TE PITO TE IlKN'tJA, OR EASTER ISLAND. 4G9 



dance, after which it was discarded for the small dancing-paddle or 

 wand. The weird songs related the achievements and exploits of their 

 ancestors in war, fishing, and love, and the gestures of the dancers 

 were upon this occasion perfectly proper and modest. Some of the 

 movements were suggestive of a rude relationship to the dances per- 

 formed by the geisha girls of Japan in their odori, and consisted of 

 movements and attitudes calculated to display the elegance and grace 

 of the performers. The peculiar feature of the native dancing is the 

 absence of violent motion ; there is no jumping or elaborate piiouettes, 

 no extravagant contortions, and nothing that might be called a precision 

 of step. The lower limbs play a part of secondary importance to the 

 arms and the dancers indulge in no dizzy gyrations. The feet and 

 hands are kept moving in unison with the slow, monotonous music, 

 while the dancers endeavor to act out the words of the song by panto- 

 mime. These islanders, like their sisters throughout Polynesia, have 

 their hula-hula, or dances that partake of passion and abandon, and 

 portray the old story of coquetry, jealousy, and ultimate surrender of 

 the maiden. Soft swaying movements, a gentle turning away, timid 

 glances, and startled gestures, gradually giving place to more rapturous 

 passion, speak plainly enough the theme of the song, though the move- 

 ments are less graceful and elegant than those which characterize the 

 naiitch dances of India. Among the diversified dances, some are per- 

 formed by men and others by women, but the sexes rarely if ever dance 

 together. Wands are usually held in each hand, but occasionally one 

 and sometimes both are discarded. Feather hats and other ornaments 

 are worn in portraying characters and some of the dances are said to 

 be of obscene tendencies. 



RELIGION. 



Like most savage nations, the Easter Islanders had numerous super- 

 stitions and resorted to charms, prayers, incantations, and amulets 

 to bring good luck and ward off evil. A thorough delineation of these 

 superstitions might be instructive in the light of showing the real depth 

 of the religious feeling of those who now profess Christianity as well as 

 the capacity of the native mind for entertaining a higher form of civili- 

 zation; but, unfortunately, our brief stay on the island did not afford 

 time to thoroughly investigate the subject. 



The belief in a future state was a prominent feature in the religion. 

 After death the soul was supposed to depart to the " place of departed 

 spirits'' to be rewarded by the gods or tormented by the demons. 

 With this idea in view a small hole was invariably built in the wall 

 near the top of all tombs, cairns, and other receptacles for the dead, by 

 Wliich the spirit of the deceased was supposed to find egress. Deified 

 spirits were believed to be constantly wandering about the earth and 

 to have aiore or less influence over the human affairs. Spirits were, 

 supposed to appear to sleeping persons and to communicate with them 

 through visions or dreams. 



