July 14, 1892] 



NATURE 



259 



that small images, inscribed tablets, and other objects of 

 interest have been hidden away in such caves and lost through 

 land-slides. 



The climate is not unlike that of Madeira, with one wet and 

 one dry season. Yams, potatoes, and taro are cultivated, the 

 young plants being protected from the fierce heat of the sun by a 

 mulching of dried grass gathered from the uncultivated ground. 

 Bananas are grown, and so is sugar-cane, but the natives do not 

 extract the juice for the purpose of making sugar. A wild gourd 

 is common, and constituted the only water-jar and domestic 

 utensil known to the islanders. Mr. Thomson saw no flowering 

 plants indigenous to the soil, but ferns of many varieties are 

 common, and grow in profusion in the craters of the volcanoes. 

 Except in a few exposed places, the slopes of the hills and 

 the valleys are covered with a perennial grass resembling the 

 Jamaica grass {Paspalum). This natural growth supplies ample 

 pasturage for cattle and sheep. 



The only quadrupeds peculiar to the island are several 

 varieties of rodents. Fish abounds in the surrounding sea, and 

 has always been the principal means of support for the islanders. 

 Turtles are also plentiful, and are highly esteemed. The turtle 

 occupies a prominent place in tradition, and is frequently repre- 

 sented in the hieroglyphics. It appears also on sculptured rocks. 



According to the traditions of the natives, the island was dis- 

 covered by King Hotu-Matua, who came from the land in the 

 direction of the rising sun, with two large double canoes and 

 three hundred chosen followers. Mr. Thomson thinks there 

 may have been more than one migration of people to the island, 

 and that their traditions may have been mingled together ; but 

 there can, he believes, be no reasonable doubt about the pro- 

 genitors of the present islanders being of the Malayo-Polynesian 

 stock. The people were shockingly treated by some of the early 

 voyagers, and in 1863 the majority of the able-bodied men were 

 kidnapped by Peruvians, who carried them away to work in the 

 guano deposits of the Chincha Islands and the plantations in 

 Peru. Just before the arrival of the Mohican a complete census 

 of the population had been taken by Mr. Salmon, who found 

 that the total number of natives was 155. The children are not 

 much darker than Europeans, but the skin assumes a brown hue 

 as they grow up and are exposed to the sun and trade-winds. 

 The eyes are dark brown, bright, and full, with black brows and 

 lashes not very heavy. The countenance is usually open, modest, 

 and pleasing. In disposition the natives are cheerful and con- 

 tented. They all profess Christianity, but there are now no 

 missionaries among them, and they display a tendency to return 

 to the old Pagan ideas. Tattooing is no longer practised, but 

 every islander advanced in life is ornamented in all parts of the 

 body. 



At one time the island must have been densely populated, and the 

 surviving monuments show that the inhabitants had attained to a 

 higher civilization than that of other Polynesians. The ancient 

 stone houses at Orongo were thoroughly explored byMr. Thomson 

 and his party. These curious dwellings seem to have been built 

 for the accommodation of the natives while the festival of the 

 "sea-birds' eggs" was being celebrated. During the winter 

 months the island is visited by great numbers of sea-birds, most 

 of which build their nests among the ledges and cliffs of the in- 

 accessible rocks. Some, however, choose two islets lying a few 

 hundred yards from the south-west point of Easter Island, and 

 the natives are believed to have selected Orongo as a convenient 

 spot for watching for the coming of the birds. The fortunate 

 person who obtained possession of the first egg, and returned 

 with it unbroken to the expectant crowd, became entitled to 

 certain privileges and rights during the following year. Near 

 Orongo are the most important sculptured rocks in the island. 

 They are covered with carvings intended to represent human 

 faces, birds, fishes, and mythical animals, all very much defaced 

 by the time and the elements. The most common figure is a 

 mythical animal, half human in form, with bowed back and long 

 claw-like legs and arms. According to the natives, this symbol 

 represented "Meke-Meke," the great Spirit of the sea. 



On the high bluff west of Kotatake Mountain the party dis- 

 covered the ruins of a settlement extending more than a mile 

 along the coast-line and inland to the base of the hill. These 

 remains bear unmistakable evidences of being the oldest habita- 

 tions on the island. The houses are elliptical in shape, with 

 doorways facing the sea, and were built of uncut stone. Some 

 of the walls are standing, but the majority are scattered about in 

 confusion. Each dwelling was provided with a small cave or 

 niche at the rear end, built of loose lava stones, which was in a 



NO. II 85, VOL. 46] 



number of instances covered by an arch supported by a fairly 

 shaped key-stone. The recesses were " undoubtedly designed 

 to contain the household gods." 



Mr. Thomson has, of course, much to say about the stone 

 images with the idea of which Easter Island is intimately 

 associated in the minds of all who have devoted any attention to 

 its antiquities. Every image in the island was counted, and the 

 list shows a total of 555 images. Mr. Thomson says : — 



" Of this number forty are standing inside of the crater, and nearly 

 as many more on the outside of Rana Roraka, at the foot of the 

 slope where they were placed as finished and ready for removal 

 to the different platforms for which they were designed ; some 

 finished statues lie scattered over the plains as though they were 

 being dragged toward a particular locality but were suddenly 

 abandoned. The large majority of the images, however, are 

 lying near platforms all around the coast, all more or less 

 mutilated, and some reduced to a mere shapeless fragment. Not 

 one stands in its original position upon a platform. The largest 

 image is in one of the workshops in an unfinished state, and 

 measures 70 feet in length ; the smallest was found in one of the 

 caves, and is a little short of three feet in length. One of the 

 largest images that has been in position lies near the platform 

 which it ornamented, near Ovahe ; it is 32 feel long, and weighs 

 50 tons. 



" Images representing females were found. One at Anakena is 

 called ' Viri-viri Moai-a-Taka,' and is apparently as perfect as 

 the day it was finished ; another, on the plain west of Rana 

 Roraka is called ' Moai Putu,' and is in a fair state of preser- 

 vation. The natives have names for every one of the images. 

 The designation of images and platforms as obtained from the 

 guides during the exploration was afterwards checked off in 

 company with other individuals without confusion in the record. 

 The course gray trachytic lava of which the images were made 

 is found only in the vicinity of Rana Roraka, and was selected 

 because the conglomerate character of the material made it easily 

 worked with the rude stone implements that constituted the 

 only tools possessed by the natives. The disintegration of the 

 material when exposed to the action of the elements is about 

 equivalent to that of sandstone under similar conditions, and ad- 

 mits of an estimate in regard to the probable age. The traditions 

 in regard to the images are numerous, but relate principally to 

 impossible occurrences, such as being endowed with power to 

 walk about in the darkness, assisting certain clans by subtle 

 means in contests, and delivering oracular judgments. The 

 legends state that a son of King Mahuta Ariiki, named Tro 

 Kaiho, designed the first image, but it is difficult to arrive at an 

 estimation of the period. The journals of the early navigators 

 throw but little light upon the subjec. The workshops must 

 have been in operation at the time of Captain Cook's visit, but 

 unfortunately his exploration of the island was not directed 

 towards the crater of Rana Roraka. 



" Although the images range in size from the colossus of 70 feet 

 down to the pigmy of 3 feet, they are clearly all of the same type 

 and general characteristics. The head is long, the eyes close 

 under the heavy brows, the nose long, low- bridged, and ex- 

 panded at the nostrils, the upper lip short and the lips pouting. 

 The aspect is slightly upwards, and the expression is firm and 

 profoundly solemn. Careful investigation failed to detect the 

 slightest evidence that the sockets had ever been fitted with 

 artificial eyes, made of bone and obsidian, such as are placed in 

 the wooden images, 



"The head was in all cases cut flat on top, to accommodate 

 the red tufa crowns with which they were ornamented, but the 

 images standing outside of the crater had flatter heads and bodies 

 than those found around the coast. The images represent the 

 human body only from the head to the hips, where it is cut 

 squarely off to afford a good polygon of support when standing. 

 The artists seem to have exhausted their talents in executing the 

 features, very little work being done below the shoulders, and 

 the arms being merely cut in low relief. The ears are only 

 rectangular projections, but the lobes are represented longer in 

 the older statues than in those of more recent date. 



" The images were designed as effigies of distinguished per- 

 sons, and intended as monuments to perpetuate their memory. 

 They were never regarded as idols, and were not venerated or 

 worshipped in any manner. The natives had their tutelary 

 genii, gods, and goddesses, but they were represented by small 

 wooden or stone idols, which bore no relation to the images that 

 ornamented the burial platforms. The image-makers were a 

 privileged class, and the profession descended from father to son. 



