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Abstract

The monthly evening meeting of the Fellows was held on Tuesday, the 15th September. The Hon. R. Officer, Esq., Vice-President in the chair. - Includes "Discussion on tidal disturbance at Port Arthur", 15th Aug., 1868. The Secretary read a letter, from which the following is an extract, forwarded by Mr. Boyd, of Port Arthur, giving a detailed description by one of the overseers (Mr. F. A. Keith) of the remarkable tidal disturbance at Long Bay, of the 15th August, which, as is well known, occurred on the same day along the shores of all the Australian colonies and New Zealand :—"At 9 a.m., at low water, a huge wave was seen entering the Bay from the open sea, at the rate (as estimated) of about 11 or 12 milea per hour. The force was such that logs of heavy blue gum timber, which for years had been embedded in the sand, were washed ashore. A launch at anchor in the Bay, was driven for a distance of 100 yards, dragging her anchor and chain cable. A length of about 50 yards of a substantially built wooden jetty was swept away, and the rush of the water was so rapid that several men at work on the jetty only saved their lives by leaping into a launch which they had been engaged in loading. The water having thus risen to the height of seven feet, receded as rapidly to the extent of ten feet, the rise and fall together having occupied only fifteen minutes. During the day many waves of a similar character rolled into the Bay, the last, which occurred at a late hour, being even greater than the one described, but as its rise and fall were much more slow and gradual, the effects were not so remarkable."

Item Type:	Article
Authors/Creators:	Royal Society of Tasmania
Keywords:	Royal Society of Tasmania, Van Diemens Land, VDL, Hobart Town, natural sciences, proceedings, records
Journal or Publication Title:	Monthly Notices of Papers & Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania
Collections:	Royal Society Collection Royal Society Collection > Papers & Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania
Item Statistics:	View statistics for this item

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