THE MYSTERY OF EASTER ISLAND 



641 



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EXCAVATING A STATUE 



The difficulty experienced by the Routledge Expedition in unearthing some of the Easter 

 Island statues serves to emphasize the skill of the original image-makers, who apparently 

 employed two methods in the erection of the images. By the first, the statue seems to have 

 been placed on its face in the desired spot, and a hole was then dug beneath the base. The 

 other method seems to have been to undermine the base, with the face of the statue lying 

 uppermost. In several instances a number of large stones were found behind the backs of 

 the figures, evident!}* used to wedge them while being raised to a vertical position. 



The great works are now in ruins ; of 

 many, comparatively little remains; but 

 the impression infinitely exceeded any- 

 thing which had been anticipated, and 

 every day, as the power to see increased, 

 brought with it a greater sense of wonder 

 and marvel. "If we were to tell people 

 at home these things," said our sailing 

 master, after being shown the prostrate 

 images on the great burial-place of Ton- 

 gariki, ''they would not believe us." 



The present natives take little interest 

 in the remains. The statues are to them 

 facts of every-day life, in much the same 

 way as stones or banana trees. The in- 



formation given in reply to questions is 

 generally wildly mythical, and any real 

 knowledge crops up only indirectly. 



The general form of the Easter Island 

 image is unvarying. It represents a half- 

 length figure, at the bottom of which the 

 hands nearly meet in front of the body. 

 The most remarkable features are the 

 ears, of which the lobe is depicted to rep- 

 resent a fleshy rope, while in a few cases 

 the disk which was worn in it is also in- 

 dicated (see pages 634 and 635). 



The tallest statues are more than 30 

 feet, a few are only 6 feet, and even 

 smaller specimens exist. Those on the 



