162 IOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY 
behind us are the very head-waters of the mighty Navua and be- 
fore us down the opposite and steeper slope run similar waters to 
the Waindina. The gorge widens and as we proceed its sides 
tower higher and higher. In places the narrow flats along the 
stream are cultivated but if not, an almost impenetrable bush 
knotted together by mile-a-minute and other vines extends to the 
very edge of the path. At the divide (650 feet above tide), the 
gorge runs east and west. Farther on and some one hundred feet 
lower, the gorge heads to the northwest. Its flat is now wider and 
the stream several yards in width is confined to one side of the 
valley; finally, nestled along the right bank, lies the beautiful, 
thatch-roofed village of Namosi. Turning about at the foot of the 
rara or village green we viewed the magnificent setting of the 
Namosi gorge. Back at the elbow where it turns from due west 
to northwest stand two prominent peaks, sentries of the valley. 
They are known as the ‘‘Gates of Namosi.’’ The cliffs of the 
valley wall are from one thousand to twelve hundred or even 
fifteen hundred feet high. Some of their faces are sheer or over- 
hanging. Rarely are they barren of vegetation and where they 
appear so, the binoculars reveal patches of lichens or other growth. 
Here and there the cliffs are notched at right angles to the valley 
and down many a notch comes a wild turbulent tributary. One 
of the internotch masses rises almost vertically on three sides; on 
the main valley side it is vertical quite from the base—like some 
titanic office building. This rectangular towering mass is fully 
eight hundred to one thousand feet high. It is on the right hand 
side looking up stream and about a fourth of a mile beyond the 
buli’s house. I named this conspicuous eminence Mount Fell in 
honor of our kindly host and it is hoped that new maps of Fiji 
will adopt the name. 
The left side of the gorge is, on the whole, less abrupt at the 
base but it terminates upward in even higher peaks culminating 
in Mount Namosi whose summit is a little over 3000 feet above 
tide and fully 2500 feet above the village at its foot. Its summit, 
like that of the peaks of the Korombasambasanga range to the 
south, was much of the time swathed in clouds and mist. The 
rock in the valley and in the cliffs, as near as could be ascertained 
in the brief time of our stay, is of voleanie origin and is dark in 
color when fresh. Much of it is made up of rounded cobbles in 
a matrix of basaltic lava. Some of the pieces are quite crystalline, 
