80 Transactions. 



(jSToveinber, December, January, and February), wben tbe island is em- 

 braced by it, and left, in tbe -odnter, to the uortberu limit o£ the regular 

 westerly current of air, wbicb tben extends more nortberly. 



I bave arranged witb the Meteorological Department in England to make 

 it a station for tbose observations, and very shortly tbe instruments will be 

 there, so that Hapa may become a point of great scientific interest and 

 utility. In fact, the Southern Pacific being an almost unknown sea to us 

 meteorologically, the importance of this fixed station of Eapa, in conjunction 

 with the observations on board the Panama ships and in i^ew Zealand, can- 

 not be too highly estimated. "We have already a tide gauge there, showing 

 the extreme rise and fall to be 2 feet 6 inches, and the establishment of 

 the port, or time of high water after full and change, 12 hours 15 minutes. 

 The wave which in August swept along these coasts was felt also at B-apa, 

 indeed it partly washed away our coal wharf. There was also a slight earth- 

 quake — the impulse of which came from the south — coinciding very nearly 

 in point of time with the disturbances felt here and those which have 

 desolated Peru — all which effects confirm very significantly the sagacious 

 predictions of our friend Dr. Hector, of the locality of the principal eruption. 

 Further particulars, and more exact information relative to the time of 

 those occurrences, will invest these phenomena with yet greater interest. 



The peculiar, irregular forms of the land, with precipitous mountains and 

 deep gullies, cause sudden gusts and eddies of Avind in the harbour varying 

 continually in direction, so that it is difiicult to say exactly what wind is 

 blowing outside, unless it happen to be from the eastward or directly in. 

 There is a remarkable absence of surf, I am informed, which is not easily 

 accounted for ; my correspondent saying that " landing is easy anywhere, 

 and boats can lie alongside precipitous cliffs exposed to a swell which rolls 

 in unchecked for thousands of miles without breaking." I am quoting from 

 a letter to me from our representative. 



The resources and products of the island are at present but few in 

 number or quantity, excepting pei'haps goats, which abound, and are to 

 be seen everywhere, delighting in the most inaccessible places, where, with 

 a glass, their forms moving to and fro on some razor-edged mountain, stand 

 out in relief against the sky. Small vessels occasionally take a cargo of 

 them away to Tahiti. I was told that the Governor of that island had 

 ordered the French Resident at Eapa to have them all destroyed ; upon 

 what enlightened principle it is difiicult to say : but the Resident had too 

 much good sense to comply with the order. The " Euahine " had, the 

 previous vdyage, landed on trial some sheep, but they did not seem to thrive. 

 A few pigs are procurable — good, but dear. There are a few fowls wild iti 

 th^ bush ; some widgeon, and of course sea-gulls. There are no reptiles, 



