Tongataboo, one of the Friendly Islands, was visited a few months previous to my sojourn there in 1854 by an earthquake, when the north-east portion of it was tilted down to an inclination sufficient to produce an encroachment of the sea for nearly two miles inland, gradually diminishing to the south-eastern shore as far as Nukualofa, where it now washes the roots of a tree that grew within a garden adjoining a house that has been entirely destroyed. The western coast has visibly risen some feet, and a spring of water has sunk below the surface. The island is formed of coral; there is no appearance of volcanic intrusion through it; but there have been disturbances that have elevated some parts as high as 116 feet, with a good depth of vegetable soil on them, which in the low land assumes the form of peat, emitting under the rays of the sun strong humic acid.