28 BULLETIN : .MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 



Mbengha Eeef, I was able to examine the sea face of the reef, and 

 found that in Frigate Passage both sides of the reef were flanked with 

 large heads of corals beginning in from five to seven or eight fathoms. 

 On the outer face, though corals were growing, there were no lar<>e 

 heads, at about six fathoms w^e found Madrepores, Fungiae, Pocillopores, 

 small heads of Porites, Astreans, and of IMajandriiias and Gorgonians. 

 This belt extended to the line of breakers pounding upon the reef flat. 

 Outside of six to eight fathoms the corals seem to have disappeared, as 

 the lead brought up nothing but coral and coralline algse sand. 



Kandavu. 



Plates 10, 11,50. 



The extent of the erosion and denudation Avhich has taken place 

 along the coast of Kandavu is well exemplified by the John Wesley 

 Bluffs near the village of Taviiki (Plate 10), and similar bluffs rising 

 to the westward of Tavuki Bay. The John Wesley Bluffs (Plate 50) are 

 a line of nearly vertical cliff's of volcanic origin cut into wide rounded 

 lamellar masses, rising to a height of fully 500 feet on the east side of 

 Tomba ni Tavuki. A part of the hill slopes on the west side of the bay 

 are covered by the rounded tops of similar rocks cropping out on the 

 surface, giving the slope the appearance of a graveyard crowded with 

 dome-shaped monuments. 



The heads studding the Bay of Tavuki, and forming the extension of 

 the oiiter reef patches parallel to the coast, are covered with thriving 

 corals, growing upon a substructui'e of volcanic rocks, as is clearly seen 

 from the nature of the negro-heads cropping out in the bay. 



.< W^th the exception of the broad fringing reef stretching to the west of 

 Tavuki, the north shore of Kandavu is edged by a narrow fringing reef 

 (Plate 10), and from Yale Point to Tomba ni Richmondi an indistinct 

 barrier reef extends, made up of small distant patches, except where the 

 Malatta Reefs enclose a wide bay north of John Wesley Bluffs, studded 

 with coral patches and heads. The south shore of Kandavu is likewise 

 edged with a narrow fringing reef in Soso and Kandavu Bays inside 

 of the broad barrier reefs across their entrance. The islands and islets 

 within the North Astrolabe Reef Lagoon are also edged with narrow 

 fringing reefs. 



Tlie platform of submarine erosion extending north of the eastern 

 extremity of Kandavu is one of the best examples of its kind we find in 

 Fiji. The great lagoon, with its islands and islets, represents a stage of 



