78 BULLETIN: MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY, 
Fiji the only signs we saw of terraces were at Yangasé. The terraces 
in Fiji are most obscure, and what we find of elevation would seem to 
indicate sudden and rapid elevation without periods of rest such as 
occur in the Vavau Islands of the Tonga group, or in Cuba, where the 
terraces are so well marked, especially in the vicinity of Cape Maysi.? 
Lister speaks of the peculiar shape of the groups, penetrated by long, 
narrow, and deep inlets of the sea, a condition of things very similar to 
that of Ngillangillah, and of the north shore of Vanua Mbalavu in 
Fiji. Tongatabu is formed of coral limestone throughout, and one often 
meets with patches of coral, many feet in diameter, on which the lines 
of Astrzoids or Madrepores are seen radiating from a common centre. 
Lister calls attention to the basis for the growth of coral reefs which 
can be formed by such islands as Falcon Island.? He also shows that 
in the Tonga Islands, Tongatabu and Nanuku rest on shallow banks, 
and where the basis is exposed it is shown at Nanuku and Eua to consist 
of layers of volcanic material laid out under water. 
Darwin and Dana both suggested that the formation of the Tonga 
Atolls was in a period of subsidence, yet it is asserted in the discussion 
of the subject* by Mr. J. W. Gregory that his theory (Darwin’s) was 
not proposed for areas of coral formation in shallow or rising areas. 
Why then do Darwin and Dana quote them as examples of their theory? 
There is altogether too much of that kind of argument in the discussion 
of that theory. Are Darwin’s supporters at liberty to carry on the 
process of selection till nothing is left of the original statement ? 
In Samoa and Tonga the volcanoes are still active, and we can, follow- 
ing Lister, actually trace the process of elevation and of erosion which 
has resulted in Tonga in elevating limestones and volcanic islands similar 
in every respect to those we have observed in Fiji. Islands in the last 
named group owe their existence to former volcanic action, the evidence 
of which is still visible in the existence of the extinct craters of Taviuni, 
of Thombia, of Moala, and of Totoya, and this volcanic action is to be 
traced throughout the larger islands of the group. 
The description of Eua Island in the Tonga group given by Com- 
mander Oldham in Nature of May 22, 1890, p. 95, applies admirably to 
1 A. Agassiz, A Reconnoissance of the Bahamas and the Elevated Reefs of Cuba. 
Bull. Mus. Comp. Zodl., Vol. XX VI. No. 1, p. 110, 1894. 
2 R. T. Hill, Notes on the Geology of the Island of Cuba. Bull. Mus. Comp. 
Zool., Vol. XVI. No. 15, 1895. 
8 Falcon Island is stated to have disappeared during an eruption in August, 
1898. 
4 Q. J. Geol. Soc. of London, Vol. XLVIT. p. 590, 1891 
