56 "AL15ATK0SS" EASTERN TROPICAL PACIFIC EXPEDITION. 



circumference. There is a gap in the rim (PI. 23) towards the south, and 

 to the west; on the side where the stone houses of Orongo are found, 

 Rana Kao is precipitous, the rim of the crater very narrow (PI. 13). 



Half-way up the gentle slope of Rana Kao, to the south of Mataveri, one 

 gets an excellent panorama of Easter Island. Plate 21 gives the aspect of 

 the western shore of the island, as seen looking north towards La Perouse 

 Mountain (PL 13), the highest point of the island. Plato 22 is a view of 

 the central part of the island looking in a northeasterly direction from the 

 northern slope of Rana Kao, towards the Blossom Range (PI. 13). The sur- 

 face of the island is everywhere covered with high tufts of coarse grass, as 

 is shown in the foreground of Pis. 21 and 22, with blocks of black lava crop- 

 ping out in all directions, as is also seen in the foreground in other views of 

 the island (Pis. 18, fig. 2; 26, 28, 31, 41, 42), and on the inner and outer 

 slopes of Rana Roroka (Pis. 32-40). 



Along parts of the coast on the northern side of the island the scattered 

 lava blocks are larger and more numerous than towards the central part 

 of the island. This is well seen on Plate 17, a part of the coast of La 

 Porouse Bay to the south of the landing-place on the small sandy beach 

 in Ovahe Bay at the foot of Ureinamore Point (Pis. 13 ; 18, fig. 3). 



At Easter Island we found our collier awaiting our arrival. We moved 

 from Cook Bay to La Perouse Bay to coal, as there was less swell tliere 

 than in Cook Bay, where we could scarcely have gone alongside for this 

 purpose. 



Considerable shore collecting was done at Easter Island. We must have 

 brought together at least thirty species of plants. The flora of Easter Island 

 is very poor. There are neither trees nor native bushes. Not even the 

 bushes whicli characterize the shore tracts of the most isolated coral reefs 

 of the Pacific are found there ; and yet some of the equatorial counter- 

 currents must occasionally bring some flotsam to its shores. We collected 

 a number of shore fishes, and made a small collection of the littoral fauna. 

 The fishes have a decided Pacific look, and the few species of sea-urchins we 

 came across are species having a wide distribution in the Pacific. 



While coaling, we spent some time examining the prehistoric monuments 

 which line the shores of Easter Island. During our stay at La Perouse Bay 

 we visited the platforms studding the coast of the bay, and made an excur- 

 sion to the crater of Rana Roroka, where are situated the great quarries 

 from which are cut the colossal images now scattered all over the island. 



