22 



BULLETIN: MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 



Vatu Vara (Plates 25, 26). — The mass of the island rises as a vast 

 truncated pyramid, presenting along the summit an almost perpendic- 

 ular cliff 200 feet high. It possesses a sub-horizontal summit of some 

 forty acres. On closer examination, the top is seen to contain innumer- 



VATU VARA SEEN FROM MANGO. 



able pits and depressions, varying from G to 30 feet in depth. Traces of 

 five uplifts are visible on its ascent. Three of these are " terrace" 

 formations. Two are in form of beach-erosion lines. 



Tathata (Plate 27). — Seen from the southeast, it looks like a hat. 

 From the east it appears to consist of six steps arranged symmetrically 



TATHATA SEEN FROM NGILLANGILLAH. 



with respect to a central dome. On the western side of the island this 

 symmetry is broken by a volcanic mass that has welled up to the 500 feet 

 level, scorching and whitening the limestone. A small island called 

 Kaimbu is included in the same lagoon. They are 500 yards apart, and 



YATIIATA AND KAIMBU FROM MANGO. 



the water between is about 6 feet deep. On Kaimbu a line of beach 

 erosion exists a few feet above high-water mark. The dominating cap, 

 840 feet in height, is " sugar-loaf." 



Kambara. — It is much as Mango may have been, one solitary ande- 

 site mass of 30° slope, rising 470 feet above the sea to mark its era of 



