PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION C. 419 
Sections were made of these flints, but no recognisable organic 
structure was met with in the pieces examined. 
The following notes on the occurrence of flints in the Solomon 
Islands are from Dr. Guppy’s letters :— 
“These flints are commonly found in the island of Ugi, 
embedded one or two inches below the surface soil, and are exposed 
in numbers when the soil is disturbed for purposes of cultivation. 
I have seen similar flints from the opposite coast of St. Christoval, 
where they occur under similar circumstances. In Ugi they are 
found on the low land which fringes the coast, which varies in 
elevation from five to twelve or fifteen feet above the high-water 
level; fragments of decayed coral and portions of shells are 
frequently intermingled in the soil where flints are found. In 
addition to common flint, which composes the majority of these 
masses, fragments of chalcedony, carnelian, and a jasper also 
occur. If I remember aright, all the specimens which I send 
are fragments of nodules. Their resemblance in some instances 
to flint implements of the palolithic age is worthy of notice; 
one flake is coloured white, and reminds one of the similarly 
shaped flakes of the Post Tertiary gravels. The prevailing rock 
of the island of Ugi is an earthy foraminiferous limestone. 
I made a careful examination of the natural sections of 
this rock, which were displayed in the deep gorges worn by the 
streams, but I never came upon embedded flints. I am informed 
by resident traders that flints are abundant on the beach of the 
island of Ulawa, together with fragments of a white rock like 
chalk. I was unable to visit the island of Ulana. 
I may state that in my short experience I have met with 
islands of very varied geological character. The large islands, 
such as St. Christoval and Florida, appear to be formed of an 
axis of primitive eruptive and metamorphic rocks, flanked by 
more recent volcanic formations, and fringed near the coast by 
elevated coral-limestone, reaching to a height in some instances 
of several hundred feet above the sea. In Florida I traced 
the coral-limestone, often indistinguishable from the compact 
rock of the existing coral reef, to a height of 900 feet above 
the sea. 
Then comes the volcanic type of island, e.g., Simbo, which is 
entirely of trachytic rocks, and still retains an old funnel-shaped 
crater, a solfatara, numerous fumaroles, even on the highest 
summit, and boiling springs. 
Then we have tne raised atoll, such as Santa Anna, which, 
elevated some 500 feet above the sea, offers interesting confirma- 
tion of Mr. Darwin’s theory of coral islands. 
In one instance I succeeded in finding, 72 sc#w beneath the 
crust of coral rocks, the crystalline eruptive rocks of the original 
island before it underwent subsidence and became clothed with 
coral. 
#49 
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