2oS A NATURALIST IN THE PACIFIC chap. 



Loa to between 13,000 and 14,000 feet, and in that of Hualalai to 

 rather over 8,000 feet. Situated between these three mountains 

 there is an extensive tableland or plateau, known as the Cattle 

 Plains, which is elevated between 4,000 and 6,000 feet, and has an 

 area of not less than 200 square miles. At least a third of the 

 whole area of the island exceeds 4,000 feet in altitude. In the 

 eastern portion of Maui the huge mass of Haleakala rises to rather 

 over 10,000 feet ; whilst Mount Eeka, in West Maui, rises in bulk 

 to some 6,000 feet. The island of Kauai, which is elevated between 

 5,000 and 6,000 feet, possesses in its interior an elevated tableland 

 40 square miles in extent and 4,000 feet in altitude. Oahu attains 

 in Mount Kaala a maximum elevation of 4,000 feet, but 3,000 feet 

 is the limit of the other peaks, and much of the island is low in 

 elevation. 



On the other hand, in the two largest islands of Fiji, namely, 

 Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, we find in the first-named only two or 

 three of the highest mountain peaks rising to between 4,000 and 5,000 

 feet ; whilst the highest peak of Vanua Levu reaches only to about 

 3,500 feet. Amongst the lesser islands, Taviuni just reaches the 

 level of 4,000 feet, and Kandavu, the next in height, about 2,750 

 feet. The area of the land-surface in this group that is above 

 a level of 4,000 feet is very scanty, and for the botanist a negli- 

 gible quantity, so that for purposes of comparison the Fijian Islands, 

 as far as elevation is concerned, correspond to the lower levels of 

 the Hawaiian Islands, that is, to the areas below 4,000 feet. The 

 same may be said of the Samoan Islands with the exception of a 

 limited area in the centre of Savaii, where a peak rises to 5,400 feet 



above the sea. 



Coming to the Tahitian region, we find that Tahiti, the most 

 elevated island, attains an extreme height of about 7,300 feet ; but 

 from its surface-configuration it is evident that not one-tenth of the 

 area exceeds 5,000 feet; yet since its total extent is about 400 

 square miles there must be an elevated region of some 30 square 

 miles in amount comparable in some degree with the uplands 

 of Hawaii. The Marquesas, next in order in size and height, attain 

 a maximum elevation of about 4,000 feet ; whilst, amongst the Cook 

 and Austral Groups, Rarotonga reaches a height, according to 

 Mr. Cheeseman, of 2,250 feet. Excepting the limited elevated 

 area of the uplands of Tahiti, there is nothing in Eastern Polynesia 

 corresponding to the higher levels of the Hawaiian Islands over 

 4,000 feet. We formed the same conclusion for Fiji, and I may 

 add that it applies to the whole area of P^iji, Samoa, and Tonga, 



