128 MB, J. T. LAST ON THE BOITES OF ^PTOENIS. [Feb. 6, 



to that at Ambiilisatra, but tlie coast-line, instead of having sand- 

 dunes as a border, has a long stretch of sandstone rocks, about 

 100 feet high, and extending a mile or a mile and a half inland. 

 These rocks are very hard on the top, waterworn and cut in all 

 directions ; but the action of water is most seen on the rocks which 

 are furthest inland. Here the softer inside stone has been 

 washed away, sometimes to the extent of 20 or 30 feet, forming 

 large caves — quite cosy hiding-places, such as only a native knows 

 how to appreciate. It was in these caves that I procured the large 

 tortoise-carapaces. Generally two were foimd in each • cave ; 

 on two occasions I found a large and a smaller one, and in both 

 cases the smaller one was too much broken to take away. 



Another reason why I call attention to this place is because 

 the face of the sandstone rocks along the high-water line is 

 somewhat of a study. There is one considerable ledge which is 

 covered with what I take to be fossilized shrubs. The rocks are 

 soft, white, and finely grained, almost like Caen stone. I obtained 

 some specimens of the fossil wood with the rock attached, and I 

 hope they wiU. shortly arrive in England along with some other of my 

 collections. About ten feet beneath this ledge the rock is more red 

 and coarser in grain, and contains a number of common land- 

 shells, I also found some pieces of ^pyornis egg-shell embedded 

 in it. Several of the shells and pieces of egg-sheU I cut out 

 and sent home with my first tortoise-carapaces in 1892, The 

 reason why I refer to this is because the presence of these pieces 

 of egg-shell in the sandstone tends, I think, to show how ancient 

 a bird the ^pyornis must have been. 



The next place I should like to call your attention to is Itam- 

 pulu-be, situated on the south side of a rather extensive bay in 

 about lat. 22° 10' S. It was in this locality that I obtained 

 my best specimens of ^ypornis-bones, as well as an abundance 

 of bones of the Hippopotamus, Crocodile, and other animals. 

 This place has a rough shingly beach leading up to an extensive 

 flat of what appears to be a kind of limestone. The rock is of a 

 light greyish colour, rather hard and compact ; it extends for a 

 considerable distance inland, and is sparsely covered with sand 

 in places, out of which there is a stunted forest growth. Here 

 and there about this flat, and within half a mile from the beach, 

 are a number of pan-like depressions, varying considerably in size ; 

 these have become silted up with washings from the surrounding 

 country, so that though they hold a little water in the wet season 

 the surface quickly becomes dry again, and the natives use them 

 as small gardens. It was from these pans that I obtained my best 

 fossils, and I think I might have done better still had I been able 

 to be present to work the places myself. 



Whilst I was at Manansua, in the Antinosi country, I employed 

 a European (a man who had been many years in the country) 

 to search for fossils and other objects of natural history. In 

 going about he heard of these pans and that there Mere many 

 strange bones in them ; he at once, with the natives he had with 



