THE FIJIS 325 



Agassiz was fortunate in securing the services of Cap- 

 tain R. Cocks as pilot, especially recommended by Sir 

 John Thurston, the late Governor of the Fijis, who 

 had taken the greatest interest in the plans for the ex- 

 pedition. This pilot proved invaluable, as he knew every 

 nook and corner, and just what to do in any emergency. 

 The inset in Chart 2 at the end of the volume shows 

 the track of the Yaralla. It comprised practically all of 

 the group, with the exception of some of the outlying 

 islands, and the region to the north of Viti Levu, the 

 largest of the islands, on the south of which Suva is 

 situated. Vanua Levu, the other large island, the ship 

 merely grazed as it steamed through Somo Somo Strait. 



Leaving Suva on November 8, the Yaralla made for 

 Mbenga, to the southwest of Suva, a volcanic island 

 about five miles across, rising about fourteen hundred 

 feet above the sea, and surrounded by a vast barrier reef 

 some thirty miles in extent. Here Agassiz passed several 

 days examining the reefs, and then started for Vatu 

 Leile, the next island to the west. About halfway across, 

 the weather began to look dirty and the glass started 

 to fall so rapidly that it was thought best to put back 

 to Suva which the ship reached just before the storm 

 broke. 



The next and longest run was so planned as to offer 

 a study of at least one or two examples of each type 

 of island, and of the different types of atolls, barrier 

 and fringing reefs in the group. Proceeding through 

 the group to the northeast, Agassiz then ran down along 

 the line of smaller islands, which form the eastern or 

 Lau group of the archipelago, and afterward worked 

 his way westward back to Suva. The nights were usually 

 spent at anchor, sometimes under the friendly lee of 



