EASTER ISLAND. 57 



On our return to our anchorage at Cook Bay, we examined the phitforms 

 within easy reach of the settlement, and also the crater of Rana Kao, on the 

 north rim of which, at Orongo, are a numher of the st(jne houses huilt by 

 the people who quarried the great stone images. At Orongo are also found 

 sculptured rocks, but neither the sculptures nor the images show any artistic 

 qualities, though the fitting of some of the cyclopean stones used in building 

 the faces of the platforms indicates excellent and careful workmanship. To 

 Mr. C. Cooper, manager of the Easter Island Company, we are indebted for 

 assistance while visiting the points of interest of the island. He was inde- 

 fatigable in his exertions in our behalf. 



We took a number of photographs during our stay, illustrating not only 

 the prehistoric remains, but giving also an idea of the desolate aspect of 

 Easter Island during the dry season. 



Many of the images have fallen near the platforms upon which they 

 were erected, or liave been abandoned in different parts of the interior of the 

 island while on their way from the quarries at Rana Roroka to the various 

 platforms where they were to be erected. Near Rana Roroka, at Tongariki, 

 is the largest platform on the island, about 450 feet in length with its wings, 

 to the rear of which are fifteen huge images which have fallen from the 



