BY C. HBDLEY. 99 



in the Post-Pliocene alluvium of King's Creek, Darling Downs.* 

 I have myself no doubt that this is an error. Firstly, such an 

 occurrence would be utterly at variance with the remainder of 

 the fossils and with the recent fauna. Secondly, Placostyhis is 

 essentially gregarious, where it occurs at all there it occurs 

 abundantly, if it had really existed in Queensland it would have 

 recurred to subsequent collectors. While serving on the scientific 

 staff of the Queensland Museum I enjoyed the opportunity of 

 seeing the largest collection yet unearthed of King's Creek fossils; 

 the agent of the Museum was expressly directed to search for 

 mollusca. All that were obtained passed through my hands 

 officially, yet I saw nothing of Placostylus. Thirdly, had 

 Placostylus really occurred in Australia it is unlikely that it 

 should occur as a species not distinguishable, as Harris says, from 

 the New Zealand form. In short, the Queensland Placostylus 

 had best be banished to join the company of Owen's Australian 

 Elephant, Ettingshausen's Australian Oaks, Filhol's New Caledo- 

 nian Rhinoceros, and Owen's Gigantic Lord Howe Lizard. 



In the above-quoted paper I drew attention to the probability 

 that the Fijian fauna was derived from the Solomons, a theory 

 which had not, I believe, been advanced before. In addition to the 

 evidence there cited of the Placostylus, I have since collected 

 other interesting testimony in support of this view. 



Treating of the geology of Rotuma, Mr. J. S. Gardinerf points 

 out that, whereas in the antiquated charts of the Challenger 

 Reports, Fiji is shown united in a submarine plateau to the 

 Tongan, Ellice, and Samoan Groups, modern surveys have demon- 

 strated that the two latter are separated from each and the others 

 by abyssal gulfs deeper than 2,200 fathoms. Recent soundings 

 have developed a plateau of a depth not greater than 1,500 

 fathoms in a general depth of from 2,000 to 3,000 fathoms, 

 including Tonga and Fiji, and extending westwards to Santa 



* Jack & Etheridge, Geology & Paleontology of Queensland and Xew 

 Guinea, 1892, p. 646. Harris, Catalogue Tertiary Mollusca of the British 

 Museum, 1897, p. 4. 



t Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. liv. 1898, p. 2. 



