NARRATIVE OF THE CRUISE 



165 



were then demanded in exchange for souvenirs. The people were 

 inordinately fond of cigarettes, especially the women. What a 

 contrast from the time of the ancient explorer, Gonzalez, when the 

 smoking indulged in by his crew precipitated a panic of fright 

 among the inhabitants ! They raised great lamentations whenever 

 they saw smoke rising from the mouths of the sailors, and insisted 

 that smoking be stopped. Gonzalez was not able to determine 

 the cause for this superstitious fear, but could only conclude from 



I 



Images Lining the Slopes of Raxo Roraku, Easter Island 



Where tlie sculptors did their work — this slope has been called the "show window" for 

 the busts stand as though awaiting buyers who would erect them on the burial platforms 

 along the coast. 



the sign-language they employed that they objected because 

 "smoke goes upwards!" 



Among the trinkets we picked up were stone fish-hooks, obsidian 

 spear-heads, wooden house-gods, "reimiros," hieroglyphic tablets, 

 and small stone-images which were made to resemble the gigantic 

 statues for which the island is famous. The basalt fish-hooks 

 were of enormous size, and none of us could imagine a fish being 

 caught by them. But there were smaller ones made of human 

 bone which were actually used at the time of our visit. 



