Nov. 8, 1883] 



NATURE 



pass, and the velocity was ten miles an hour. At sunset 

 the sky in the western horizon had a peculiar smoky 

 appearance, which extended nearly to the zenith in an 

 east-south-east direction. On the 2Sth, at 4 a.m., the 

 same tidal phenomenon took place and lasted up to 7 

 a.m., but it was less intense, the alternate motions of the 

 sea having only been observed four times. When day 

 dawned on the 28th there was a peculiar crimson colour- 

 ation from east by north to south-east by east, and the 

 sun after rising showed as if seen through the red shade 

 of a se.xtant. 



At the Seychelles, at 4 p.m. on August 27, the tide came 

 rushing in at the rate of about four miles an hour, and 

 rose two feet. In about half an hour it receded; it re- 

 turned and receded. 



This continued all night and all next day, but the 

 action was quicker and the rise lower. The observations 

 were taken in a channel about twenty-three feet wide, and 

 walled in on both sides. The action continued all day 

 and part of the next day (29th), but not so frequently. 

 At 5 p.m. on the 28th the sun was clear and bright. At 

 sunset there was a lurid glare all over the sky ; at 6.30 it 

 was much brighter, and at 6.45 it disappeared. On the 

 27th the sky was slightly hazy all day. On the morning 

 of the 29th the sun at 7 a.m. was more like a full moon 

 than anything else, and appeared about 70° above the 

 horizon, instead of as usual about 30'. At sunset on the 

 28th the sun looked as it does through a fog on a frosty 

 day in England. 



At Rodrigues, about 1.30 p.m. on the 27th, the sea was 

 all disturbed, resembling water boiling heavily in a pot, 

 swinging the boats which were floating about in all direc- 

 tions. It was then low tide, and most of the boats were 

 aground. This disturbance in the water made its appear- 

 ance quite suddenly, lasted for about half an hour, and 

 ceased as suddenly as it had commenced. At 2.30 p.m. 

 a similar disturbance commenced again in the inner har- 

 bour, and the tide all of a sudden rose to a height of 5 

 feet 1 1 inches, with a current of about ten knots an hour 

 to the westward, floating all the boats which were 

 aground, and tearing them from their moorings. All this 

 happened in a very few minutes, and then the tide turned 

 with equal force to the eastward, leaving the boats which 

 were close inshore suddenly dry on the beach, and drag- 

 ging the Government boat (a large decked pinnace) from 

 heavy moorings, and leaving her dry on the reef .-Xt 

 noon on the 29th the tide was about its usual height and 

 appeared to be settled. The water was very muddy, and 

 not nearly so salt as sea water usually is ; it was little 

 more than brackish. Since this singular occurrence took 

 place the sky at north-west has had in the evenings, to 

 as late as 7.15 p.m., a very threatening and strange ap- 

 pearance of a deep purpli-h red colour. 



Tidal disturbances were also observed on the west coast 

 of Reunion, and especially at St. Pierre, on the south- 

 west coast. The maximum amplitude (in height) of this 

 tide was about a metre and a half. The flow took scarcely 

 five minutes to rise, after which the water remained about 

 a minute at rest, and then receded w-ith the same rapidit) , 

 to rise again a minute after. 



.•Xt East London (South Africa) it was not low water 

 on August 27 till 6.29 p m. At 5.30 p.m. on that day the 

 tide-gauge showed 2 feet 3 inches, and the tide was 

 running in fast. The gauge showed 3 feet 3 inches at 

 5.38 ; I foot 8 inches at 5.45 ; i foot 3 inches at 5.49 ; and 

 2 feet 3 inches at 6.10. Thus, although it was a falling 

 tide, the water suddenly rose i foot in 8 minutes, then fell 

 I foot 7 inches in 7 minutes, and 5 inches in the next 4 

 minutes, and then rose i foot in 21 minutes. The wind 

 was moderate from east-south-east, and the barometer 

 was 30'40, with dull cloudy weather to south-east. It 

 had been observed during the early part of the afternoon 

 that the tide was oscillating very considerably, and ebbing 

 very fast for neap tides. 



On Sunday, August 26, while coming through the Straits 

 of Banca, Capt Strachan, of the s.s. Aiicrhy, thought he 

 heard in the forenoon a noise like that of distant can- 

 nonading ; about noon the noise was more distinct, and 

 it soon attracted the attention of all on board ; flashes of 

 light were seen to the south-westward. In the evening 

 an arch of light rose in a short time from the horizon to 

 the zenith. Three aneroid barometers on board rose and 

 fell to the extent of nearly an inch at short intervals. 

 During a part of Monday, the 27th, there was total dark- 

 ness. Showers of pumice-stone lasted till midnight. The 

 A>!t-rhyra.n back and anchored under the North'Watcher 

 Island. While afteru-ards passing Anjer Point, it was 

 seen that the lighthouse had disappeared, and that great 

 damage had been done. 



Capt. Perrot, of the French brig Brani, reports that on 

 August 26 to 27, in 1° 39' to 2° 59' S. and 89° 56' to 89° 50' 

 E. of P., constant peals of thunder were heard in the 

 direction of Sumatra, but without any appearance of 

 lightning in that direction. From midnight of the 27th 

 to II a.m. of the 2Sth showers of "very white and very 

 fine sand fell all over the vessel." More sand fell later 

 on in the day and on the 29th. This sand obscured the 

 atmosphere. On August 28, in 8° 20' S., and 92' 04' E., 

 " a great quantity of dust, supposed to be coral dust," fell 

 on board of the County of Flint, and a specimen of the 

 dust has been kindly presented by Capt. Rowland, the 

 master of that vessel. On September 9, in 4' 57' S. and 

 79' 46' E. of P., the French bark Gipsy, Capt. Martin, 

 " encountered during the whole day a great bank of 

 floating pumice-stone." On Sunday, August 26, in 

 o' 32' S., and 105° 57' E., Capt. Knight, of the 

 brig Airlie heard, about 3 p.m., explosions, like the 

 sound of heavy artillery, which continued at intervals till 

 about 10 p.m., the last report making the ship tremble all 

 over. Next morning the rigging and deck were covered 

 with fine gray sand like dust. 



Mr. Meldrum remarks that there is no doubt that "the 

 tidal disturbances observed at Mauritius and elsewhere 

 in the Indian Ocean were due to earthquakes. The origin 

 of the seismic waves was apparently in the Straits of 

 Sunda, and at a very considerable depth below the sur- 

 face. There were earth-waves, forced sea-waves, and 

 aerial waves. The destruction in Java was caused, ap- 

 parently, by an immense wave of translation. The 

 extraordinary sunrises and sunsets observed at Mauritius, 

 Rodrigues, and the Seychelles, were probably due to the 

 sun's light passing obliquely through fine volcanic dust 

 floating in the air. It is not improbable that the disturb- 

 ances of the magnets on August 27 were due to electric 

 currents produced by the action of subterranean forces. 



THE LITERATURE OF THE FISHERIES 

 EXHIBITION 



■pROM the moment of its inauguration, the present 

 -^ Exhibition has been the centre of a ceaseless activity, 

 and we doubt if its streaming thousands of visitors have 

 realised the amount of real work which has gone on in 

 their presence. The results of this, embodied in an ex- 

 tensive literature, are now before the public, and add 

 another testimony to the faultless management of the 

 governing bod)'. The enormity of the fishing interest 

 and the need of reform in certain of its branches, are 

 obvious ; and now that the press is speculating upon the 

 "outcome" of this great enterprise, all eyes are turned 

 upon the executive. The extent to which the E.xhibition 

 is under State control is in itself a guarantee of success, 

 and we hail with pleasure that same system of descriptive 

 labelling of the exhibits, and the publication of authentic 

 treatises upon or cognate to them, so long characteristic 

 of the adjacent National Museum. By this system the 

 public nets a tangible result — a knowledge of that which 



