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CHAPTER XVIII. 



REMARKS ON THE FAUNA OF FIJI. MAMMALS. BIRDS. FISHES. REP- 

 TILES. MOLLUSKS. CRUSTACEA. INSECTS. LOWER ANIMALS. 



No attempt has as yet been made to draw up a list of 

 the animals of Fiji, and all the materials for it are 

 scattered through various periodicals and other publi- 

 cations. There are very few mammals in the group ; 

 indeed, except the rat (Kalavo), four Cetaceous animals, 

 and five species of bats, collectively termed Baka, we 

 have none belonging to this fauna. One of these bats 

 or flying foxes has been named Notopteris Macdonaldii, 

 in honour of its discoverer. Three of them are tailless, 

 two have tails. There are two kinds of porpoises and 

 two of whale in the adjacent seas and amongst the is- 

 lands, but, though whales' teeth are highly valued, and 

 were so still more formerly, the Fijians have never taken 

 to whaling in any form, and always seem to have pur- 

 chased their stock from foreign traders. The dog (Koli), 

 the pig (Vuakaj, the duck, and the fowl (Toa) were the 

 only domestic animals known to the natives. Dogs were 

 not eaten and suckled by the women, as was and is the 

 case in other Polynesian islands ; indeed, the custom of 

 eating dogs seems to have been restricted in the Pacific 

 to the islands and countries north of the line, and was 



