102 FOYE. 



oxidized and the rock assumes a yellowish brown color. It is rich in 

 foraminifera and sometimes carries plant remains such as seed pods. 

 Brady (1888) records that some of the foraminifera found by him 

 in the marl, near Suva, were dredged by the "Challenger" in depths 

 not less than 150 fathoms. 



In 1907, specimens of the rock were sent to the Imperial Institute 

 for examination. The specimens were labelled as follows: — 



" A. Soapstone, Fiji. Surface, Government Office Yard." 



"B. Soapstone, 6 feet below the surface, Suva." 



\Yright (1916) quotes the following description as given by the 

 Imperial Institute. 



" The two samples are similar in appearance and character. They 

 were not soapstones, but may be classed as marls. They consist of 

 volcanic dust, containing feldspar, hornblende, magnetite, and mica, 

 together with a considerable quantity of the remains of calcareous 

 and silicious organisms; some imbroken foraminifera occurred in 

 both samples." 



"Chemical examination of the samples gave the following results: — 



A B 



SiOo ; 30.41 38.56 



AloOs 12.08 16.49 



FesOs 5.40 7.54 



MgO 6.95 5.78 



CaO 19.24 12.77 



KoO 1.23 1.64 



Na20 1.23 2.72 



P2O5 trace trace 



NiO trace trace 



H2O+CO2 (loss on ignition) 23 . 28 14.32 



99.82 99.82 



It has previously been stated that the marls, near Suva, were proba- 

 bly laid down as a former delta-flat of the Rewa Ri\er. Their com- 

 position indicates that the river redistributed a large amount of 

 ash and pumice, emitted by the coast volcanoes. The main mass of 

 this rock, however, consists of silt, swept from the lateritizcd hills of 

 the interior and deposited with calcium carbonate in the delta-area. 



Conglomerate. Two varieties of conglomerate may be distinguished 

 in Fiji. The one is a river-conglomerate and is poorly consolidated 

 or has a small amount of siliceous cement. The other has a large 

 amount of calcium carbonate associated witii it, in the form of shells, 



