198 VOYAGES OF A NATURALIST 



seven hundred feet deep, and two and a half miles 

 round, while the bottom is covered by a marsh. 

 Part of the way down the crater are a series of cliffs 



FIG. 3. Plan of stone house at the lip of the crater of 

 Rano Kao. 



each of which has a cave-dwelling entrance, but 



we had no time to examine these. 



" We rode to the south-west or sea-side of the 



crater, where the lip was broken away into the 



sea, and looks on three rocky islets. 



" There are just on the lip a number of low stone 



houses facing the sea. In plan they are narrow 

 ellipses (Fig. 3), the walls and 

 roofs being built of shallow, 

 undressed slabs. The door- 

 ways are very narrow and low. 

 The floors are clay, but as 

 there is at present only about 



FIG. 4. Carved stone. 



four feet headroom, they were 

 probably once lower. I found an oval smooth 

 stone, about ten inches long, with a scratched 



