160 Transactions. 



broad white band about 1-5° in width, on the western sky, in a straight line 

 between the clouds ; on looldng a few moments later another portion of 

 the band was seen, at an angle of about 90° to the first, bearing W. 65^ ; 

 alt., 30°. Business prevented my watching it for any length of time, but 

 it remained visible for about twenty minutes or more." 



The Mokoia Aerolite.* 



This stone is by far the most interesting meteoric find yet discovered 

 in New Zealand, and is unique in being the only one that was seen to fall. 



Mr. J. L. Fletcher, of the British Museum, states that few aerolites are 

 known that have not been seen to fall. He points out : " This may be due 

 to the fact that a meteoric stone is less easily distinguished than is a meteoric 

 iron, from ordinary terrestrial bodies, and will thus in most cases remain 

 unnoticed unless its fall has been actually observed, while, further, a c[uick 

 decomposition and disintegration must set in on exposure to atmospheric 

 influences." 



It w^as found at Mokoia, a small wayside station about fifty miles north 

 of Wanganui, on the North Trunk Railway. 



At 12.30 p.m. on Thm-sday, the 26th November, 1908, the people living 

 near Mokoia were startled by a number of loud, sharp reports coming 

 from the north, like rifle - shots, following very closely after one another. 

 Those who were outside state that before they could recover themselves 

 a white flash shot across the sky, leaving only a thin white cloud. Almost 

 immediately several objects were seen to fall. One fell with a thud in a 

 pine plantation {Pinus insignis) within an eighth of a mile from Mr. C. 

 Hawken's homestead, and half a mile S.E. of the Mokoia Station. Mr. 

 Hawken heard the whizzing sound and the report when the stone came in 

 contact with the earth, being within an eighth of a mile from where it fell. 



A ganger at a bridge over the Manawapou Stream states that another 

 piece fell into some thick bush on the steep bank of the stream ; and some 

 time after a third portion was heard whizzing through the air like a rocket, 

 and fell into the creek with a splash and hiss. 



The Noise of the Fall. 



Mr. C. M. Campbell, of Inaha, gives a very vivid description of what he 

 heard. He says, " On the 26th November I was living on the East Road, 

 ten miles about due east from Stratford, and I heard the reports very 

 plainly. At first it sounded like a loud furnace-blast, and then, at inter- 

 vals from three to five seconds, the report seemed like heavy rock-blasting, 

 but there was a roar like heavy thunder during the whole time. From the 

 first blast to the last would be fully twenty seconds." 



Several men who were working on the railway-line heard two sharp 

 explosions, resembling the crash of a number of horses galloping over a 

 bridge, or like numerous rifles firing in a volley ; while others say that it 

 sounded like heavy iron tanks being rolled about on a lorry. This was 

 almost immediately followed by a louder explosion, and then a hissing 

 sound similar to that of a rocket travelling through air. 



I was in Wanganui at the time, and I heard a sudden bang, which I 

 put down to a very sudden and short earthquake-shock, and naturally I 



* Working on Mr. Fletcher's classification of meteoric stones, I have termed this one 

 an aerolite. 



