TE PITO TE HENUA, OR EASTER ISLAND. 477 



lated a valuable collection of curios and relics of tb.e former inhab- 

 itants. Nearly all of our first uight on shore was devoted to the pur- 

 chase and cataloguing of specimens from Mr. Salmon's collection, all of 

 which will be referred to and described elsewhere. Duplicates were 

 obtained of all articles furnished Lieut. Commander Geisler, of the 

 Ih/ane, for the museum at Berlin, and of those collected by the Topaze 

 for the British Museum, together with original tablets and other lelies 

 of great interest and value that had escaped the attention of former 

 collectors. 



RECONNAISANOE TO RANA KAO. 



Sunday, December 19. — Made an early start from Vaihu and rode to 

 the central elevations called Mount Teraai, Mount Punapau, and Mount 

 Tuatapu and inspected the quarries from whence the red tufa was ob- 

 tained which formed the crowns or head-dresses that ornamented all 

 the huge images. Following the road to the southwest we made the 

 ascent of Ban a Kao. The crater is nearly circular and about a mile in 

 diameter (Plate XVII), with steep jagged sides, or walls, except on the 

 south, where the lava-flow escaped to the. sea. A lake fills the bottom of 

 what was once the volcanic caldron ; the water is of great depth and the 

 surface covered with a coat of peat, so dense and strong that cattle range 

 over it, finding food at irregular intervals. The surface of the lake is 

 about TOO feet from the top, but the cattle have made a path by which 

 the descent can be made with safety. 



Skirting the edge of the crater to the southward the ridge becomes 

 narrower, falling precipitously a thousand feet to the sea on one side, 

 and descending abruptly into the crater on the other until it terminates 

 in an elongated wall of rock rising to a sharp, jagged edge impassable to 

 cither man or beast. Just where this elevated edge contracts rapidly 

 towards the south are located the ancient stone-houses of Ordngo. 

 (Plate XVIII). These burrow-like dwellings were built with little regard 

 to sheets, avenues, etc., but were regulated by the contour of the land. 

 Piles of debris in one or two spots marked the destroying hand of former 

 investigators, but the large majority of the houses were intact, and in 

 some instances the openings had been sealed up with stone, making it 

 difficult to outline the original entrances. These dwellings were con- 

 structed without windows or other openings except a door-way so low 

 and narrow that an entrance could only be effected by crawling upon the 

 hands and knees, while in many eases it was necessary to creep sei pent- 

 like through the contracted confines. Many interiors were inspected 

 bythelight of candles provided for the purpose and houses marked for 

 thorough investigation on the morrow. 



While tracing and sketching the sculptured rocks in the vicinity of 

 Orongo, the declining sun hastened the departure for Vaihu, where t lie 

 bouts after our evening meal were devoted to making notes of the native 

 traditions as translated by Mr. Salmon, until that good-natured gentle- 



