THE GEOLOGY OF NEW ZEALAND. 
455 
instances are to be seen, several of which have taken place 
during my residence. 
But although there is abundant proof of upheavement still 
going on in the Northern Island, it is trifling when com- 
pared with that of the Middle one. The Nelson paper of 
September 1847, states, that the hull of a vessel was lately 
discovered on the western coast, lying two hundred yards 
from high water mark, with a small tree growing through 
its bottom ; the vessel was supposed to be the Active , which 
was lost in 1814. How great an alteration must that locality 
have undergone since it was stranded there, when in a period 
of thirty-three years the ocean had retired to a distance of 
two hundred yards from the shore ; or, in other words, that 
part of the coast has risen to such an extent, as to remove 
the hull of the vessel so far beyond high water mark ; there 
is reason to suppose that this upheavement of the coast is 
not confined to one spot, but has extended the entire length 
of the island. 
From the evidence of a person who was formerly engaged 
in sealing at Dusky Bay, as far back as the year 1823, it 
appears that from 1826 to 1827 there was an almost constant 
succession of earthquakes, some of which were sufficiently 
violent to throw men down ; at times, he and his party, 
who then resided on a small island, were so alarmed lest it 
should be submerged, that they put to sea : there, however, 
they found no safety, for such was the flux and reflux of 
the ocean, that they were in the greatest danger of being 
swamped, and were thankful to get on shore again; the 
sealers were accustomed to visit a small cove called the jail, 
which was a suitable place for anchorage, being well sheltered 
with lofty cliffs on every side, and having deep water in it 
close to the shore, so that they could step out on the rocks 
from their boats ; it is situated about eighty miles to the 
north of Dusky Bay ; after the earthquakes the locality was 
completely altered ; the sea had so entirely retired from the 
cove, that it was dry land ; beyond Cascade Point the whole 
coast presented a most shattered appearance, so much so, 
that its former state could scarcely be recognized ; large 
