72 
oven perhaps by occasional faint volcanic eruptions (Tongariro). 
There is especially one sore, suspicious spot in Cook Strait. The 
violence and frequent occurrence of earth-quakes on both sides of 
this strait is an undeniable fact. From the observations of the 
last twenty-two years, an earth-quake may be anticipated every 
sixth or seventh year. The first great earth-quake since the found- 
ing of the town of Wellington occurred in 1848, seriously damag- 
ing the buildings of the place. Besides various slight shocks, there 
were three violent shocks felt, the first on the 1G. October at 
1. 40 a. m. , the second on the 17. October at 3 p. m. , the third on 
the 19. October at 5 a. m. The second and last earth-quake on 
the 23. January 1855, attended with the most extraordinary phe- 
nomena, was felt throughout New Zealand. A powerful surge rolled 
from Cook Strait into Wellington Harbour. Manuka Point near 
Wellington was suddenly raised nine feet, whereas the elevation in 
the town itself was only two feet, and on the opposite side of Cook 
Strait, at the mouth of the Wairau River, depressions took place. 
In the Awatere Valley the soil received largo fissures and cre- 
vices. One such fissure was traced full forty miles, and as late 
as 1859 my friend Dr. Haast found some of those fissures three feet 
wide and several feet deep. Near Cape Campbell parts of the moun- 
tains fell exposing white rocks, so that the sailors spread the 
report of having seen fresh fallen snow, and two days after the 
earth-quake the surface of the sea was seen covered with dead 
fishes. All the phenomena hitherto observed point to a central 
point in Cook Strait, and it is a generally prevailing opinion that 
a submarine volcano lies there, with the eruptions of which the 
earth-quakes are intimately connected. And, in fact, it has been 
proven by soundings made by English Naval Officers , 1 that in front 
of the entrance to the harbour of Wellington, 41° 25' South lat. and 
147° 37' long. East of Greenwich, there is a crater-shaped hole at the 
bottom of the sea, over which the sea has never been seen quite calm. 
1 Comp. No. 2054 English Admiralty Maps. A similar deep hole at the bottom 
of the sea is at the West coast of North Island a little North of Kaipara Harbour 
in lat. 36° 20' and long. 173° 40'. 
