CHAP. VI.] MAN. 149 



on October 6th, 1873) &quot; On the Origin of Savage Life,&quot; makes 

 the following highly interesting and important M ,. Mott . 8 

 remarks. Almost at the opening of his address remark8 - 

 lie pertinently observes: &quot;Questions concerning the origin 

 of mankind have become either the radiating or the culmi 

 nating points in most branches of science.&quot; And this is 

 indeed most true. 



One of the facts the significance of which he insists most 

 strongly on, is the existence of remarkable \vorks of art in 

 Easter Island. He says : 



&quot;Easter Island stands alone in the Pacific Ocean, two thousand 

 miles from South America, and about one thousand from the nearest 

 islands that are habitable. It is about twelve miles long by four in 

 width ; not so large as Jersey. The inhabitants, about a thousand in 

 number, are savages. They are, of course, entirely isolated, and the 

 island is seldom visited by ships. It is volcanic, and the soil fertile, 

 but it could not maintain a population of ten thousand souls without 

 the aid of civilisation or foreign intercourse. Probably the natives 

 have never reached half that number in their present condition of life. 



&quot; This island is strewed with hundreds of carved stone images, many 

 of them of extraordinary size. Some are nearly forty feet long. Many 

 are over fifteen feet. Two of the smaller ones are in the British 

 Museum. One of these is eight feet high, and weighs four tons. 

 Many of these images have had separate stone crowns placed upon their 

 heads, the crowns being from two to ten feet across. Thirty of these 

 crowns were found on the hill from the rock of which they were sculp 

 tured, waiting to be removed. The images were generally set on 

 pedestals, upon raised terraces, of which there are many. The terraces 

 are about a hundred yards long, ten yards wide, and on one side they 

 stand on slopes seven or eight yards high. They are built of large 

 stones, some of them six feet long. There are also remains of numerous 

 low stone houses and other structures in the island. The present 

 inhabitants know nothing about the origin of these things.&quot; * 



&quot; Similar terraces and images have been seen in other islands now 

 uninhabited. The ruins of ancient stone buildings of great extent are 

 found in the Philippine Islands, the Ladrones, the Marshall and Gilbert 

 groups ; the Society Islands, the Navigators, and the Marquesas. They 

 thus extend over ten thousand miles of ocean.&quot; 



These facts he cites as unmistakable evidences of the 



* Palmer: Journal Royal Geographical Society, January 1870. Proceedings 

 of the Royal Geographical Society, vol. xiv. p. 108. 



