DESCRIPTION OF SMALL ISLANDS OF THE ATOLL. 97 



In the thill covci'ing of brecciu, with its fhitter iiicltuled tVugmeuts lying almost hori/.ontiiUy or l>ut 

 slightly if at all inclined and that towards the sea, we see the remains of the foundation of the island 

 that provided the material for and sheltered the formation of the soft conglomerate, l)reccia and 

 sandstone. The rubble bank indicates the destiny of the material forming the islands which we now see. 

 This also shows clearly the effect on the deposition of all wave-shifted rubble on the reefs, wherever the 

 obstruction is not sufficient to deflect the waves upwards, i.e., when their power is too great to allow 

 the material to be jailed up as Hurricane Bank, and they carry it onwards. Seeing that this corner js 

 subject to attack from all the prevailing winds that l)low, whcthei' thoy are fi'om the S.E., AV., or N.W., 

 the great erosion of the reef breccia sheet here is not a matter for sui'prise, and this with the al)sence of 

 the supporting Foritcs is no doubt the cause why both it and land disappear at this corner. It should be 

 observed that the further one goes east on this reef, that is to where it can act at the exposed south-west 

 corner as a breakwater from the heavy seas driven by the N.W. and W. gales, the less has the breccia 

 sheet l^een eroded, till it becomes, under the additional shelter afforded from attacks from the S.E. by the 

 reef near Nukusavalivali and by that island itself, the foundation for the islet of Motungie. This being 

 so, the presence of an increasing thickness of reef breccia and also of the latter islet is due to the wider 

 extent of shalloAv reef over which the breakers have to roll before reaching it, reducing their force and thus 

 rendering it immune from the more severe attacks. The breccia has therefore been preserved from total 

 erosion, and assists in turn, with the before-named protection of Nukusavalivali, to favour the deposition 

 of a sand bank on that and Motungie (Plate 5). 



Motungie, " Island of the Ngie tree," is suitably named, as it is but a thicker mass of breccia than 

 those we have just left, surrounded by the Ngie trees with a few small cocoanut trees which have been 

 planted on the surface of the islet. Under their shelter and that of the long cross-reef island 

 Nukusavalivali, the foraminiferal sand has found a lodgment, and now forms, at about 5 feet above high 

 water, a surface of less than a quarter of an acre, sloping away on all sides to the breccia. To the west 

 of it, and on a continuation of this ridge of breccia, a tongue of sand extends under shelter of this and 

 the next island ; and on it I first found the most perfect Tinoporus baculatus which I had up to then 

 discovered on any part of the atoll. On almost all other parts the small spines surrounding the test of 

 this species were usually more or less worn off, but here the majority appeared almost perfect, indicating 

 that the source whence the recently dead forms came could not be far distant. Between this and the next 

 island is an eroded channel through which the water flows into and from the lagoon when between 1 and 2 

 feet above the platform. 



NUKUSAVALIVALI.— " The sand (island) that goes the wrong way." 



The meaning of this name was variously rendered to me by the best interpreter on the island (from 

 dictation by the King), as follows — " All same big fool island, he not know which way to go " — " he go 

 wrong way." On this atoll the longitudinal axis of an island usually agrees more or less closely with that 

 of the reef on which it stands ; but here curiously enough this order is reversed, and Nukusavalivali 

 crosses the reef at approximately right angles. This peculiarity the natives had shrewdly observed and 

 thought of sufficient interest to indicate by its name. Its apparently erratic position is, however, due to 

 a very simple cause ; it is an island whose surface is composed variously of foraminiferal sand and fine 

 and coarse f ragmental material mingled in the upper part with pumice pebbles which in places are 

 quite abundant. This rests on the eroded breccia sheet, which is thinner on the lagoon than on the ocean 

 end, being here about its usual height ; that is, about 1 foot to 1 foot 6 inches above high water. The 

 summit of this island at its ocean end is protected by a Hurricane Bank, succeeded by a narrow clinker 

 field, and its cocoanut trees are healthy and flourishing. Its eastern side is being severely attacked, as 

 during the season of S.E. winds at high tides and strong gales the seas breaking over the wide breach now 



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