CAKL SKOTTSHKRG 



that It is the hir^cst one ever found on an ahu and the last one to be upset. 

 Are there two exactly siniihir ahu close to each other, each with an unusually 

 lari^e imager I think not. The measurements were taken by my wife and 

 myself with a tape 25 m. loni; and the figures committed to paper on the spot. 



It couUl po>sibly also be the same ahu as no. 34 Punahoa of THOMSON 

 1. c, p. 505. lie also <^ives the total length of the single moai as 32 feet. 

 Ilmvever, the entire structure is said to have a length of 175 feet and a width 

 «)f S feet, which figures must be entirely incorrect if ahu Pare is meant. 



\W what kind of apparatus or devices the statues were transported from 

 Kano Raraku to the coast, in some cases to rather inaccessible places, remains 

 a m\ster\'. The natives possessed strong cordage, and Mrs. R. has made out 

 that long lines were used occasionally, but veritable hawsers would have been 

 needed to drag the statues along over the ground in the manner imagined by 

 Thomson. We have seen that there is evidence against the island ever having 

 produced good sized timber suitable for rollers. THOMSON thinks that, after a 

 smooth road had been constructed, »the images were dragged by means of 

 ropes made of indigenous hemp»; »seaweed and grass made excellent lubri- 

 cants*. He could »clearly see how it was accomplished with a large force of 

 able-bodietl men» (p. 49S). I must confess that I find it less easy to understand 

 how the work was done, for the least obstacle would become a serious one; 

 and the roads must have been made as smooth as a fioor in order to serve 

 the puri)ose, the images being rather fragile. Mrs. R. has traced the few high- 

 wa\-s leading from Rano Raraku to the coast; but if really the images were 

 draggetl up to the numerous ahu all round the island, these roads cannot have 

 sufficed, but an elaborate network of very smooth paths was required, of which 

 all traces would have disappeared. It is true that seaweeds are plentiful, but 

 there is no species of any considerable size and I fail to see how the quantities 

 re(|nired could have been brought together. It is astonishing that no tradition 

 on the means of transport survives. According to Mrs. R. the natives in- 

 variabl\- offered one exi)lanation: that the images were transported by the aid 

 of supernatural forces. 



< )n p. 4X6 Thonlsox discusses the possibilit)^ of a transport by sea. Near 

 a grouj) of ahu he discovered a fine landing-place made by art, »admirably 

 adapted to the landing of heavy weights*. hVom old drawings we know what 

 the aboriginal canoes were like — not a single one, as far as I know, has been 

 preserved to our <la\s but they were not strong enough to support any very 

 heavy weight ( )tie might suggest that large rafts were built but, on the other 

 hand, there are several ahu which are unaccessible from the shore. 



.Still, there is another nietod to be reckoned with, although further specu- 

 lation on this matter may appear j)retty useless. Some sort of a sledge-like 

 apparatus could h.i\c been cntistructed without the need of timber of any con- 

 sitleral)le si/.e. .\ sledge would slide (luite well over the grass, provided that 

 the road was cleared from stones. A great number of people could be simul- 

 taneously engaged in j)n!liiig, while, if rollers were used, the image must have 

 been more diffK-ult t(» handle. ( )nce arrived at the ahu, a sloping causeway 

 could have been built, from which the image was lowered down in position, 

 or, the same method could have been used that was aj^plied when raising the 



