ANDREWS: LIMESTONES OF THE FIJI ISLANDS. 27 



It would thus appear that some of the flats are wind-blown formations, 

 and not the results of recent upheaval, as in the case of Lakemba, Thithia, 

 and Vatu Leile. [The reef-flats are due to submarine erosion. — A. 

 Agassiz.] 



Elevations of the Fiji Group. — From the consideration of the raised 

 coralline limestone alone, it is clear that a greater elevation may be 

 claimed for the northern division of the Fiji Group than for the southern 

 one. 1 The Yasawas (800 feet), Thikombia-i-ra (630 feet), Tuvutha (800 

 feet), Vatu Vara (1050 feet), and Yathata (840 feet), are lofty heights 

 compared with the elevated islands stretching to the south of terraced 

 Tuvutha. The elevations decrease in altitude as we leave Tuvutha and 

 retreat from the equator. At 18° south latitude, we have Naiau with 

 580 feet, at 19° south latitude Kambara and Wangava from 300 to 350 

 feet, and still farther south Fulanga with 260 feet of uplift. Thus it 

 seems that the great uplift or series of uplifts reached its maximum on 

 or about the 17th parallel of south latitude. Whether this uplift was 

 due to one elevating influence, as suggested by J. Stanley Gardiner, 2 

 or due to intermittent periods of uplifts and repose, is now to be 

 considered. 



X umber of Elevations. — As mentioned before, Mr. Gardiner considered 

 the probability of one uplift for Lau. In this he was influenced by the 

 apparent lack of visible "terrace" or even incipient "terrace forma- 

 tions," and from the repeated occurrence of huge vertical cliffs noted by 

 him in his researches conducted in the Lau Group. But the evidence 

 for repeated uplifts in place of a rapid and single rise seems incontest- 

 able when read in the light of the following facts. 



MBA VATC FROM MANGO. 



Appended is a summary of the numbers of indications of upheaval in 

 individual islands, and from a careful study of the first 50 feet of Vatu 

 Leile, Vatu Vara, and Yathata, it seems probable that many former 

 traces of elevation have been completely obliterated, due to the subse- 



1 A. Agassiz, /. c, p. 131. 



2 Proc. Canib. Phil. Soc, 1898, Vol. IX. Part VIII. 



