301 



E. 



Eagle 



E.VGLE. See ASTRONOMY, vol. ii. p. 754. 



EAR. See ACOUSTICS, AXATOMY, MEDICINE, PHY- 

 SIOLOGY, and SURGERY. 



EARTH. See ASTRONOMY Index, and SURVEYING 

 TRIGONOMETRICAL. 



EARTH, THEORIES OF THE. See GEOLOGY. 



EARTHQUAKE. See PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



EASTER, is the name of a feast of the church held 

 in memory of the resurrection of our Saviour. See 

 CHRONOLOGY, p. 411. 



EASTER ISLAND, is the name of an island in the 

 South Pacific Ocean, situated in West. Long. 109 46' 

 20", and South Lat. 27 5' ()". It is supposed, with- 

 out much reason, to have been visited by Captain Da- 

 vis, in 16'86. It was touched at by Roggeweinin 1722, 

 and has since been visited and examined by Captain 

 Cook in 1774, and La Perouse in 1785. 



This island is from 30 to 36 miles in circumference ; 

 its surface is mountainous and stony, and the hills rise 

 to such a height, that they are visible at the distance of 

 about 45 miles. On the north-east coast of the island, 

 the land is remarkably high ; on the south-east, the 

 shore forms an open bay, where Roggewein is supposed 

 to have anchored. On the south are two rocky islands ; 

 and, about three mile* to the north of the south point, 

 is Cook's Bay, having 20 fathoms of water over a sandy 

 bottom, at the distance of three quarters of a mile from 

 the shore. This bay, however, is very dangerous when 

 westerly winds prevail. 



At the southern extremity of the island is the crater 

 of a volcano, of great size, depth, and regularity. It 

 wag like the frustum of a cone, whose upper and low- 

 er bases appeared more than two miles in circumference, 

 and it was at least 800 feet deep. The marsh at the 

 bottom was surrounded with plantations of bananas and 

 mulberry trees, and contained several pools of fresh 

 water, apparently on a level with the sea. 



Although the soil it eo exceedingly fertile that three 

 days labour is sufficient to procure the Indian subsist- 

 ence for a year, yet only about a tenth part of the island 

 is under cultivation ; the rest being covered with a 

 coarse kind of grass, which extends to the tops of the 

 mountains. The cultivated portions are of an oblong 

 form, without any enclosures. The weeds are carefully 

 pulled up, and burned in heaps to fertilize the soil ; 

 and the soil is kept cool and moist by large stones that 

 lie loose upon the surface. The principal productions 

 of the island are potatoes, yams, taraoreddy root, gourds, 

 plantain and sugar-canes. 



The appearance, dress, language, and manners of the 

 people, has such an affinity to those of the other South 

 Sea islanders, that it would be unnecessary to give any 

 particular account of them in this article. The females 

 offered their favours for presents, and the men assisted 

 in this interchange of commodities. They even dragged 

 along girls of 1:5 or 14 years of age, with the hope of 

 receiving a part of the reward. Their houses are form- 

 ed of upright sticks, bent towards each other, and tied at 

 the top; and one of them, seen by Captain Cook, was 60 

 feet long, nine feet high in the middle, and three or four 

 at each end, its breadth being nearly equal to its heighth. 



La Perouse, however, saw one which was 300 feet 

 feet long, 10 broad, and 10 high, and capable of holding 

 200 persons. 



Easter Island abounds with monuments and statues, 

 which appear to bear the character of antiquity. The 

 monuments are small pyramidal heaps of stones, the 

 upper stone being whitened with lime water, and are 

 erected near the sea shore. The statues, which are of 

 a gigantic size, are raised on platforms of solid masonry, 

 35 feet long, 14 feet broad, and from 3 to 12 feet high. 

 They are faced with hewn stones, and are specimens of 

 excellent workmanship. Although no cement is em- 

 ployed, yet the joints are very close, and die stones are 

 morticed into one another with great skill. The statues 

 are rudely sculptured out of a volcanic production. The 

 nose and chin are not badly shaped ; the ears are out of 

 all proportion, and the bodies have no resemblance to 

 the human form The largest of these statues is about 

 14 feet six inches long, seven feet six inches across 

 the shoulders, three feet thick and six feet broad in the 

 belly, and five feet thick at the base. 



Only three or four canoes were seen. They were 

 about 19 feet long, and seemed unfit for any distant 

 navigation. 



According to Captain Cook, the population did not 

 exceed 600 or 700, about two- thirds of whom were 

 males. In 1785, La Perouse considered the population 

 as nearly ^000, and saw no marks of their being upon 

 the decline. See Cook's Second Voyage, vol. i. and La 

 Perouse's Voyage, vol. i. (J) 



EBRO. See SPAIN. 



ECASTAPHYLLUM, a ^enus of plants of the class 

 Diadelphia, and order Decandria. See BOTANY, p. 

 285. 



ECBATANA, or ECBATANE, the ancient metropolis 

 of Media, and the summer residence of the Persian and 

 Median kings, existed in great splendour at a very early 

 period in the history of the world. Diodorus Siculus 

 ascribes its origin to Semiramis ; and speaks of many 

 astonishing works completed by that heroine for the 

 embellishment of the city, and the convenience of the 

 inhabitants. It is generally considered, however, as 

 having been founded by Dejoces, called in the book of 

 Judith, Arphaxase, and the first who reigned in Media 

 after that country had shaken oil' the Assyrian yoke. 

 It was situated on a rising ground, about 12 stadia from 

 Mount Orontcs, and 1200 south of Palus Spauta. Its 

 walls are described by ancient writers in a style of ro- 

 mantic exaggeration, and particularly by Herodotus 

 and the author of the book of Judith. According to 

 the former, they were seven in number, all of a circu- 

 lar form, and gradually rising above each other towards 

 the centre of the city; the first or outermost of which, 

 about 178 furlongs in circumference, had white battle- 

 ments, the second black, the third purple, the fourth 

 blue, the fifth deep orange, the sixth was covered with 

 silver, and the seventh, which inclosed the royal palace, 

 with gold. According to the latter, these wall* were 

 70 cubits high and 50 broad ; the towers on the gates 

 60 cubits broad at the foundation, and a hundred in 

 height ; and the whole built of hewn stone, each ston,* 



