IK PITO TE HENUA, OK EA8TER ISLAND. 539 



proportionate width, and wore designed to be roofless. They contain 

 remains of altars composed of the same materials as the wall of tin- 

 main inclosure, generally located at one end, and in shape resembling 

 parallelograms. In many eases, these edifices are in as perfect a state 

 of preservation as when countless numbers of human victims were im- 

 molated upon their altars, though time has obliterated all traces of 

 every thing perishable. 



In the search for prehistoric remains, the diversified character of the 

 many islands that dot the South Sea should be borne in mind. Coral 

 groups and atolls, these wonderful formations produced by the ceaseless 

 work of zoopbytic animals, being of comparatively recent creation, 

 were perhaps merely tide-water reefs, when the islands of purely vol- 

 canic character were peopled by lawless and turbulent tribes, constantly 

 engaged in warfare and in making depredations upon each other. Even 

 where there is sufficient evidence of antiquity to warrant the search, 

 the absence of monuments upon the low-lying islands of coral formation, 

 may be accounted for by the lack of suitable material for their construc- 

 tion, or to the destroying hurricanes that occasionally sweep across 

 this part of the Pacific, which arc accompanied by a furious sea that 

 breaks completely over the narrow atolls, carrying death and devasta- 

 tion to all things animate and inanimate. 



The height of the atolls, in many cases, does not exceed 5 or G feet 

 above the normal level of the sea surrounding them, and instances are 

 unfortunately abundant, of islands that have been transformed in a few 

 hours, from a scene of -tropical luxuriance and with a contented people 

 surrounded by nature's most bountiful gifts, to one of utter barrenness 

 and desolation. The largest and most important islands of Polynesia 

 are of volcanic character, and bear evidences of having been inhabited 

 from a remote period. Here may be duplicated the Teocallis of Palen- 

 que, Copan, and Uxmal. In some islands these ancient monuments 

 were searched out with great difficulty, having been so completely 

 overgrown with dense tropical vegetation that their existence was not 

 suspected by the indifferent people of to-day. 



While the islanders never advanced to a high civilization, and their 

 best efforts consist in cromlechs, dolmens, and elevated platforms or 

 truncated pyramids, their handiwork is still preserved, and points with 

 abundant interest to the history of a rude and early age. 



The primitive Polynesians, like their contemporaries, the Incas of 

 Peru, may be judged in regard to their condition and history, by the 

 monuments they have left, for with the exception of Easter Island, 

 there is no trace of their having possessed a written language. Tribes 

 flourished, were Conquered and passed out of existence, without leaving 

 a trace behind them except perhaps, a shadowy t radii ion. The natives 

 in tins genial climate have always dwelt in rude structures of thatch and 



cane, which after a few \ ears of abandonment would decay and leave no 

 sign behind, unless it be a few broken implements lying about. Among 



