144 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



Lavoni Valley. My guide, born on the island, had lost his way and 

 so we had wasted some hours in fatiguing toil. And after all, this 

 was the path. Some short time ago the natives had killed a chief 

 by treachery and were carrying him back by this track for the 

 purpose of bringing him to the oven. When they got to this 

 precipice, they were baulked, and so flung the body headforemost as 

 the only way of transit. Very few white men and not many black 

 men have crossed this precipitous ridge leading to the Lavoni 

 Valley. And in the old heathen days, the tribes in these hills 

 could defy all the others. Their position was simply impregnable. 



Before leaving Levuka, I had a day on the coral reef. I was in 

 the water some hours breast deep. I had on a pair of boots 

 specially provided, as the coral cuts both feet and boots. A hatchet 

 was needed to chop away the pieces of coral. The sight from the 

 boat of a coral reef is one not to be forgotten. It looks like one 

 vast forest. Branches of coral like limbs of trees spread in every 

 direction. The living polyps are of almost every hue. Blue, red, 

 green, orange, yellow, and so accounting for the beautiful rainbows 

 seen over them from the distance. Numbers of darlv-blae star fish 

 play about. Myriads of tiny blue fish swim in and out among the 

 branches. Large and small fish, blue and scarlet and of almost 

 every colour lazily glide about. In recesses many species of 

 Echinoderms or Sea Eggs linger, ever ready with their spines 

 to tear the flesh from the too prying fingers. Various species of 

 Beche de mer move backwards and forwards with the currents. 

 Many rayed star fish crawl into the cracl\:s and crevices of the coral 

 rock. Numbers of small corals grow on the newly formed limestone. 

 You crack off a piece with your hatchet. It is full of life. Every 

 blow you give reveals new and hidden wonders, A lithodonta falls 

 out from the very centre. How could it get tliere, a close prisoner 

 — a bivalve mollusc. And so like the species found in the Coralline 

 Oolite of England, and proving a like condition in the two periods. 

 Cones and Crabs and Cowries and numbers of tropical shells may be 

 got by diving among the coral reefs. Sponges, and numbers of the 

 lower types of animal life are plentiful. Seaweeds are scarce, and 

 those mostly coarse Fuci and allied genera. The coral reef and its 

 surroundings are a world of life. It must be seen to be imagined. 



On my return voyage I was greatly interested by two porpoises. 

 The sea at night where disturbed was highly phosphorescent. Two 

 porpoises were swimming for a distance with the ship. As they 

 disturbed the phosphorescent produced elements, they resembled the 

 onward progress of sky rockets. One long wavy line of fiery sparks, 

 a reminder of the wondrous sea-serpent. At last they crossed under 

 the ship and disappeared. On the whole I had a most enjoyable trip, 

 enjoyed myself immensely, and gained vast stores of knowledge and 

 experience, to say nothing of the haul of curios and natural history 

 specimens. 



