THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. 67 
is the main trunk of the Rewa River. The country around 
this town consists of soapstone, which is a very fine-grained 
tuff, and obtains its name from the fact that when saturated 
with water it closely resembles soap. ‘This soapstone covers a 
considerable area of Fiji, and one is enabled, by the character 
of the vegetation, to readily pick out the soapstone areas. 
Grassy growths flourish on soapstone areas. In the fresh 
waters of the Wai-ni-mala River at Naivucini some very fine 
specimens of Crustaceans, ¢.g., Palaemon lar and P. hirtimanus, 
were obtained. Also at this spot there occurs an anomalous 
creature—a fresh-water shark. Unfortunately, I was unable 
to obtain any specimens of the same, but I am informed on 
good authority that the beast has a real existence, and that 
there have been a number of fatal cases of shark-bite. 
An ascent was made to the top of a mountain known as 
Nacau, and here were obtained specimens of an enormous 
millipede—Spirostreptis fijiensis—together with a smaller one 
—Spirobolus insulanus, This organism the natives regard 
with dread, and when capturing it they use a seizing apparatus 
of abundant banana leaves. 
From Naivucini a trip was made overland through reedy 
and swampy country, which gave way to forest conntry, and 
eventually Nabukaluke was reached. From here an ascent 
was made to the top of Buke Leyn. This mountain is a 
mass of andesite and andesitic agglomerate. Its sides 
would afford one of the richest of collecting spots for 
land shells. At Nabukaluke, on the return journey to 
Naivucini, large specimens of the mussel—Batissa tenebrosa— 
were obtained. It is most interesting to watch the natives 
diving for these mussels, and note the ease and quietness with 
which they disappear beneath the water. From Naivucini we 
proceeded next to Narokorokoyawa—a large town in the centre 
of Viti Levu. On this journey we passed over country which 
was of great geological interest. It was in a portion of the 
avea thus traversed that Dr. Woolnough, in his first trip to 
Viti Levu, met with the granites, schists, quartzites and slates 
which were of great interest in throwing light on the origin of 
Fiji. Nearing Narokorokoyawa one passes into the forest 
country of the island. Here abound among ferns species of 
Blechnum, Pteris, Lygodium, Polypodium, Asplenium, Tricho- 
manes, Aspidium, Gleichenia, Lomaria, Allantodia, Davallia, 
Lindsoa, Lycopodium and Selaginella. The luxuriant growth 
of such, together with the occurrence of the cocoa-nut and 
other palms, forcibly impresses on one’s mind the fact that he 
is in the tropics. Palms other than cocoa-nut palms are not 
abundant in Fiji. The enormous rainfall over this portion of 
the island helps, by the rapid disintegration of the rocks, to 
form a rich soil on which the vegetation flourishes. Among 
the above-mentioned, Pteridophyta, the most graceful, is a 
