CHAPTER XIV 



DESCRIPTION OF THE GEOLOGICAL AND GENERAL PHYSICAL 



FEATURES {continued) 



The Natewa Peninsula 



This remarkable peninsula is connected with" the rest of the 

 island by the low-lying Salt Lake district, a narrow isthmus, de- 

 scribed in the preceding chapter, which one can cross without 

 rising 50 feet above the sea. My acquaintance with this region 

 is far from complete ; but from the following notes a fair general 

 idea of its geological characters may be gathered. 



By referring to the map it will be seen that there are three 

 groups of mountains. The north-eastern culminates in Mount 

 Freeland or Ngala, 2,740 feet ; the southern is formed by the 

 rugged Waikawa Range, 1,540 feet ; whilst the Lea Range to the 

 west attains in Ngalau-levu a height of 1,960 feet. They are much 

 cut up by the denuding agencies, and all bear the stamp of an 

 ancient land-surface. Though hot springs are not infrequent, as 

 at Ndreke-ni-wai, Waikatakata, Ndevo, and Navuni, no evidence 

 of recent volcanic action came under my notice. Submarine 

 deposits occur at intervals on the surface up to elevations of 

 1,000 feet and over ; but with the exception of the comparatively 

 recent upheaval or emergence of some 20 or 30 feet, indicated by 

 the raised reef-masses and foraminiferous tuffs and clays in dif- 

 ferent parts of the coast, there is nothing to suggest that these 

 changes did not occur ages since. In the frequent alteration of 

 its andesitic rocks, and in the occasional occurrence of porphyrites, 

 we have sufficient indication of the antiquity of this part of the 

 island as far as its volcanic history is concerned. 



I will commence the description of this peninsula at its 

 western end. 



