CAPE BOWLING GREEN.
During the last six months the sea has gradually encroached upon the lighthouse and cottages at this station, quite 150 feet of the bank in front of the lighthouse having disappeared. The sea, on three occasions, washed some of the piles from under the superintendent's house. With high spring tides the water touches the base of the lighthouse on the north-west side; and as the spit to the south-east is now moving away, it would appear more than probable that if any further encroachment takes place the buildings will be surrounded with water, when their position will be most critical. There was nothing abnormal in the state of the tide when the greatest encroachment took place, and the disappearance of the bank which formerly protected the buildings can only be accounted for by the soft and yielding nature of the sand which underlies an apparently hard and compact surface. I visited Cape Bowling Green twice within a month, and the changes wrought during the interval of my visits were remarkable. On the first occasion a bank of sand 6 feet high, with a row of cocoanut trees about eight years old, extended some 150 feet in front of the buildings. On my last visit the whole of this bank, together with the cocoanut trees, had disappeared, and the sea at high water was washing under the superintendent's house and within a few feet of the lighthouse. I consulted on the spot with the Harbour Master (Mr. Hughes), the Inspector (Mr. Pethebridge), and the Superintendent (Mr. Cole), all of whom have been acquainted with the place for the last seventeen or eighteen years, with the object of selecting a new and more eligible site. Such, however, does not appear to exist. The lighthouse and apparatus are in good order, and the cottages, with the exception of that occupied by the superintendent, are in fair condition.