EESEAKCH COMMITTEES. 525 



Wednesday, IStli. — Shocks continued all night and all 

 day, but none of strength sufficient to do injury to undamaged 

 buildings. The earth is in a continued state of tremulousness, 

 and the dull sound of the earthquake is continually heard. 

 This sound has been much exaggerated. It is something like 

 the sound of a railway-train rumbling through a tunnel, as 

 heard by a person outside and near the mouth. I have also 

 heard nearly a similar noise made by a very large steamship 

 chimney, except that the earthquake sound is less sonorous. 

 It has been compared with distant thunder and with distant 

 guns; but it is more rumbling in its nature : in short, it admits 

 of no exact comparison. I have noted that when the shocks 

 occur during a heavy gale, as on Monday, this dull rumbling 

 sound is not perceptible — it is overcome by the nearer noise of 

 the wind. When the shocks occur in calm, they are generally 

 preceded, and sometimes followed, by a strong puff of wind. 



Te Aro seemed to have been the seat of the greatest force 

 of the earthquake. All the large merchants' stores, the 

 ordnance stores (late Waitt and Tyser's), the Methodists' 

 Chapel, and a great number of brick dwellings, are rent in 

 pieces. The walls just hold up the roofs, but large masses 

 of brickwork have fallen out : all must be taken down. The 

 gables of Mr. Fitzherbert's store and of the ordnance store 

 fell across Parish Street, and unfortunately buried Barrack- 

 master Lovell and his two children, all three receiving fatal 

 injuries. 



All Tuesday a large volume of smoke was seen hanging 

 over the Hutt. It collected afterwards into a dense smoke- 

 cloud. It looked like a bush-fire ; but after so much rain no 

 bush would burn. I should hardly have noted this had it not 

 been that on Tuesday night the sky to the northward was said 

 to be illuminated, apparently by some distant fire ; and it is 

 suggested that Tongariro, about a hundred and forty miles 

 north of Wellington, may have burst out. 



Thursday, 19th. — Precisely at 5 this morning we had a 

 sharp shock, stronger than either of the two already noted. 

 The extreme force of the shock lasted rather less than a 

 minute, there was considerable motion for three minutes and a 

 half, and the vibration lasted eight minutes from the com- 

 mencement of the shock. It has done us more damage than 

 all the others together. It has split the solid bed of brickwork 

 which forms the lower part of our oven, completed the destruc- 

 tion of the other chimneys, torn the plaster of our lower rooms 

 to pieces (the upper are lined with wood), and broken a great 

 many loose articles. Our windows (French casements) flew 

 open. After this, shock followed shock in quick succession all 

 day and all night. 



