184 THE LAST CRUISE OF THE CARNEGIE 



ing way. He who first swam out to the rocks, climbed the pre- 

 cipitous cliffs, and brought the egg of this tern to land was ap- 

 pointed "king" or chief bird-man for the year. Accordingly the 

 whole population took up their abode in their caves on this over- 

 hanging cliff for a period of several weeks in July and August, 

 while they awaited the arrival of the first terns. During this 

 time, festivals of dancing and feasts were arranged. This restraint 

 allowed time for the native birds to hatch their young, and for 

 the spawning of fish. 



On the way down the slope toward Hangaroa, someone sighted 

 a steamer on the horizon. This caused the greatest excitement 

 among the natives. At once they concluded that it must be the 

 Chilean vessel, now long overdue, which was to call here for sheep 

 and wool. Seeing this ship was one of the most remarkable coin- 

 cidences we had observed, for Easter Island lies far away from any 

 possible commercial route. It might have been a tramp-steamer 

 making a trip toiVustralasia from the West Coast of South America. 



We had found on our arrival that many sheep had been driven 

 into corrals near the landing to await the vessel promised for 

 November. Mr. Edmunds was getting apprehensive when it 

 was a month overdue, so through our short-wave radio equipment 

 on board, and amateur stations in the United States, we were 

 able to forward an inquiry to Williamson, Balfour and Company 

 offices in Valparaiso for him. Easter Island has no cable or 

 radio equipment, of course. 



This brings to mind certain headlines that appeared in San 

 Francisco newspapers on our arrival in July: "Carnegie scientists 

 prove Easter Island has not disappeared," or words to that 

 effect. All of us but Captain Ault were bewildered by the state- 

 ment, until he explained that some enterprising newspaper 

 reporter broadcast a radio to Easter Island after the great earth- 

 quake in Chile some years ago, and, not receiving a reply, pub- 

 lished the report that the island had gone down. We were to 

 encounter even more bizarre reporting during the cruise. 



The evening of December 12, a time set aside for a grand 

 village-dance and feast in our honor, found us far out to sea. 

 Late in the morning it was found that the ship was drifting from 



