Between November and April, New Zealand can occasionally be exposed to tropical cyclones or their remnants.
In the case of this storm, there was a cyclone reported in the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu) on 30 January 1868 which could have been its origin.
On 1 February Auckland reported a cyclone of shore and winds at their highest since the settlement began in the 1840s.
The day had begun with a reasonably calm sea, but the barometer had been falling from 30.30 the previous evening to 30.07 in at noon.
The gale continued to strengthen through the evening and by midnight the barometer had dropped to 29.96 with violent squalls and rain.
At 4am on the 2 February the barometer dropped to 28.93, but the wind died away with the ship having reached the centre of the cyclone.
The barometer fell to its lowest point 28.82 at 2pm, with the wind beginning to return to cyclonic strength.
[15] Bearing the same name, The Great Storm of 1868, was a 2008 play by New Zealand playwright and author Michelanne Forster based around the event.