NOTES ON A VISIT TO EASTER ISLAND II 



images on Rano Raraku. Still, this was easier, as the statue was steadied by 

 the hole in the ground. For details, see Mrs. R., p. 189. Also compare what 

 is said above on ahu Paro: if a slope was built for the image, the same one 

 might have been used for bringing the crown to the top, and perhaps the wall 

 mentioned above will have to be explained in another and more natural manner 

 than the one indicated. Anyhow, to 'erect the statues on the platform in the 

 precise position required, turning their backs to the sea, must have demanded 

 not only great skill but also perseverance, a quality not very characteristic of 

 the present native population. 



It is the merit of Mr. and Mrs. R. to have made out the various types of 

 ahu and to have pointed out that not a few have been rebuilt. Some structures 

 of this kind were noted by us. A »poe-poe», not far from the western slope 

 of Mt. Katiki, was even sketched (another by Mrs. R., fig. 95); a stone pillar 

 stands on the surface, which is covered by grass. 



THE IMAGE MOUNTAIN 



Rano Raraku has been called the most interesting spot in the island. 

 Truly, the sight of this wonderful mountain with its quarries and statues is one 

 not likely te be forgotten. The place has been admirably well surveyed by 

 Mr. and Mrs. R., making it quite unnecessary for the present writer to say 

 anything on the subject, but he thinks that the reproduction of some of his 

 photographs will be found pardonable. Plate 5 gives a total view of the 

 mountain from the SW, plate 6 is a familiar sight from the outer slope. On 

 plate 7 is shown one of the very largest statues in the quarries, no. 41 in Mrs. 

 R.'s diagram, also figured by her, Fig. 49, and by Agassiz, Plate 39. Neither 

 of these shows more than the left part of the image. It must be about 16 m. 

 long, while the largest statue is just over 20.^ Mrs. R. finds it difficult to 

 believe that the latter was ever made to be launched; the same, then, can be 

 said of no. 41. It is hard to see where the limit for the capacity of the an- 

 cient islanders should be drawn. Surely there are images in the quarries that 

 are little more than rock:carvings, but I -am not prepared to include the two 

 just mentioned under such a heading. 



The two prostrate statues on Plate 8 are nos. 64 — 65 in Mrs. R.'s dia- 

 gram; they show the narrowed base. Plate 9 is also from the inside of the 

 crater, a quarry high up in the gap. It represents the heads of two images 

 (possibly nos. 15 — 16 of the diagram), one but roughly modelled, one finished. 

 The first has a large »wart» on its cheek; perhaps this applies to the case 

 mentioned by Mrs. R. on p. 181, where it is stated that the unexpected occur- 

 rence of large and hard nodules in the rock could cause the whole work to 

 be abandoned. 



It is the great triumph of Mrs. R. to have unveiled the mystery of the 

 scattered statues outside the mountain, which were formerly believed to have 

 been dropped on their way to the coast and left lying. We know now that 



^ Geiseler (resp. Weisser) describes a statue of 23 m. length (Die Oster-Insel. Berlin 

 1883, p. 9). 



