270 Transactions. — Geology. 



November. It lasted for thirty or forty seconds, and was an 

 easy, swaying kind of movement. 



On Thursday, the 30fch August (that is, before the main 

 earthquake), a shock occurred at a few minutes past 10 p.m. 

 which was felt from Hokitika and Westport, on the west of the 

 island, to Christchurch and Kaikoura, on the east ; but it was 

 not severe at the Hann^ier Plains, and the time -observations 

 indicate that it originated more to the south — probably in the 

 Upper Hurunui. Another sharp earthquake took place at 

 about a quarter past eight on the morning of the 23rd Octo- 

 ber ; but this was more severely felt at Nelson, and the time- 

 observations show that it certainly originated north of the 

 Hanmer Plains and probably in the neighbourhood of Mount 

 Owen. Still another but slighter shock on the 28th October 

 was, according to Mr. A. McKay's report, felt more severely 

 at Kaikoui-a than elsewhere. At any rate, none of these shocks 

 originated from the same place as that of the 1st September. 



At the time of the shock it wanted just five days to the 

 new moon. The weather was fine and cold, a sharp frost 

 being felt at Hanmer Plains. Over the north-west portion of 

 the island, from Nelson to Hokitika and Bealey, the barometer 

 was slowly rising ; at Lyttelton it appears to have remained 

 steadily at 30-45 from 9 a.m. on Friday to 9 a.m. on Saturday ; 

 while at Kaikoura it fell slightly, from 30-44 at 5 p.m. on Fri- 

 day to 30'41 at 9 a.m. on Saturday. The self-registering baro- 

 meter at the Agricultural College, Lincoln, was falling from 

 30-70 at 1.30 a.m. to 30-45 at 2 p.m. on Saturday, the height 

 at the time of the earthquake being 30-65. The sky is re- 

 ported as clear and star-lit. The air was nearly calm in the 

 interior, and with a slight easterly breeze on both coasts, 

 changing to north-west at Bealey. The humidity of the at- 

 mosphere at 9 a.m. on Saturday is given at 92 at Nelson, 63 

 at Bealey, and 41 at Tophouse in the Upper Wairau. The 

 shock, therefore, appears to have been quite unconnected with 

 the weather or with the position of the moon. 



Description op the District. 



The watershed of the New Zealand Alps is here formed by 

 the Spencer Mountains, from Mount Franklin in the north to 

 the Hurunui Saddle and Arthur's Pass in the south. It lies 

 at a distance of about twenty-five miles north-west of the hot 

 springs on the Hanmer Plains. Between Mount Franklin 

 and the Hurunui Saddle the range is broken by three low 

 passes called Cannibal Gorge, the Amuri Pass, and the Hope 

 Saddle ; and it lies almost exactly half-way between the east 

 and west coasts of the island, which is here about 110 miles 

 broad. Both east and west of the watershed the country is 

 mountainous, undulating hills and plains being rare. 



