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Show 128 MR. J. T. LAST ON THE BONES OP JEPYORNIS. [Feb. 6, to that at Ambulisatra, but the coast-line, instead of having sand-dunes as a border, has a long stretch of sandstone rocks, about 100 feet high, and extending a mile or a mile and a half inland. These rocks are very hard on the top, waterworn and cut in all directions ; but the action of water is most seen on the rocks which are furthest inland. Here the softer inside stone has been washed away, sometimes to the extent of 20 or 30 feet, forming large caves-quite cosy hiding-places, such as only a native knows how to appreciate. It was in these caves that I procured the large tortoise-carapaces. Generally two were found in each cave; on two occasions I found a large and a smaller one, and in both cases the smaller one was too much broken to take away. Another reason why I call attention to this place is because the face of the sandstone rocks along the high-water line is somewhat of a study. There is one considerable ledge which is covered with what I take to be fossilized shrubs. The rocks are soft, white, and finely grained, almost like Caen stone. I obtained some specimens of the fossil wood with the rock attached, and I hope they will shortly arrive in England along with some other of m y collections. About ten feet beneath this ledge the rock is more red and coarser in grain, and contains a number of common land-shells. I also found some pieces of iEpyornis egg-shell embedded in it. Several of the shells and pieces of egg-shell I cut out and sent home with m y first tortoise-carapaces in 1892. The reason why I refer to this is because the presence of these pieces of egg-sheU in the sandstone tends, I think, to show how ancient a bird the iEpyornis must have been. The next place I should like to call your attention to is Itani-pulu- be, situated on the south side of a rather extensive bay in about lat. 22° 10' S. It was in this locality that I obtained m y best specimens of iEypornis-bones, as well as an abundance of bones of the Hippopotamus, Crocodile, and other animals. This place has a rough shingly beach leading up to an extensive flat of what. appears to be a kind of limestone. The rock is of a light greyish colour, rather hard and compact; it extends for a considerable distance inland, and is sparsely covered with sand in places, out of which there is a stunted forest growth. Here and there about this flat, and within half a mile from the beach, are a number of pan-like depressions, varying considerably in size; these have become silted up with washings from the surrounding country, so that though they hold a little water in the wet season the surface quickly becomes dry again, and the natives use them as small gardens. It was from these pans that I obtained m y best fossils, and I think I might have done better still had I been able to be present to work the places myself. Whilst I was at Manansua, in the Antinosi country, I employed a European (a m a n who had been many years in the country) to search for fossils and other objects of natural history. In going about he heard of these pans and that there were many strange bones in them ; he at once, with the natives he had with |