882 The American Naturalist. [October, 
have one room, usually measuring fourteen feet long by six in 
width, and five feet two inches high, with walls in some cases five 
feet thick. They are lined and roofed with pictured slabs (Fig. 3), 
and a mound of earth was heaped over the top. The doorways 
are on a level with the ground, and are so narrow that it is diffi- 
cult to squeeze into the chamber. One of these slabs, weighing 
about six hundred pounds, brought in the Mohican, has the 
picture of a bird, or marine animal with a bird's head, in red and 
white, with outstretched wings, upon it. In these subterranean 
houses Mr. Thomson found many peculiarly-shaped obsidian 
spear heads. They resemble, somewhat, ancient battle axes, and ' 
are supposed to have been used as missiles, and, hafted on poles, 
as spears. There are several distinct forms (Figs. 4 and 5). 
Stone fish hooks, adze blades, round stones, are found also on 
the surface and in the houses. 
Mr. Thomson procured two slabs of wood, one 93^ inches by 
31^, the other 24 inches by 41^ inches, covered with rows of 
hieroglyphics. The somewhat remarkable fact that these people 
wrote has been known for years. These tablets were said to have 
been numerous on the island some years ago, but were destroyed 
through the zeal of Catholic missionaries. There are now but some 
seven or eight in existence, held by the Bishop of Tahiti, the 
British and the U. S. National Museums. The Bishop of Tahiti 
observed the natives consulting these tablets, and obtained, as he 
thought, a translation of them. It has been found that the 
islanders were using them merely as a mnemotechnic device to 
aid them in running back the genealogy of their chiefs, and did 
not follow the characters in the obvious way that they were 
written. The characters are about half an inch in height, beau- 
tifully carved, it is supposed with shark's teeth. They carry 
their meaning in the thing they represent, and are followed by 
beginning at the left hand lower corner on the particular side of 
the tablet that will bring the characters erect. Finishing the 
lower line with the figures turned toward the reading, and going 
to the next line above, the reading is continued from right to left 
(boustrephodon). In order to have the images face the same 
