12 BULLETIN : MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 



In this excursion I was accompanied and assisted by Mr. B. Sawyer, 

 B.E., of Sydney University. 



Afterwards I made short excursions to Mango, Vanua Mbalavu, Nai- 

 tamba, Yathata, Yatu Yara, and Thithia to correct my first impressions 

 of this limestone group. 



I sailed from Suva on October 28, 1898, with the intention of obtain- 

 ing samples of the Tongan limestone for comparison with the Fijian 

 raised reefs. 



I reached Sydney from Tonga via Auckland on the 17th of December, 

 1898. I wish to acknowledge here my sincere thanks to Prof. T. W. E. 

 David of Sydney University for his valuable help and criticism ; to 

 Mr. B. Sawyer, B. E., of Sydney University, my associate in the Fiji ex- 

 pedition ; to Captain D. Calder of the A. U. S. N. Co. for invaluable 

 help in all matters of equipment ; especially also to Dr. B. Corney for 

 valuable hints and data; to Captain Woolley of Suva; to his Excel- 

 lency, Sir G. M. O'Brien, Governor of Fiji ; and to the Hon. W. L. 

 Allardyce for permission to blast ; to the Hon. J. M. Barron, owner of 

 Mango, for his great hospitality ; to Mr. J. N. Lennox, H. H. Steinmitz, 

 Prince Batu Lala, the Hon. J. Berry, Rev. J„ Burns of Lakemba, and 

 many others of the planters and settlers of Lau and the Singatoka River 

 for their hospitality and help. 



The present expedition was undertaken primarily, as detailed in your 

 letter of instruction to me, with the idea of securing as many varieties 

 of limestone as possible from the Fiji area ; of selecting typical cliff's for 

 sectional purposes, of collecting as many fossils as possible, of study- 

 ing the topography and general geology of the Lau Group, and ascer- 

 taining if possible the basal limestone or volcanic rock supporting the 

 more modern deposits, such as reefs. The extraordinary influences of 

 erosion, the total lack of watercourse exposures except in caverns with 

 walls concealed by long deposition from the roofs, the obscuring of cliff 

 exposures by redeposition of calcareous matter in stalactitic form, the 

 enormous amount of secondary calcite arising from solution of the corals, 

 the dense vegetation, and the general absence of highways, all conspire 

 to hinder good progress in geological researches in the Fiji Islands. 



The means of transport in these, as in most of the South Sea Islands, 

 is unsatisfactory. Many islands, of which Naitamba, Vatu Vara, and 

 Yathata are types, are approachable only in tiny craft, and that also only 

 in fine weather. 



