THE STONE IMAGES OF EASTER ISLAND.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1812, 11 April 1888, Page 3

THE STONE IMAGES OF EASTER ISLAND.

A Btrango memento of an unknown race is the gigantic stone i nago from Easter Island, now on the way to the Smithsonian Institution. This lonely isle of the Pacific is of volcanic origin, and it is but eleven miles long and six miles broad, and, from its solitary situation, is Beldom visited. The natives, but few m number, are of the Polynesian race, and were exceedingly hostile to the few whites who vi-ited them But within the past twenty-five years they have embraced Christianity under the influence of French missionaries. The island is owned by a Tahiti firm, who utilise its fertile valleys for cattle -raising. The remarkable features which distinguish it from other solitary islands are the huge stone Btatues, to the number of several hundreds, which lie scattered about. They are chiselled with rudo skill from the lava m the craters of extinct volcanoes and transported to all parts of the island, where they were set op, bat moßt of them have Binoe been overthrown by earthquake shocks. Some of these statues are forty feet m height, and some still remain unfinished m their quarries. Northing is known of their origin. The present Inhabitant? possess neither the skill nor the tools for tho work, and have no appliances for transporting Bach immense masses of stone. Their traditions famish no information, as they merely postulate a supernatural origin. The statues are all groterqie effigies of human beings, but while they are low m the scale of art, they are evidently the work of « raoe centuries m advance of the present inhabitants, A theory has been advanced that Easter Island is the remnant of a submerged continent, and that the statnes were made by a people who worshipped them as idols. But this is only theory wi hout a particle of evidence tc sustain It. The statue for the Smithsonian institution is now on board the United Stales steamer Mohican, which was at last accounts at Valparaiso. It weighs between twelve and if teen tons and it was with great difficulty that it waß placed on board the vessel, as the Island has no good harbors, and though the image had to be transported overland about eight miles, there was not a tree to furnish the material. The Mohican finally obtained a few logs at Samoa, with which the work was accomplished. This is the second monster curio which has been taken away from Easter Island — a German vessel

having eorured one about two j*ears ago. When it fiods a ppimuoeot place here our puzzled ethnologists may possibly be pble to clear away the mystery of its origin by a careful study of its design and workmanship. — "Boston Transcript."