on the mist, tribal elders at Te Wairoa claimed that it was a waka wairua (spirit canoe) and was a portent of doom. It has been suggested that the waka was actually a freak wave on the water, caused by seismic activity below the lake, but locals believe that a future eruption will be signaled by the reappearance of the canoe.
| Maritime folklore | |
|---|---|
| Legendary Sailors & Pirates | Blackbeard • Black Caesar • Jason • Sinbad the Sailor |
| Sea Monsters | Akheilos • Akhlut • Akkorokamui • Angeoa • Bahamut • Bakunawa • Bunyip • Cetus • Charybdis • Golden Clip Crayfish • Ḫedammu • Imap Umassoursua • Isonade • Jǫrmungandr • Keto-Esu • Kraken • Leviathan • Loch Ness Monster • Nuckelavee • Păl Raí Yûk • Porpoise people • Qaxdascidi • Quinotaur • Sazae-oni • Scylla • Sea lion • Sea serpent • Shiofuki • Stoor worm • Ugjuknarpak • Yamata no Orochi |
| Mermaids | Amabie • Anola • Ceasg • Chernava • Iara • Lamia • Nereid • Sirena • Sirenuca • Yawkyawk |
| Ghost Ships | El Caleuche • Fireship of Baie des Chaleurs • Flying Dutchman • Palatine Light • Phantom Canoe of Lake Rotomahana |
| Locations | Bermuda Triangle • Costa da Morte • Devil's Sea • Graveyard of the Atlantic • Graveyard of the Pacific • Libertatia • Terra Australis |
| Other | Moby-Dick • The Rime of the Ancient Mariner |