THE 



QUARTERLY JOURNAL 



OP 



THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. 

 Vol. XLIV. 



1. Note on the so-called "Soapstone" of Pui. Ey Henry 

 B. Beady, Esq., P.R.S., F.G.S. (Eead JSTovember 9, 1887.) 



[Plate I.] 



Soon after the cession of the Fiji Islands to the British Crown, 

 some ten or twelve years ago, it was determined by the authorities 

 to remove the government offices from Levuka, a flourishing settle- 

 ment on the little island of Ovalau, to some locality on one of the 

 larger islands of the group. The site chosen for the new capital 

 was Suva Point, a promontory on the south coast of Yiti Levu, 

 commanding a considerable bay or harbour to the west, and rising 

 on the land side to an elevation of 300 or 400 feet. How far the 

 geological aspects of the question were taken into consideration it 

 is needless now to inquire ; we may confine our attention to the 

 fact that the area selected presents certain peculiar and interesting 

 features in respect of its superficial deposits. 



I visited the islands in 1874-5, bat owing to repeated detentions, 

 there and elsewhere, the result of quarantine regulations, the rainy 

 season had already set in before permission was given to land, and 

 at Suva I was in consequence unable to do any great amount of 

 field observation. The geological features of the localities have, 

 however, been described by a competent naturalist, Mr. Home, in 

 the following terms : — 



" In Yiti Levu and Yanua Levu, sedimentary or limestone rocks 

 are found on all the mountains. Where absent, denudation, it is 

 con lectured, has been the cause .... At Suva the strata on the 



Q.J.G.S. No. 173. B 



