OCEAN CURRENTS 137 



of language between lands so widely separated was 

 brought about. 



Only upon this hypothesis can the gigantic mono- 

 lithic statues in the small Easter Island be accounted 

 for. There they stand or lie upon their vast rock 

 platform, a mystery and marvel to all, but to none 

 a greater mystery than to the present inhabitants, 

 who are as incapable of such work as toddling babes 

 would be, and whose history, handed down orally from 

 generation to generation, bears no record of such 

 mighty work being carried out. It is beyond question 

 that, borne by the current from some highly civilized 

 land (as civilization was then understood), some 

 wanderers landed on Easter Island, and there followed 

 their bent towards perpetuating their worship by 

 erecting these extraordinary monuments. And the 

 same thing, in varying degrees, may be found in many 

 other islands of the South Pacific, as well as in lands 

 widely separated by sea, but obviously closely related 

 by tradition. 



So far we have been considering the great oceanic 

 currents which are fairly settled in their course and 

 direction, varying, of course, according to season, and 

 disturbed by occasional hurricanes, but maintaining 

 their steady flow. But besides these, there are the 

 countless unknown currents, the great submarine 

 movements of the ocean, whose force and direction we 

 can only conjecture from a knowledge of the con- 

 ditions likely to produce them, and in consequence of 

 those conditions fairly steady in their incidence. 

 Then come the occasional currents, which give more 

 trouble and searching of heart to the navigator than 

 any other phrase of his calling, for the mobile mass 



