TONGATABU. 



.133 



tlie stone composing it is not to be foLind in any other part 

 of the island. The Island of Tongatabu is thirty-six miles 

 in length from east to west, and eight miles iu width from 

 north to south ; its form being that of a crescent with ir- 

 regidar edges. The soil is fertile, and seems to be composed 

 of lava, and covered here and there with a layer of coral, 

 with indications of a slight anterior tipheaval. I observed 

 here, as at Vavau, a heavy compact stone like the white lava 



STOXE JIOXUMJiXT, TOXGATAIiU. 



found on the sliores of the Mediterranean, of which bracelets 

 are made at Naples. Neither rivers nor freshwater springs 

 are to be met with ; the wells that are sunk yield nothing 

 but brackish Avater ; to remedy this inconvenience, deep 

 notches are made in many of the cocoa-nut trees for the 

 purpose of catching rain water. An excellent road, some 

 twenty feet wide, goes from one end of the island to the 

 other, throwing out branches towards each village. ; 



