710 Transactions. 
called “ Plimmer’s Wharf." There was an open platform at each end of 
the hull. The fore part of the vessel is said to have rested in 10 ft. of 
water, the platform being used as a wharf. The earthquake of 1855 caused 
some damage by throwing the vessel on its side, but with difficulty it 
was replaced firmly and safely in its old position. After the shake 
Mr. Plimmer built a retaining-wall to the north of the “ Ark ” and filled 
in around it. Mr. C. R. Carter, in reporting on Mr. Plimmer's claim 
in 1862 for the pre-emptive right to purchase the adjacent land, stated 
that Mr. Plimmer had constructed a timber breastwork 136 ft. long, 
valued at £95, and had filled in 3,601 cubic feet of spoil, valued at 
. The Provincial Council allowed Mr. Plimmer’s claim to two 
sections. These sections together comprised an irregularly-shaped block 
with a frontage of 50ft. to Hunter Street, 130 ft. to Customhouse 
Quay, and 130ft. to Lambton Quay. The price of the Hunter Street 
corner section was to be fixed by the price obtained for the section 
opposite—that is, the present Australian Mutual Provident Society’s site. 
The second section, with 70 ft. frontage to Customhouse Quay and 130 ft. 
to Lambton Quay, was to be sold on the Customhouse Quay frontage 
at a price per foot averaging the price received from the sections on the 
opposite side. This land brought £15 per foot. He was also to be 
allowed the amount stated above for the work done by him. After the 1861 
reclamation was completed Mr. Plimmer constructed another wharf from 
the breastwork. This wharf was generally known as Plimmer and Reeves’s 
Wh It was the last private wharf in Wellington Harbour to go, which 
it did when the Te Aro reclamation was undertaken. 
HARBOUR-LIGHTS. 
The first official harbour-light was a red light shown from the end of 
“ Noah's Ark" on and after the 6th November, 1858, “for the guidance 
of vessels coming in to an anchorage in Lambton Harbour." At this 
time the Harbourmaster had his office at Plimmer's Wharf—“ Noah's Ark." 
A white light was shown from the deep-water wharf on the 19th October, 
1863, but it was placed so low that complaint was made that it was 
hidden by any vessel that might be lying at the end of the cross-head. 
In 1866 the Harbourmaster reported that a better light should be shown 
on the wharf, one that could be seen at a distance of four miles in ordinary 
weather, the present light being visible only half a mile. On the completion 
я extensions in 1867 a powerful red lamp was placed at the end of the 
wha 
The 1858 Harbour Regulations provided that all vessels should have 
buoys and buoy-ropes to their anchors to show their position; also that 
all vessels should hoist a conspicuous light at their peak-end from dark 
to daylight. This latter regulation came into force on the 23rd December, 
1858. One of the local papers of the following day remarked on the 
picturesque and novel sight. 
RECLAMATIONS AND SEA-WALLS. 
In 1847 tenders were called by the General Government for the 
E E days of the settlement the waterside road was known as 
