Vol. 52.] SEISMIC PHENOMENA IN THE BRITISH EMPIRE. 659 



12. Islands in the Indian Ocean. 



(5 localities and 125 shocks.) 



The Andaman Isles, and especially the Nicobars, seem to possess 

 little stability. The islet of Kendoel in the last-mentioned group 

 has been the site of a great many earthquakes. The Maldives and 

 the Laccadives, on the other hand, appear to be fairly stable. 



13. Indo-Chincc. 



(6 localities and 7 shocks.) 



Indo-China is geographically connected with Hindustan, and is 

 therefore quite naturally mentioned here. The absolute silence of 

 all explorers regarding seismic phenomena in this region might lead 

 one to infer that it is extremely stable, at least as a general rule. 

 In Tongking it sometimes happens that vibrations are felt, propa- 

 gated from the earthquakes taking place in Yunnan. 



§ 3. New Zealand and Australia. (Figs. 3 & 4.) 



Of Australia, next to nothing is known from the seismic point of 

 view, and very little is known from this standpoint of Tasmania 

 either. But the matter is far otherwise with New Zealand, which 

 makes, with Assam, the only two British colonies where earthquakes 

 have been studied with some degree of care. Earthquakes are 

 frequent in New Zealand, but are rarely very destructive. The 

 two islands have perhaps more to fear from the great tidal waves 

 propagated from far-distant Chile, after having traversed unim- 

 peded the entire breadth of the Southern Pacific. From 25 years 

 back, thanks to the labours of Sir James Hector, we possess a fine 

 seism ological series of observations embracing the whole colony, 

 with the exception of two comparatively sparsely-populated dis- 

 tricts — the northern end of the North Island beyond Auckland, and 

 the western coast of the Middle Island. There have been recorded 

 1840 shocks from 81 localities distributed over 7 regions. 



1. Cook Strait. 



£ 2 = 71 kilom. (1846-1848, 1863, 1868-1 

 (18 localities and 1444 shocks.) 



This district bridges over Cook Strait, and its submerged portion 

 is, of course, taken into account in the calculation of the seismicity. 

 It comprises the two watersheds on either shore of the Strait. 

 The dry-land boundaries are, on the north, a line drawn from Mount 

 Whareorino to Cape Palliser, and on the south a line drawn from 

 Cape Farewell to Mount Kaikorara. The town of Wellington was 

 overtaken by a great disaster in November 1848. 



