VAVAU. 199 



coralliferous limestone,^ reaching a height of over 400 feet, the terraces 

 of which are distinct on all sides, except where it connects with the 

 mainland immediately to the west of Neiafu, the principal village of the 

 group. The terraces in the hills to the west of Teleki are also remarkably 

 distinct. 



At Neiafu the cliffs have been disintegrated so as to leave a mass of 

 debris at the base. This in its turn has generally been changed into short 

 reaches of coral sand beaches, but the sand beaches throughout Vavau are 

 few in number, and small, except in the stretch lying eastward of Neiafu 

 Harbor, in the long arm of the sea which starts at the base of Talau 

 and reaches the eastern face of Pangai (PI. 219). The cliffs are cut back 

 to the second or third terraces, and their slopes covered with large trees. 

 An immense amount of red earth is found on the levels of nearly all the 

 terraces, and constitutes one of the striking features of the main island 

 of Vavau to the north of Neiafu, all the way to Holonga on the north 

 shore (PI. 124, fig. 2). 



There are no well-marked reef platforms on the sides of the deep channel 

 which winds its way towards Neiafu Harbor through the islands scattered over 

 the Vavau Plateau (Pis. 121, fig. 3 ; 122, fig. 2 ; 219) . To the south of the 

 village of Neiafu, the first terrace is very distinct; it is undercut and 

 as in this narrow arm the sea is smooth, it slopes gently into deep water 

 (Pis. 121, fig. 3 ; 219) . Masses of coral, mainly Millepores, and Porites, 

 are found in large blocks down to a depth of five fathoms. At that depth 

 the heads become smaller, and large lanes of sand encroach between them ; 

 beyond that depth everything is coral sand. The cliffs of Vavau are com- 

 posed of elevated coralliferous limestone ; this is readily disintegrated, as is 

 shown by the multiplicity of canons, cuts, and valleys formed in these cliffs 

 throughout the Vavau group (Pis. 124, fig. 1 ; 125). When we reach the 

 southern extremity ^of the eastern arm of Neiafu harbor, we find a pretty 

 narrow gap (Pis. 123, 219), bare at low tide, separating it from Pangai Motu, 

 forming the communication of this inland arm of the sea with the immense 

 reef flat forming the eastern face of the Vavau group. This gap (Ahanga 



1 Lister considers Talau an atoll similar to Kotu. It seems to me the so-called lagoon of Kotu 

 should be regarded as a sink. 



