THE MYSTERY OF EASTER ISLAND 



639 



wood, native fashion. Off he started last 

 October for Mangareva, 1,600 miles from 

 here [see map supplement] ; he must have 

 got there safely, for you brought me an 

 answer to a letter that I gave him to 

 post." * 



CONDITIONS OF LIFE ON EASTER ISLAND 



Easter is a volcanic land, and in the 

 earlier days of the world's history great 

 lights and flowing lava must have 

 gleamed across the expanse of water, 

 then gradually lessened and died away, 

 leaving their work to be molded by wind 

 and tide. The island, as the forces of 

 nature have thus made it, is triangular in 

 shape and curiously symmetrical. 



The length of the base — that is, of the 

 southeast coast — is about 13 miles and 

 the greatest width about 7 miles ; the cir- 

 cumference, roughly speaking, is 34 miles. 



The apex, which is the highest ground, 

 is a volcano having an elevation of more 

 than 1,700 feet. Its summit is formed of 

 a cluster of small craters ; the eastern and 

 western angles are each composed of a 

 large extinct volcano (see map, page 630). 



The place is geologically young, and 

 the mountains, in contrast to those of 

 Juan Fernandez, still preserve their orig- 

 inal rounded shapes ; there are no ravines, 

 no wooded precipices, no inaccessible 

 heights, but round the whole coast ero- 

 sion is at work, with the result that, while 

 on the land side the slopes of all these 

 three mountains are gradual, on the sea 

 side — that is, in portions of the north, 

 east, and west coasts — they have been 

 worn back by the power of the waves into 

 imposing cliffs. 



In some instances the crater of a moun- 

 tain has become a lake. These lakes are 

 almost the only water supply of the 

 island; there is a good rainfall, but no 

 single running stream. Owing to the 

 porous nature of the ground, the water 

 sinks beneath the surface, sometimes 

 forming underground channels, from 

 which it flows into the sea below high- 



* Captain Benson and his crew made the 

 voyage in the ship's boat to Mangareva in 16 

 days, and after two days' rest left in the same 

 manner for Tahiti, accomplishing the farther 

 900 miles in 11 days. Mr. Richards, the Brit- 

 ish consul at the latter place, told us later of 

 his astonishment when, in answer to his ques- 

 tion whence the crew had come, he received 

 the amazing reply, "Easter Island." 



water mark, thus giving rise to the curi- 

 ous statement of early voyagers, that the 

 natives were able to drink salt water. t 



The lower portions of the island are 

 composed of sheets of lava, in process of 

 disintegration, across which walking is 

 almost impossible and riding a very slow 

 process. The surface of the mountains 

 and hills is smoother, being volcanic ash. 

 The whole is covered with grass, which 

 sprouts up between the masses of lava 

 and gives the hills a delightful down-like 

 appearance. Forest growth has probably 

 never consisted of more than brushwood 

 and shrubs, and today even those have 

 disappeared. 



A NEARLY PERFECT CLIMATE 



Easter Island lies in the subtropics, 

 and, if the question of wind be elimi- 

 nated, the climate is as nearly perfection 

 as possible in this world. There may be, 

 especially in the winter months, a spell of 

 three or four days of rain, or a wind 

 from the Antarctic, when woolen clothes 

 are welcome ; and occasionally, in the 

 summer, it is preferable to be indoors 

 during the noontide hours ; but, with 

 these exceptions, it is one of those rare 

 localities where it is possible to be warm 

 the whole year round, and yet to utilize 

 to the full the hours of daylight. 



There are, as might be expected, too 

 many insects ; cockroaches abound, out 

 of doors and under statues, as well as in 

 houses and tents. The only consolation 

 is that they are of a handsome, red 

 variety and not shiny black. Flies also 

 are numerous ; I have counted two hun- 

 dred in a bowl of soapy water and six or 

 eight at once on my hand while busy 

 writing. Mosquitoes, which had been 

 imported, varied in their attentions. 

 When they were at their worst, it was 

 necessary to wear headgear and dine in 

 gloves. 



t In the Journal of the Ethnological Society 

 the Bishop of Wellington, in his "Notes on the 

 Maoris and Melanesians," says : "I will only 

 add this one word about the curious way in 

 which they get fresh water on some of the 

 coral islands, such as Nangone, where there 

 is none on the surface. Two go out together 

 to sea and dive down at some spot where they 

 know is a fresh-water spring, and they alter- 

 nately stand on one another's backs to keep 

 down the one that is drinking at the bottom 

 before the pure water mixes with the sur- 

 rounding salt water." 



