4:14: Transact ion.s. — Miscellaneous. 



Beviarks upon the Above. — These are all the places from 

 which returns were received : none were sent from Kai- 

 koura, Nelson, Foxton, Masterton, Ohinemutu. The times 

 in all cases are stated to have been checked by New Zealand 

 mean time. The remarks in column 4 are given nearly in the 

 words of the observers (abridged). As usual, very different 

 ideas of the severity of a shock exist in the minds of different 

 persons. The only definite effect noted at any place was the 

 stopping of several clocks at Napier. At Wanganui the shocks 

 are called " severe," but the effects (for which a separate 

 heading is provided in the forms supplied to the telegraph 

 officers) were only very slight — the shaking of crockery and 

 utensils, without any breakage. '•= The items in column 3, in 

 the absence of special instruments, are of small or, at least,^ 

 uncertain value : the newspaper reports in many cases give 

 almost every point of the compass for the apparent direction 

 of the wave, and an officer of the Telegraph Department can 

 hardly be expected to form a much better idea on this point 

 than an outsider. 



From the general character of the memoranda forwarded 

 from time to time I should be inclined to place most reliance 

 on the returns from Wellington, Wanganui, Napier, and Gis- 

 borue, in the order named ; and to these, on account of the 

 internal evidence, I would add the present return from Taupo. 

 The times at Bull's and Blenheim must either be rejected as 

 inconsistent with any hypothesis of the origin — that at Bull's 

 palpably so — or it must be supposed that in those cases local 

 causes gave rise to considerable retardation and acceleration 

 respectively of the rate of propagation. 



The first impression on comparing the observations with the 

 map (PL XLIII.) would probably be that the epicentrum must 

 be looked for at some point between Euapehu and Napier. This 

 obviously would not agree with the return from Gisborne, or 

 with the difference of one minuce only between Wanganui and 

 Wellington (which must both be taken as good observations). 



Origin found hij the Direction of the Wave. — If we remember 

 that what an observer generally records is the apparent direc- 

 tion of the vibration, not that of propagation ; that the normal 

 and transverse movements of an earthquake are at right angles 

 to one another ; and that the longitudinal (or normal) motion 

 generally reaches a place first, we should have, when both 

 movements were felt, a fairly good guide of a rough kind to 

 the direction from which the shocks proceeded (assuming 

 the absence of reflection or deflection of the vibrations). 

 When movement of one kind only is reported, as we cannot 

 tell which of the two it is, we must draw two lines on our 



* This fact, and tliesmall velocity of propagation, show that the earth- 

 quake must be classed as " slight." 



