SUNDRY NOTICES OF THE ISLAND. 323 



of the islanders of causing that act of vandalism, the destruction of a great 

 many of the records. On each side of him stand the two husbands of the two 

 women, and the fathers of the two small children, whose mothers hold them in 

 their arms. I have had the portraits of the two women taken larger, (Nos. 19 

 and 20) so that you can better see their features, and also the husband of one of 

 them, (No. 19) who is No. 16, in order that you may see his features. The other 

 one refused to be taken. In No. 23 you also may see, in the hands of another 

 priest, one of the blocks from which I have had two of the photographs taken. 

 You may also see in the hands and on the persons of different natives, some of 

 the idols, paddles, and implements used by the heathen priests in their worship. 



"Both the Bishop and myself would be extremely pleased if you would send 

 us a copy of the Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, containing 

 my letters on this affair, to be preserved as a souvenir of passing events, and as 

 containing in a printed form the information which I and others have collected. 



"Mr. C. B. Hoare, the photographer here, wishes me to state that he will 

 preserve the negatives from which all these photographs have been taken, and 

 if you or any of your friends wish any more, he will be able to furnish them at a 

 much lower price than he is obliged to charge for these. 



" I have presented to the Bishop, in your name, a copy of each of the photo- 

 graphs, as some compensation to him for his kindness and trouble. I feel cer- 

 tain that I shall receive your approbation for so doing. 



" I have retained a copy of each of the photographs, numbered and marked 

 precisely like yours, so that if you need any more explanations, or wish to order 

 any one or more of them, you need but state its number, when I will look at 

 mine, and understand you perfectly. 



"Yours, etc., 



"Thomas Croft." 



The following is a transcript of the article mentioned in the foregoing 

 letter. The number of Harper s Weekly in which it appears further 

 embellishes the article with a wood cut very little short of a page in size, 

 from which it appears that Lieutenant Viaud's crayon was as fanciful 

 as his pen. While the information as to events on Easter Island may 

 not be wholly trustworthy, the extract may possess an extraneous 

 interest as one of the earliest productions of Pierre Loti. 



"M. Julien Viaud, an officer of the French frigate Florida, has published an 

 interesting account of a recent exploration of Easter Island, in the Pacific 

 Ocean. This island is rarely visited either by Americans or Europeans; but 

 if M. Viaud's pen and pencil do not exaggerate, it lately possessed some of the 

 most remarkable relics of an extinct race, civilization, and religion ever dis- 

 covered in the New World. The Florida anchored off Easter Island one fine 

 morning, and was immediately boarded by the captain of a whaling ship lying 

 there, who informed the captain of the frigate that a Dane was living on the 

 island, and that the native inhabitants numbered about five hundred, the Dane 

 being the only European there. The captain of the whaler was accompanied 

 by a native islander, apparently not more than twenty- five years ofage.1 his 

 slight, but well proportioned figure was nearly nude, and tattoed in a *er> rude 

 maVer, the tattooing, consisting of broad straight lines "*""*" 

 delineations of birds, so completely covering the body as "^ t g**g 

 original color of the skin. His lips were tattooed blue, and Ins tavute 

 figSred by the application of a kind of red clay mixed with oil. In Y d rk 

 bushy hair were fastened plumes, quills, and tufts of leathers. H^ 

 immoderately large, and had a soft, melancholy expression. His name WAS 



