196 VOYAGES OF A NATURALIST 



and taken on board, and are now in the British 

 Museum. Mr. T. A. Joyce has examined this 

 collection and has most kindly placed his notes on 

 the subject at my disposal. I have made several 

 extracts from them and owing to his courtesy am 

 able to give a fuller account of all that is known 

 of this interesting island than would otherwise 

 have been possible. A series of forty-nine skulls 

 was brought from Easter Island by Capt. -Lieu- 

 tenant Geiseler, after the visit of the German 

 gunboat " Hyane " to the island. Geiseler ob- 

 tained several of the skulls himself either from 

 the " platforms " or from specially built mortuary 

 chambers. He stated that the " platforms " were 

 used by the present inhabitants as burial places, 

 and adds that this practice was in vogue at the 

 time of his visit ; and that the natives were in the 

 habit of removing the bones as the bodies decayed 

 to make room for further burials, leaving only the 

 skulls. 



After a careful examination of the skulls brought 

 back by us, Mr. Joyce finds in them distinct 

 evidences of a Melanesian type, and he naturally 

 describes this as a most surprising find in an 

 island so far removed from Melanesia ; his words 

 are, " and considering the remoteness of Easter 

 Island from Melanesia of the present day, this fact 

 in itself is sufficiently puzzling and interesting." 



We were informed by the overseer of the island 

 that the present inhabitants were imported from 



