685 
Here the base of one of the upraised reef masses consists of a chalky limestone, in which 
the remains of corals still exist. In most of the islands and localities examined, these 
elevated reef masses, when viewed at a distance, present the appearance of vertical 
walls and level terraces stretching often for considerable distances. The faces of these 
cliffs are sometimes covered with vegetation to such an extent as to present the 
appearance of consisting of a huge wall of foliage. 
“ The reefs raised only a few feet above the sea level, such as those of Pan- 
nietta, present, along the shore, a white perpendicular cliff, of varying height, above 
which is an almost level tableland, very broken and rugged, and with a very uneven 
surface. 
“ Gigantic ‘ swallow-holes ’ and enormous caves have been carved out of some of 
the limestones, and are lined with stalagmites and stalactites. The faces of the limestone 
cliffs are weathered into most rugged and sharp-edged forms, often presenting features 
of great beauty. 
. “ In the majority of cases which came under my notice, the various limestone J) 
terraces were horizontal, but at Ware (Teste) Island a marked peculiarity of the reef 
limestones was their disposal into a series of gentle folds, the axes of which trended, 
roughly, north and south. In Eiuauro (Cette) Island, the cream-coloured limestone 
had a dip of 50 degrees to the west-north-west.” 
As the collection of fossils from the upraised reefs has not yet been critically 
examined, no definite information can be given regarding the age of the deposits. I 
may remark, however, that there is nothing in the evidence accumulated by Mr. 
Maitland to warrant an inference which might be hastily drawn from the position 
occupied by the upraised reefs on his scale of classification — viz., that the elevation — 
extending to at least two thousand feet— attested by the altitudes attained by the reefs, 
took place entirely since Tertiary times. The process of elevation may have been going 
on continuously from a period much further back in the geological story. Indeed the 
comparatively unimportant altitudes attained by Tertiary rocks may be taken as evidence 
(however incomplete, and to some extent merely of negative value) that the position 
of these latter rocks forms a measure of the elevation accomplished since Tertiary 
times. 
KEVORI GRITS : POST-TERTIARY. 
Under this name Mr. Maitland describes a Series of Sandstones, Grits, and 
Conglomerates, which, in the Kevoii District, north-west of Hall Sound, rest directly 
upon the Port Moresby Beds. The strata in question have been little disturbed from their 
original horizontal position, but in places they dip at a low angle to the north-east. 
Mr. Maitland observes : — “ That the Kevori Grits are younger than those which have 
been called the Port Moresby Beds, and which arc regarded by Mr. R. Etheridge, Junr., 
as being Miocene * or Pliocene Tertiary, is all that the meagre evidence at present 
collected permits us to say.” 
PORT MORESBY BEDS : TERTIARY. 
These beds occupy a considerable area of country, fringing the coast from 
Caution Bay south-eastward to McEarlane Harbour, and extending inland for about 
twenty miles up the Kemp- Welch River. They consist of sandy limestones and fine- 
grained calcareous shales, with black and yellow lenticular nodules of flint and 
chalcedony, and are generally vertical, or inclined at high angles. 
• A Miocene age was ascribed to these fossils by the late Mr. 0. S. Wilkinson, not by me. I am in 
accord with the late Rev. J. E. T. Woods, as explained later on, that these fossils are much more likely to 
be of Pliocene age, and probably even to one of the younger divisions of that E ormation. (B.E. Junr. ) 
