THE MYSTERY OF EASTER ISLAND 



By Mrs. Scoresby Routledge 



With Illustrations from Photographs by Members of the Author's Expedition* 



A 



L/Ly the seashore is lined with num- 

 bers of stone idols, with their 

 backs turned towards the sea, 

 which caused us no little wonder, because 

 we saw no tool of any kind for working 

 these figures." 



So wrote, a century and a half ago, one 

 of the earliest navigators to visit the 

 Island of Easter, in the southeast Pacific. 



Ever since that day passing ships have 

 found it incomprehensible that a few hun- 

 dred natives should have been able to 

 make, move, and erect numbers of great 

 stone monuments, some of which are over 

 thirty feet in height; they have marveled 

 and passed on. 



As the world's traffic has increased, 

 Easter Island has still stood outside its 

 routes, quiet and remote, with its story 

 undeciphered. 



What were these statues of which the 

 present inhabitants know nothing ? Were 

 they made by their ancestors in forgotten 

 times or by an earlier race? Whence 

 came the people who reached this remote 

 spot? Did they arrive from South 

 America, 2,000 miles to the eastward, or 

 did they sail against the prevailing wind 

 from the distant islands to the west? It 

 has even been conjectured that Easter 

 Island is all that remains of a sunken 

 continent. 



Fifty years ago the problem was in- 

 creased by the discovery on this mys- 

 terious land of wooden tablets bearing 

 an unknown script ; they, too, have re- 

 fused to yield their secret (see page 646). 



HOW TO REACH EASTER ISLAND 



When, therefore, we decided to see the 

 Pacific before we died, and asked the an- 

 thropological authorities what work there 

 remained to be done, the answer was, 

 "Easter Island." 



It was a much larger undertaking than 



*A more detailed account of the findings of 

 the Routledge Expedition will be found in the 

 fascinating and handsomely illustrated volume, 

 ''The Mystery of Easter Island," by Mrs. 

 Scoresby Routledge, sold by Sifton, Praed & 

 Co., London. 



had been contemplated; we had doubts 

 of our capacity for so important a ven- 

 ture ; and at first the decision was against 

 it, but we hesitated and were lost. 



Then followed the problem, how to 

 reach the goal. The island belongs to 

 Chile, and the only regular communica- 

 tion, if regular it can be called, was a 

 small sailing vessel sent out by the Chilean 

 Company, which uses the island as a 

 ranch. This vessel went sometimes once 

 a year, sometimes not so often, and only 

 remained there sufficient time to bring off 

 the wool crop. 



We felt that the work on Easter ought 

 to be accompanied with the possibility 

 of following up clues elsewhere in the 

 islands, and that to charter any such ves- 

 sel as could be obtained on the Pacific 

 coast, for the length of time we required 

 her, would be unsatisfactory, both from 

 the pecuniary standpoint and from that 

 of comfort. It was therefore decided, as 

 my husband is a keen yachtsman, that it 

 was worth while to procure in England a 

 little ship of our own, adapted to the pur- 

 pose, and to sail out in her. 



NO SHIP TO BE POUND, ONE IS BUILT 



Search for a suitable vessel in England 

 was fruitless, and it became clear that to 

 get what we wanted we must build. The 

 question of general size and arrangement 

 had first to be settled, and then matters 

 of detail. It is unfortunate that the pre- 

 cise knowledge which was acquired of the 

 exact number of inches necessary to sleep 

 on, to sit on, and to walk along is not again 

 likely to be useful. The plans were com- 

 pleted for a vessel of schooner rig and 

 auxiliary motor power. The length over 

 all was 90 feet and the water line 72 feet ; 

 her beam was 20 feet. The gross tonnage 

 was 91 and the yacht tonnage was 126. 



While the plans were being completed, 

 search was being made for a place where 

 the vessel should be built; for, though 

 nominally a yacht, such finish and build 

 would have been out of place. It had 

 been decided that she should be of wood, 



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