Page 3 Advertisements Column 2

New Zealander, Volume 4, Issue 257, 15 November 1848, Page 3

but about five, a.m. on Wednesday morning, a stronger one occurred, and another about eight, a.m. Minor shocks continued at intervals during the remainder of the day and evening, until the morning of Thursday, the 19th, at ten minutes past rive, a.m., when a most violent and awful shock took place; every building was rocked to and fro in a fearful manner ; and, with the exception of the wooden dwellings, most of the houses and stores were seriously shattered or fell in. The whole population were in the utmost consternation and alaim; and the destruction of property was immense •, but most providentially, up to the present time, no further loss of life has ensued. Numbers of persons are, however, ruined; many left houseless and homeless, except such temporary shelter as can be afforded by the New Church, Te Aro, by Government Houj>e (where the Hospital patients and some others are taken in) , and by the wooden buildings of their friends. Many persons are afraid of remaining in any of the houses at nights, and retire to the bus>h among the hills in the hope of being more secure, notwithstanding the wild and inclement weather by which the earthquake has been accompanied. A blow has been struck at the prosperity, almost at the very existence of the settlement, from which it will not readily recover. Terror and dismay reign every where ; for the last four days no business of any kind has been transacted. The energies of all seemed paralysed, and during that period no one has been able to feel for a moment that even life itself is secure. As I now write, too, (1 1 p.m. 19th Octobei) , incessant and alarming tremblings of the earth are experienced — what may be the eventual result, or when this dreadful state of suspense and anxiety may be terminated, God alone can tell, but every one seems to feel a presentiment that it will end in some still moiefeaiful catastrophe than any which has yet taken place. The sad ravages which have already occurred, and the terror which so frightful a visitation naturally produces in most men's minds, will. I apprehend, drive from the colony all who can find the means of getting away. The few ships now in port, waiting for moderate weather to sail, are crowded to excess with colonists abandoning the country, and numbers are unable to obtain passages. D nder this awful visitation, I deemed it my duty al once to summon my Executive Council, and with their approval, to proclaim a day of public and solemn fast, prayer and humiliation, in order that supplication might be offered up to Almighty God, to avert the recurrence of any similar visitation, and Friday, the 20th of October, was appointed for this purposeI will not fail to communicate to your Excellency, such further information and reports, as it may be in my power from time to time to render. I have the honour to be, Sir, Your Excellency's most obedient humble servant, E. Eyre. His Excellency the Governor-in- Chief. Government House, Wellington, October 21, 1848. Sir, In continuation of my Despatch of the 19th instant. I have the honor to inform your Excellency that between half past eleven, p.m., on the 19th, and one, a.m., on the 20th, frequent and rather strong shocks succeeded each other in rapid succession, during which time, the earth appeared to be in a continual state of agitation under foot. The shocks and the pulsation of the ground then ceased until about five, a.m., when slight shocks again occurred, and were iepeated at intervals during the whole of Friday, but no further damage was done by them. And, although shocks have been experienced occasionally up to the present time. (11 a.m., Saturday, 21st October), I would hope that the worst is over, and that the convulsions of nature may gradully subside. We are not, however, yet aware of any eruption having taken place, or any vent being opened in any direction, though strong lurid lights, seen in the sky in the evenings in the North and South, seem to be reflections from the light of some volcano. Yesterday (Friday, the 20th October) was, in accordance with the intimation given your Excellency in my last despatch, observed as a solemn Fast day, and I am happy to say that it was most reverently obseived — persons of all classes and all denominations responding in right feeling and conduct befitting su ch an occasion, and she w - ing by the immense assemblages at the various religious observances of the day, that they acknowledged the hand of the Almighty and looked to him only for safety and protection. In consequenceof the long continuance of the earthquake, and the uncertainty as to what may be its eventual results, I have deemed it light, under the advice of my Executive Council to order the detention for a few days of any vessels in harbour, which might attempt to leave it, the alarm and apprehension being so great, that if the few ships now here were to sail away, the people would consider themseh es as altogether deseited, and without any means of