324 EASTER ISLAND. 



Pte>o. He did not remain long on board, but after entertaining the crew 

 with several fantastic melodies, departed, accompanied by M. Viaud, who with 

 him entered the skiff, and sailed toward the island. No sooner had these two 

 landed on the beach than a crowd of tattooed savages issued from the smallest 

 imaginable huts, brandishing shapeless grimacing idols, and spears pointed 

 with flint. The natives immediately surrounded the officer, but evinced no 

 signs of a hostile disposition. He noticed that they possessed a mild, timid 

 expression of countenance, in spite of the rude tattooing, which imparted a 

 fierce and malevolent aspect. The islanders, in turn, scanned the stranger 

 with evident curiosity, and forming a circle around him, made gestures and 

 demonstrations of a most extraordinary nature. They first poised their bodies 

 in surprising attitudes, and chanted a plaintive, lugubrious melody. Suddenly 

 the rhythm grew more animated, the languid tones changed to loud and harsh 

 vociferations, and ended in a frantic, maniacal dance. No pictorial illustration 

 could convey any but a faint idea of the scene. There was something in their 

 movements inconceivably wild and grotesque. They moved about, gesticu- 

 lating wildly, and singing in an outlandish manner, with uncouth voices, modu- 

 lated to suit savage ears. The wild songs were sometimes slow and solemn, 

 then rapid and shrill, and as abruptly ended and all hushed. 



" Before returning to the frigate, the officer explored a large tumulus on the 

 island. There, upraised above the dead, were mounds of stones like Gaelic 

 cromlechs, tall monuments, and immense stone statues. One of the latter, 

 which had fallen, measured twenty-seven feet long, and eight feet across the 

 breast and shoulders. Opposite the tumulus was a tiny spot of ground cov- 

 ered with a wreck of coral rock and thin transparent shells. This granulated 

 mass was of well defined whiteness, with the exception of a part which was 

 beautifully variegated with a fine trituration of rose coral. 



" Previous to the execution of an act of vandalism purposed by the admiral 

 of the frigate, M. Viaud revisited the tumulus, his purpose this time being to 

 make crayon sketches of some of the enormous statues that were standing 

 or lying on every side. This done, a detachment of officers and men were 

 sent in the ship's boat to the island. It was proposed to overthrow the huge 

 stone figures, demolish them, and transport the fragments to France. The 

 officers and crew landed, and at the signal call marched to the place designated. 

 On arriving there they at once commenced the work of destruction. An inde- 

 scribable scene followed. The colossal pillars and statues were loosened from 

 their foundations and broken into splinters. Crowds of natives assembled, 

 and animated by the example set before them, they too displaced the images, 

 leveled the monuments, and mutilated the statues of stone. At intervals the 

 islanders would dance wildly about, at the same time making the place resound 

 with savage yells. One native alone of the entire population stood grimly 

 aloof, ruefully contemplating the scene. His hair was bristling with black, 

 sombre plumes. It was the old chief of the island. An hour passed; every 

 relic of antiquity lay prostrate on the ground. The detachment withdrew to 

 the water's edge, carrying the splinters and fragments, which were to be trans- 

 ferred to the deck of the frigate." 



[From " The Beginnings of Writing, "by Dr. Walter James Hoffman (New York: D. Appleton 



& Co., 1895), page 29.] 



The natives of the Easter Islands were possessed of a system of elaborate 

 picture writing. Pieces of hard wood from four to six inches in length and 

 half as broad were prepared by making parallel shallow grooves, in which the 

 delicate outlines of human figures, animate forms and plants were incised. 



