The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1868-08-22
TIE PACIFIC
Commercial Advertiser.
SATURD4 Y. ATGUST -.
The Late Tidal Phenomenon.

NtrN NIEtAEN - nave u@eu tALG4 AeAerl NuIDuEu-
Ous the group in a greater or les degree than at
this port We have nude inquiries from captains
and Others, received several letters relating to it,
and wall give the details a. full - We can:
Al Kz5uIuI,
On the windward eide Of Maui, i, was first OBJ
served at cary daybFeak. and continued during
the day, leaving the reef and some rock- in the
h-rbor quite bare. Capt. Powers thinks that
the tide rOse and fell nearly twelve feet between
the highest and lowest L4s-k- IL ruse there as
here slowly and not sufficiently 10 cover the beach
or enter tine houses, bait covered the wharf. 1t
WIS highest about : and ii O'Clock, y. VI. At
pLiccs Ou the Ice side II Maui tie ri-e and fall aP-
pears To have been n0t 30 great - ut kahului.
1t lille.
We have two letters from this place, referring
the tides, and a. they are both interesting We
give them in full
IIno, August 18th, 1868.
Ma EDuoE Dear Sir-It may be interesting To
you to hear from an occasional correspondent"
this being the first " OCCASION, - and the subject
The Tidal Waves
which We are having. and have hal for the past 80
hours or more. On the night Of the 18th inst, at
about IL ", these visitors again made their appear
ance on our coast, sweeping tle bridge at Waiakea and
making q :" clean sweep OF the boats anchored
there. There has been a constant rise and fall Of the
ocean since that time. up to date The fall is, /
should judge, from q to 5 feet on the average and Oc-
curing once in IN hour through the day. There is
no regularly defined tidal wave, but i steady rise and
fall Of the water of the bay
Yesterday I accompanied n party, by boat to waia-
kea to note the results Of the nave in that vicinity.
We found that the bridge bad been IifteI bodily from
its position and carried up the waiakea rs far Is the
fsI-pond walls. This was done by the rise of IL
o'clock yesterday forenoon Our boat went up the
stream on the flow Of the tide, and, half an hour
afterwards returned with the ebb, which ran like a
mill race.
On the night Of the 18th We had a slight earth
quake, but not at all Of sufficient force to account for
the incessant ebb and flow Of the ocean.
Tie Earthquakes at kau
Still continue. Last week Friday the walls in that
vicinity were leveIIed again, and. if report may be
relied upon, one loving couple had their bedstead
shaken down under them. They do say that Yankee
ingenuity is endeavOring to turn the frequent earth
quakes at Kapapala to some account by making them
the motive power for their churns / cannot vouch
for the truth Of this, but it sounds natural. The
. intelligent gentleman - just from Kau places the
. seat OF war " in the subterranean caverns Of that
district, under the districts Of Keliwa and Kapapala,
Ahis 4ANkAI lAbh NHE - ut lBNtt-
hends IA fresh outbreak in the vicinity Of the " Aamu-
ku - some ways this side Of the ranch Of Reed and
Richardson. Yours truly, III. o.. c.
Capt. Worth, from the same place, gives the
fSlIo~;ns -ePo~.'
Hmo. August 10, 1868.
SIR II was awakened yesterday morning. nth
inst. to learn that the influx and rcaux Of the SC.
had been taking place since the hour of = a ~, ris-
ing and receding every few minutes, from four to six
feet Ieinr the general rfze HIGHER than usuaI tile
This continued through the day and night. and thus
far through this day Q5th) till the hour of writing,
4 p. " The next remarkable feature Of this phe-
nomenon is its long continuance and regularity, vary
ing little from five minutes in rising or receding,
when receding the whole distance, sometimes falling
but about One-half the distance that il falls at other
times.
The rise Mt the WaiOli river, at Waiakea, was said
to have been considerably higher, carrying the bridge
that SPAWNED this river up the stream until it was
stopped in It's course by the butment Of Ills Majesty's
fish pond, which was also carried away, thereby
giving the mullet their liberty. Mcssrs- Hitchcock &
Brothers. launch was by the r~eceding sea carried out
into the bay, having previously been stove By coming
in contact With the bridge.
Various are the e0njectures as to the cause OF this
commotiOn Of the waters, some feeling confident that
the Island is in motion rising and falling, others that
We shall learn that there has been an earthquake on
the Coast Of California. o;SsTe ii,e' ,Asse has been a
submarine eruption not far from Us, which last may
be very probable. We have had but very light shocks
Of earthquake for several weeks, and for some days
hsrlly noticeable, though ut kau We learn they are
more frequent and more forcible. We wait anxiOusly
to learn what effect these tidal waves may have had
ct Puma and kau- Yours, j. W.
The Tidal Wave al kawaihas.
Mr.. Conway writes as follows:
kAwAIHAE, August -, 1865.
Ny DE,R SIR For the last thirty hours or more,
the sea on this coast has presented a most singular
AMI unusual phenomenon caused. as We can only
imagine, by some volcanic agency. Between three
AMI four O'Clock yesterday morning (Aug. 14th) l
was awakened by q peculiar rnmbling noise, appar-
emily Of stones being rollel along the beach. Upon
my rising and going out on the verandah l was
somewhat surprised to see the rocks ON the beach, for
several hundred yards, entirely bare. My surprise,
however, was considerably increased when, after
waiting n few minutes, the waters suddenly rushed
in again with the rrpidity Of n six knot stream. and
reached to fully thirty inches higher than our usual
highest tides. After flowing aud ebbing slightly for
some ten minutes, with considerable agitation, it
again receded to from two to three feet below the
usual tide marks ; and 80 il has continued to act till
this noon at longer or shorter intervals
In two OF three instances the tide acted exactly as
it did in April last. when the heavy tidal wave came
in. A good number 81 the natives on the beach here,
fearing a repetition Of what at that time happened
on the Puma AMI kau coasts, made up bundles Of
clothing, &C., and prepared themselves for a start up
the hill. have not yet heard how the tides have
acted en- the windwarl side Of the Island. but should
imagine they have been much higher.
l merely give you the above information to aid
you, in the event You receive similar accounts from
other quarters Of these Islands, TO make up an item.
From KeaIakekua, we have no particulars as
yet, but learn verbally that it rose about five feet
above high water mark and fell the same below
low water marx, making a total of about twelve
feet. the same ~ at Kahului. Natives who were
fishing three or four miles from land, heard pecu-
I..L.n-iru mia. hr-,rnr rrirhtcnrI and rr-