230 
THE GEOLOGY OF NEW ZEALAND. 
of the Mission-house. In various parts the ground opened, 
so that some places appeared as though they had been ploughed 
up in furrows. Large quantities of gas and water were ejected 
from many circular apertures, around which mounds, several 
yards high, were formed; the ground was so intersected 
with deep ravines as actually to stop all travelling for a time. 
At Wellington, the harbour is stated to have been raised full 
four feet and a half, and similar changes to have taken place 
in every part of the district.* 
* Extracts from The New Zealand Spectator, of February 7th, 1855. 
Wanganui. —The accounts received from Wanganui by the Overland mail 
on Saturday, describe the earthquake to have been as severe as at Wellington. 
The following is an extract from a private letter:— 
“ The Rosebud left last Sunday forenoon, with a N.E. wind, and got well 
away. Last night (Tuesday), about nine o’clock, we had as heavy a shock of 
an earthquake as ever I have felt, and of longer duration in respect to its 
steady violence. It was very dark, and raining at the time. I should think 
it lasted about two minutes, and it was scarcely possible to stand without holding 
by something while it lasted. The mischief it did was considerable. It threw 
down nearly all the chimneys. * * * The bed of the river at low water 
this morning looked like an ill-ploughed field, although a high tide had inter¬ 
vened, which must have helped to fill up the fissures made, and it had sunk in 
many places and rose in others, presenting a very ugly appearance. Taylor 
and Watt’s wharf is nearly a wreck, warped and bent up and down all along, 
and the extreme end sunk obliquely. * * * There has been no long interval 
since the first shock, further ones occurring of more or less violence, for now 
near 24 hours. The postman brings word it was very bad as far as Manawatu. 
We had no personal accidents.” 
Te Kopi. —We understand that at Te Kopi, a small boat harbour at the Wai- 
rarapa, a very heavy wave swept the beach, washing away the sheds, buildings, 
the bales of wool that were lying there to be taken to Wellington, and all that 
was on the beach. The Muka Muka rocks, which were the worst part of the 
coast road to Wairarapa, have now become the best by the alteration caused 
by the earthquake, the beach now extending a considerable distance beyond 
them above the level of high water. 
The earthquake seems to have been generally felt about the same time 
throughout New Zealand, at least information to that effect has been received 
from every province, except Otago, from which there has been no arrival; 
and the Taranaki Herald states that the Josephine Willis, which had arrived 
there, felt the shock about nine o’clock p m., on the evening of the 23rd, at a 
distance of one hundred and fifty miles from the coast of New Zealand. From 
measurements which have since been made, it has been ascertained that the 
land has been raised to a height of from three feet six inches to four feet. All 
the shell fish attached to the rocks, that live below low water mark, in conse- 
