THE TIDAL WAVE.

r A tidal w*m?p. ot uuusu.d magnitude r Avas observed «H along the Eastern-,, s. coast of the Colony on. E^Hday last. r While considerable fears were excited in various localities, fortunately but ■ little damage was '-occasioned. > The following; are the accounts from > ihe various ports :— ' DUNKDIN. > Tbe Daily 'limes says :-— " A . rtfmark- ! ,able .fluctuation of the tide Sbccurred yesterday, and attracted a great deal of V attention. Y The pulsation; of:.Qld Ocean was,, in tact, quite abnormal, indicating a feVeiish rest'es^hes*; that has not been . noticeable, here sirice^ the Y go-termed tidal wave of 1868. This, time a dis--1 tnrbance in the waters of the Harbour was fir.- 1 remarked j a hdiit d:iybreak by fishermen, in the pucsuif of their calling ; about the banks.^The tide was observed to rapidly. recede, and then as suddenly to flow several feet up the banks. An, hour oi* two afterwards, Mr Fletchef, of Mansford r ßayi ] was astonished to observe the water rapidly ebb away far below spring tide low Avater mark, exposing tlie lower part of his slip, which had not be'eula?d r bare since the disturbance of 1868/ About 9 o'clock , a strange tidal , turmoil was noticed at the pier of the.Quarantine Island. First the tide ebbed, it. being. then about low Avater, and then it flowed, and so continued rising and falling from 7ih. to lSin, About, half- past 9 o'clock t'.ie attention of the Harbour Master was directed to the tidal -actuation at the piers, and there, until long past noon, scores of persons Avere converted into clos*e observers of t'le, phenomena. The tide pulsations Avere very apparent, up and down, up and down, and that, too, with a strong flood tide ''-running, the rise, sometimes, hein^ as muchJas 15in. to _oiu. in half as, many minutes, whilst the vessels at anchor in tlie /stream were si ued 'a bout by the changing title, and oiice the tide, th »n being* strong flood, took quite; a half- cant to ebb. This was particularly noticed; by our representative, who happened to be afloat at the time. He also timed and measured one of i he pu'sations, and fouiid the; rise to be quite 15in. in about eight minutes, whilst the recoil wns "about 9iii. in a similar time; A tidal disturbance was also noticed at the Heads. 'telegraphing in the afternoon to the Hjirbour Maste.", Pilot Kelly said that' a siro ng ebb tide was running at -Hobart Town Point, whilst the vessels at anchor and the lightship swung at flood. He thought it Avas caused by the heavy st>a on the bar. From , this it, would seem that the fluctuations were not closely observed at- the Heads; wliich is to be regretted, as they would doubtless have been more decided .there." •„*. The fplloAvii.g are. from the Press Agency: — ; , O.AMAttU. A curious tidal. phenomenon was experienced here io-day. r At low water (about 8 am.) the wa tei* in the bay rose in about ten "minutes until Avithin one foot of high water mark: This continued with more or le-*s ; variation till noon, when a tiddwave came rushing into the bay. . The. baique jWilliam Gifford broke, aAyay from her mooring wa.*ps at the breakwater, and being caught in a strong, current and a Avhir'pool, Avas dashed against the inside of the breakwater, and then vyashed towards the shore, where she struck the bottom. Under the aWe seamanship of the Harbour Master-.'' (Captain Sewell) she got cleat;, aQ d put to sea. Through striking the bottom she commenced to leak, and an hour after she, .put. r .to sea she had made a foot of water. She shaped a course for Port Chalmers. The other vessels at the wharf were only slightly damaged about the, rigging through colliding witfci one another. KAITANGATA. At ten o'clock this morning .a Avave about eighteen inches in height avos seen coming up the river,;, carrying all small pieces of drift wood, etc., Avith it, against the current and strong southwest wind. The river rOse to four feet aoove its for .ner height, but receded within tAventy mi mites. ; This swelling ; continued hourly most of the day. ' . lyttelton: . •- - The effects, of *he tidal Avave were much felt in Pigeon Bay. The water rose 10in. above ordinary high-water mark, covering the handrail of the wharf. The yacht Jenny Flynn has been washed into the bush here, WELLINGTON. Telegrams relating to the tida' wa c have been received from: the following places : — Poverty Bay, Gisborne, Napier, Lyttelton, Akaroa, Timaru, Oamaru, Port Chalmers, and the Bluff. The phenomenon was observed at all the ahoveptaces this morning after 7 o'clock, and, the rise and fall va - ied from 3ft. to Bft., to which it rose at "Poverty; Ray. The ebb, and flow each ;tirae is described as occupying different times — between 15 minutes and one hour No damage is reported anywhere here. ;; The: rise and falling slackened at midday, but increased attain in the afternoon. It ceased altogether about 7. TAUnANGA. The tide rose suddenly several feet higher than sprin-/ tides, h>m\ kept rising and falling about a foot at short intervals all day. SYDNEY. A telegram duted .May 11 savßt— - The tide fell suddenly over 2ft, and returned' to its original level. It also fell 20in in five minutes at Newcastle,