THE GEOLOGY OE NEW ZEALAND. 
235 
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 good 
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 out 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 
most 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 
shops exposed, and every temptation to plunder, there seemed to be neither 
fear nor thought of robbery, but a generous and manly feeling to lessen each 
other’s burdens pervaded all classes, from the Superintendent to the lowest 
mechanic, from the Colonel to every soldier of the 65th Regiment; nor can I 
forget to mention the ready asylum afforded by the merchant vessels in the 
harbour to the houseless and more nervous inhabitants. 
On the 25th, at Oh. 55m. a.m., there was a very sharp but comparatively 
short shock. 
Having ascertained we could be of no further assistance, we weighed for 
Nelson, and in crossing Cook’s Straits we felt one shock in 26 fathoms, at 
noon, off Sinclair Head (exactly the same feeling as when at anchor), and a 
slighter shock in 80 fathoms, off Queen Charlotte’s Sound. 
In these events there is much to be thankful for in the absence of fire ; had 
it been winter, the universal falling in of chimneys would have assuredly fired 
the wooden houses: had the first shock been an hour later, many lives would 
probably have been lost, as the populace would have been in bed. Much fear 
is entertained for the soldiers at Wanganui barracks. I trust we shall find 
that Nelson has suffered as lightly as on former occasions. 
