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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Photograph Courtesy of U. S. National Museum 



one: of thh; stone; image:s from faster island 



The Easter Island images are the most interesting of archeological enigmas. There are 

 more than 600 on the island. Formerly many of them stood in groups of from 6 to 12 on 

 platforms of hewn stone facing the sea. They were hewn out of volcanic tufa and trans- 

 ported, sometimes three or four miles, to their destination. The island is almost treeless, 

 and the wonder is how the image-makers could remove objects so fragile as these, weighing 

 from three to thirty tons each, over ground so rugged. The images exhibited in the U. S. 

 National Museum were secured during a 12-day visit to the island in 1886 by the U. S. Ship 

 Mohican, under Commander B. S. Day, U. S. N. 



