508 THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGER. 



present to Captain Nares, and the large double canoe which brought the present was 

 photographed from the ship (see Plate XIX.). The supplies at the Fiji Islands were few 

 and expensive ; the beef was, however, good, better even than the Australian meat. 



Whilst at Levuka the slope from the barrier reef was taken outside the north entrance 

 to the harbour ; 65 fathoms from the edge of the reef awash the depth was 21 fathoms, 

 or a slope of 1 in 3 ; at 150 fathoms' distance the depth was 80 fathoms, or a slope of 

 1 in 1 "4 from the last sounding ; farther out the slope was fairly uniform at 1 in 2 to 

 300 fathoms. The reefs around Kandavu have generally the character of fringing reefs, 

 and in other places are barrier reefs. Indeed, throughout the Fiji Islands the three 

 varieties of barrier, atoll, and fringing reefs are distributed in such a manner as to render 

 it difficult to understand how the two former have been formed by subsidence. It has 

 already been stated that at Kandavu there were indications of recent elevation. 



A new genus and species of Reef Corals (Tichoseris obtusata) l was obtained at these 

 islands, and some rocks, collected at Kandavu, are referable to the type of amphibolic 

 andesite, very often containing augite and biotite, with tufa of the same composition. 



Having heard at Ovalau that there were a number of natives of the New Hebrides 

 who had just completed their engagement and wished to return to their native island 

 (Api), which would be passed on the way to Australia, they were received on board. 



On the 10th August the ship left Ngaloa Harbour, steering to the westward along 

 the land. Passing within a moderate distance of the edge of the coral reef off Kandavu 

 Island, it was observed that the bay next west of Ngaloa Harbour (Tomba Ya-uravu) had 

 apparently good anchorage and a clear channel into it through the reef. In the bay are 

 four small islands, just eastward of the large island which forms its western boundary. 

 This island, which is round-backed, was estimated to be 700 feet high ; it is called 

 Matanuku. West of Matanuku the land trends to the westward, and then projects in the 

 form of a peninsula, . which terminates in a bluff point with a knob on it, five miles from 

 Matanuku Island. To the westward of the knob bluff (Koro-e-Rangi) is another bay, formed 

 between the bluff and a hill joined to the mainland by a low narrow isthmus, which 

 makes it appear like an island when first seen. Off this False Island there is only a small 

 reef running out to the southward, but just east of it is a reef stretching to the south- 

 westward from the knob bluff, on which the sea breaks very heavily. There is a passage 

 between False Island and this reef to the shore, and probably anchorage, but there 

 appeared to be some detached reefs inside, so that it must be approached with great 

 caution. To the westward of False Island (Thickombia) the sea was seen breaking 

 against the sandy beach joining it to the shore, and the land trended to the northwest- 

 ward, forming a bay between it and a low point (the western extremity of Kandavu 

 Island), off which is a fiat island (Denham Island), from which a reef stretches to the 

 southwestward. At Denham Island the reef apparently ended. The whole of Kandavu 



1 Quelch, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 5, vol. xiii. p. 296, 1884. 



