454 Mr Gardiner, The Coral Reefs of [Mar. 7, 



In the quarry at Suva, which runs into the edge of a cliff, 

 there is in the section exposed about 2 feet of earth on the top of 

 a layer of soapstone, 6 — 10 feet thick, while it is nearer 30 feet 

 in most parts of the cliff. The line of junction of the soapstone 

 with the coral-rock below it is horizontal, and along this line 

 there is a layer about an inch thick of unconsolidated sand ; in 

 the soapstone it is immediately above this layer that most bivalve 

 shells are found. The coral-rock is about 65 feet thick on the 

 face of the cliff. Its upper few feet are very granular, being 

 formed of small nodules and sand, with few corals or shells. 

 Twenty feet below at the bottom of the quarry it is much coarser 

 on account of numerous fossil shells and corals. Vertical fissures 

 a few inches across run in from the edge of the cliffs ; their sides 

 are coated with crystalline carbonate of lime. Under the coral- 

 rock the soapstone is again found and extends into the sea, its 

 thickness being at least 150 feet. On top of it is a layer of 

 pebbles, varying from 1 to 2 feet in thickness, formed both of 

 soapstone and of a volcanic conglomerate ; in size they vary, many 

 being several inches across. Fragments of coral, some apparently 

 water- worn, are found in the same layer, and bivalve shells are 

 more abundant than in any part of the coral-rock above. 



The village of Kalamba about 6 miles from Suva is situated 

 on the flat round top of an almost precipitous hill, rising suddenly 

 to a height of 220 feet. Round one side a tributary of the 

 Tamavua river flows, and to join this a small stream has cut itself 

 a tunnel through the hill; this is about 250 yards long and 

 70 — 100 feet high with a fall of about 60 feet. The rock exposed 

 in the section can be seen to be very distinctly stratified hori- 

 zontally, and I distinguished the following layers : — 



1. Earth about 2 feet. 



8. Black vesicular lava in the bed of the larger stream. 



The soapstone, in all its layers, has its typical appearance but the 

 two layers of coral-rock are very different. The upper is coarsely 

 grained, plentifully strewn with pebbles of soapstone, bivalve 

 shells and sponges but with no corals ; its upper 10 feet almost 

 form a distinct shell layer. The fifth layer is a very fine pebbly 

 rock with red and black volcanic nodules. Corals are plentiful in 

 the sixth layer, which closely resembles the coral-rock of the 



