The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1869-09-18
THE PACIFIC
Commercial Advertiser.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER Is.
Tidal phcnomcna.

In a late number of n British newspaper,
Scientific Opinion, appeared a letter from a party
in Hakodadi, japan, alluding to the a. bores," OF
tidal waves, which swept across this ocean in
August, 1869, after the fearful earthquake in
Peru. The writer says:
"On the 18th of August, 1868, commencing at
1870 A NJ local time and continuing till after 3
r. NJ, n succession Of : bores tidal waves they
are very generally, but, having no connection with
the tide, | consider them enormously, called-entered
the harbor Of Hakodadi, causing the sea to rise above
and retire below the ordinary high and low water
marks with considerable velocity. In ten minutes,
as timed with a watch, n difference of level of five
feet was measured. Similar, but smaller bores o-
CURED also on the two following days. The ordinary
rise and fall of the tide here being only some "a or
3 feet, such unusual disturbance was very noticeable,
| consequently recorded the occurrence, remarking at
the time that / considered the cause to have been an
earthquake somewhere. On hearing of the earth
quake in Peru, and the enormous bores' which
caused such destruction on that coast, l at once at
tributed the phenomenon above recorded to that
great CONFUSION. My conviction was further
strengthened by a few days since noticing reports in
the newspapers of bores having been felt on the
coast of New Zealand and at the Sandwich Islands ::
at the former on August 18th, and the latter on the
l4th, 18th, and 10th. On the New Zealand coast it
appears that the sea rushed out and in with extra
ordinary violence and that the Chatham Islands,
lying to the eastward, felt three 'bores of such
magnitude that the settlement of Tupunga, ON the
4AN WV II
have seen from the Sandwich Islands says that the
sea rose and fell for three days three to four feet
every ten minutes.
Ii would be most interesting to trace the effects of
this earthquake, getting reports from various places
situated on the Pacific, and of vessels crossing that
ocean at that time but in this out of the way place,
where all the news we get is derived from q limited
supply of English papers, and the few local journals
published in Japan and China, one cannot expect to
be able to carry on any such investigation. l may
remark, however, that, supposing the centre Of dis
turbancc Of this earthquake to have been on the
coast of Peru, and that the 'bores felt here were
the effects Of it, | have reckoned that they must
have Travelled across the Pacific at the enormous
speed of 363 nautical miles per hour. and, if the
rate Of speed were uniform throughout. the first
wave should have been felt ON the Sandwich Islands
about 4 A. NJ. on the 14th, and on the east coast of
New Zealand about Z A. N. on the 18th. A what
times they were actually felt 1 am unaware. as the
short notices l have seen in newspapers have not
given such particulars. The above times are of
course local, having been deduced from somewhat
rough calculations, as follows First shock of earth
quake in Peru, 18th, at 5 p. NJ equivalent to Green
witch time, 13 d. Oh. 40 m. First bore at Hakodadi,
Japan, 10Th, 10 30 A. NJ, equivalent to Greenwich
time, IA d. z h. 6 IN. Taking the distance between
the coast Of Peru (abOut Arica) to the Sandwich ISL
ands at 6,OOO miles, and from there (Which is in a
direct line) to Hakodadi, 1000, and from the coast
Of Peru to New Zealand, 1900 miles, and propor-
tonIng the "a h. 26 m. which the bore took TO travel
the 10000 miles to Hakodadi, would give the times