480 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889. 



largest bouse contained a single chamber nearly 40 feet lone - ; three 

 were over 30 feet, and eight measured over 20 feet in length, with other 

 dimensions approximately the same as the general average. These rude 

 dwellings were not in all cases confined to a single apartment; some 

 have one and a few have two or three recess chambers opening out of 

 the main room ; but they were dark little dens, having no separate light 

 or ventilation. 



Near the center of this assemblage of houses there is a sort of square 

 court with eight door- ways opening upon it. These might be considered 

 separate and distinct dwellings, though the apartments are connected 

 by interior passage-ways, making it possible to pass from one to the 

 other. At the extreme end of the point a similar collection of houses 

 opens upon a circular court, and the interiors are also connected. 



In front of each house and about 10 feet from the door-way, small ex- 

 cavations lined with slabs of stone, making holes about a foot wide and 

 2 feet long and about 20 inches deep, indicated the culinary arrange- 

 ments of the former inhabitants. The modus operandi of prepariug the 

 food was primitive in the extreme; a fire was built in the rude oven 

 and removed when the stones were sufficiently heated, a covering of 

 damp earth being placed over the oven to retard the radiation of heat. 



Thorough examination demonstrated the fact that these peculiar 

 houses were not precisely alike in all respects, though thesame general 

 characteristics prevailed. Those at the extreme point of the ridge 

 (Plate XXI) bear evidence of great antiquity, and much excavation was 

 necessary before a satisfactory examination could be made of the door- 

 posts or stone supports to the entrances, which were covered with hiero- 

 glyphics and rudely carved figures. From houses numbered 2, 3, and 

 4 ( Fig 6) on Lieutenant Sy mond's chart of Orongo, were taken samples of 

 these sculptures for the National Museum. The large beach pebbles 

 were obtained by digging to a depth of 2 feet below the door-posts, and 

 are of considerable interest both from the dense nature of the mateiial 

 and the fact that these carvings were found frequently repeated through- 

 out the island. 



The majority of the houses at Orongo are in a fair state of pieserva- 

 tion and bear evidence of having been occupied at no very remote pe- 

 riod. The result of the investigation here showed very little of carving 

 on stone, but the smooth slabs lining the walls and ceilings were orna- 

 mented with mythological figures and rude designs painted in white, 

 red, and black pigments. Houses marked 1, 5, and G on Lieutenant 

 Symoud's chart were demolished at the expense of great labor and the 

 frescoed slabs obtained. Digging beneath the door-posts and under the 

 floors produced nothing beyond a few stone implements. 



The houses in this vicinity occupy such a prominent position that 

 they were naturally robbed of everything in the way of relics by the 

 natives, who were beginning to appreciate the value of such things 

 through the importance placed upon them by the foreign vessels that 



