GENERAL ACCOUNT HEDLEY. 17 



Te ngasu ;* Te afua fou, the new beginning (the name refers to an 

 unfortunate incident in connection with their first contact with 

 the white man, and their first knowledge of the deadly firearms 

 of the foreigner. A vessel called at the mouth of the lagoon, 

 and the natives were allowed on board. On leaving one of them 

 stole a bucket, f The canoe containing the thief was pursued, 

 and, to the astonishment and dismay of the company, the man 

 in pursuit was able to produce lightning and thunder and to 

 inflict death) ; Avalau (this islet is said to possess a spring of 

 fresh water) ; Motu ninie, ironwood islands ; Nuku savalivali, 

 the place where people can walk about ; Motu loa, long island ; 

 Motu sa Nafa, the island of the Nafa clan ; Te rere ; Te fata, the 

 platform ; Funafala, the pandanus of Funa, the name of a chief, 

 after whom also the group has been named Funafuti." 



An exact survey of the islets of the atoll was executed by 

 Captain Mervyn Field and his officers during the visit of H.M.S. 

 " Penguin," and for further details their work in the forthcoming 

 Admiralty chart may be consulted. 



The lagoon at Funafuti appears to be in course of filling up, 

 though the agencies at work must take long to make a perceptible 

 advance in so huge a task. In Vaitupu this has been partly, 

 and in Nurakita wholly accomplished. The land gains upon 

 the water at many points. A small cay in the heart of the 

 lake presents a permanently dry surface, while low tide shows 

 many patches of sand and gravel above water. Scattered over 

 the whole lagoon are numerous small reefs of upwards of an 

 acre in extent, for all of which (being good fishing grounds) the 

 natives have distinguishing names as Fasua Takau, the Clam Shell 

 Reef. These reefs are in a thriving condition and evidently 

 growing vigorously. Those near enough to the surface to permit 

 wading at low water, offered to the naturalists of the Expedition 

 their best collecting grounds. Other reefs lying deeper seen 

 through a water telescope, called to fancy a " rockery " in some 

 botanical garden, if for boulders be taken round masses of Porites 

 or Goniastrcea, tufts of soft Alcyonaria for ferns, and branching 

 Gorgonia for shrubs. 



Along the centre of the concave side of the main islet is 

 banked, as already mentioned, masses of sand which are arranged 

 in low broad undulations, parallel to the long axis of the islet. 

 Nowhere do they form dunes as occur on other atolls, probably 

 because an active vegetation fences off the wind. This increment 

 of sand is still adding to the islet's breadth. A space was pointed 

 out in front of the village where a man could formerly take a 



* Sccevola, Jccenigii, Vahl. See Vegetation. 



t The version I heard on Funafuti was tbat the ship's chronometer 

 was taken through a port of the captain's cabin, a much more serious 

 offence. 



