REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 145 



The interior of tlie island is level and the soil apparently fertile and 

 cultivated more or less hy the natives, who ship their fruits to the 

 English colonies in Australasia. A large proportion of the people are 

 owners of a horse or two, which they use in their agricultural opera- 

 tions and for the transportation of their products to the coast. 



The collections here were not extensive, as the reef and waters in the 

 neighborhood of the anchorage exhibited an unusual paucity of life. 

 A trip was made to the village of Hihifa, where there is a remarkable 

 rookery of fruit bats, occupying about fifteen adjoining trees and 

 estimated to contain upward of 6,000 individuals. Although these 

 animals destroy considerable quantities of fruit, they are "tapu" and 

 under the immediate protection of the chief of Hihifa. They are not 

 permitted to be shot or molested in any manner, and it was only after 

 considerable negotiation that the members of the expedition were 

 allowed to catch three specimens, which were taken back to the ship 

 alive. Kowhere else on the cruise were fruit bats of this or any other 

 species found in colonies of more than a score. 



After leaving Nukalofa, the Namuka and Vavau groups of the 

 Tonga Archipelago were visited and examined with relation to their 

 exposed and submarine structure. At Namuka Iki there is a small 

 area of stratified volcanic rock, soft and friable, and said to resemble 

 somewhat the so-called soapstone of the Fiji Islands. Namuka Iki 

 is the convict settlement of the Tonga Islands. A number of rude huts 

 were seen on the island, some of them showing indications of quite 

 recent habitation, and several recently cultivated yam plantations 

 were observed, but the inhabitants, who are few in number, kept out 

 of sight. . Namuka Island, from Namuka Iki but a few miles distant, 

 is composed of uplifted coralliferous limestone, the weather shore 

 being extremely rugged and much eroded by the seas. In the interior 

 are several rounded eminences of moderate height, but upon exami- 

 nation these were also found to be composed of limestone. 



Residents of Namuka stated that some of the islands of the group 

 are volcanic, and those seen from the ship appeared to be. The Namuka 

 Group is, therefore, of mixed formation, partially volcanic and par- 

 tially of elevated coral limestone. 



From Namuka the course lay between the western chain of volcanic 

 islands and the plateaus of the Namuka, Hapai, and Vavau groups. 

 Lette, of the volcanic chain, is still active and some of the others have 

 been the scene of recent activity. Falcon Island, which appeared 

 above the sea in 1885 as a low volcano, with a cone of loosely com- 

 pacted ash and scoriae, had been entirely washed away by 1898 and 

 reduced to the condition of a breaking reef, much as it appeared when 

 first discovered in 1865. 



No landings were made on the islands of the Hapai plateau, but some 

 of the westernmost were seen to be limestone islands -of considerable 

 height. The Vavau Group, comprising the most northern islands of 

 the Tonga Archipelago, is one of picturesque beauty. The northern 



F. C, 1900— 10 



