NELSON. [From the Nelson Examiner, Oct. 28.]

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume V, Issue 343, 15 November 1848, Page 3

NELSON. [From the Nelson Examiner, Oct. 28.]

Since our last publication we have expect- j enced several slight shocks of earthquakes," but none of any violence. The strongest, we believe, -was on the afternoon of Sunday, about half-past three o'clock. . So late as Thursday night and Friday morning they we're felt, but we have not heard of any since. The intelligence received yesterday from Wellington shows ,vs t {hat the force of these phenomena was greatest on the other side of the Strait, and •we look with anxiety for news from the'jNorth to' learn how fat they extended in thai direction. , ,fv. , The. damage done in Nelson by this visitation is very inconsiderable. The only building which has sustained any serious mischief is the house' built on the beach, overlooking the month of the by the late H. A. Thompson, Esq., 4nd~<this had been previously shaken by a' landslip, which- had moved it bodily; forward" for a short distance towards the sea. The chimneys of this building were all damaged or thrown down, and t>ne or two fissure* made in the walls, which are composed, of round stoaes collected from the beach. The buildings which have been slightly injured are the Wesleyan Chapel, the bonJed store of Messrs. Morrison and Sclanders, the upper story of the Flour Mill, the houses of Mr. Snow and Mr. Foy, in Trafalgar-street, and a mud house near the Eel Fond. These, with the exception of the last, are all composed of brick, but they were either known to be defectively" built, or, of very slight materials, ths walls of some (being only, a single- brick thick,' and olhers ("only half that thickness. "We believe that not a single properly constructed building has sustained a particle of damage, excepting the house of the late Mr. Thompson, which had been previously, from its improper site, rendered insecuie. In addition to these casualties, one chimney was thrown down, and four or five others damaged. It is wonderful, considering the violence of the shocks at Wellington, and their apparent severity here, that more mischief was not done us, when we knew how slight some of our buildings are, and that many of the chimneys in the settlement are built with clay instead of' lime. A gale of w'nd, such as is sometimes experienced ' on the coast of England would have produced results far more serious. )The late phenomenon, like other secret workings of Nature, is beyond our comprehension, but as both from European and native testimony it appears to be unprecedented in- the memory of man, we .see no reason for future anxiety. As an evidence of the electric state of the atmosphere since the commencement of the shocks, it has been remarked in many instances that vegetation has made a progress truly wonderful. The Ralph Bernal. — This vessel, which we announced last week as having put in here leaky on her voyage from Sydney to London, had her stem placed on the Fifeshire Island on. Monday last, and the leak, which was , found to be under the bow, and to have proceeded from bad caulking, was in a few hours completely stopped ; on the evening's tide the vessel was hauled again into deep water. We know of no port in New Zealand, nor in any of the adjoining cohmies, where the same facilities' exist for repairing vessels as in this harbour. The rise and fall of the tide is from twelve to seventeen feet ; the water always perfectly smootlvemd deep close to the shore, and a .bank witba soft bottom. Several vessels hayS at vafious » times been hauled down on the Fifeshire Island to repair' and clean, and among them H.M.S. Racehorse \ but the Ralph Bernal was a full loaded ship, and yet by grounding -her stem, while the rest of the vessel was afloat," a bad leak was completely' stopped without disturbing any portion of the cargo, jor incurring anything but tl.e most trifling expense.