192 THE LAST CRUISE OF THE CARNEGIE 



"Thus far my narrative will gain credit, because it 

 contains nothing uncommon, yet I must declare, that all 

 these savages are of a more than gigantic size, for the 

 men are twice as tall and thick as the largest of our 

 people; they measured, one with another, the height of 

 twelve feet, so that we could easily (who will not wonder 

 at it !) without stooping, have passed betwixt the legs of 

 these sons of Goliah. According to their height, so is 

 their thickness, and are all, one with another, very well 

 proportioned, so that each could have passed for a Hercu- 

 les; but none of their wives came up to the height of the 

 men, being commonly not above ten or eleven feet. The 

 men had their bodies painted brown, and the women 

 with a scarlet colour. 



"I doubt not but most people who read this voyage 

 will give no credit to what I now relate, and that this 

 account of the height of these giants will probably pass 

 with them for a mere fable or fiction; but this I declare, 

 I have put down nothing but the real truth, and with this 

 people, upon the nicest inspection, were in fact of such 

 a surpassing height as I have here described. 



"After the inhabitants of Easter Island had made 

 trial of the strength of our weapons, as we have before 

 related, they began to use us in a more civil manner, and 

 brought us from their huts all kinds of vegetables, sugar 

 canes, with yams, plantains, and a great quantity of 

 fowls, which came very a-propos, and tended to refresh us 

 greatly. 



"What I have seen of the worship and idols of these 

 savages is very wonderful. Two stones, of a largeness 

 almost beyond belief, served them for gods; the one was 

 broad beyond measure, and lay upon the ground; upon 

 this stood the other stone, which was of such extent and 

 height that seven of our people with outstretched arms 

 would hardly have been able to encircle it; so that it 

 appeared to me, and all others, impossible that this stone 

 could have been lifted up and placed upon the other by 

 the inhabitants of these islands, how large and strong 

 soever they might be; for, besides the thickness, it was 

 fully as high as three men. About the top of this stone 

 there was cut or carved the shape of a man's head, 

 adorned with a garland, which was set together in the 

 manner of inlaid work, made of small stones, in a manner 

 not very improper. The name of the largest idol was 



