A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels Volume Xiv Part 21

On the declivity of the mountain towards the west, they met with another well, but the water was a very strong mineral, had a thick green sc.u.m on the top, and stunk intolerably. Necessity, however, obliged some to drink of it; but it soon made them so sick, that they threw it up the same way that it went down.

In all this excursion, as well as the one made the preceding day, only two or three shrubs were seen. The leaf and seed of one (called by the natives _Torromedo_) were not much unlike those of the common vetch; but the pod was more like that of a tamarind in its size and shape. The seeds have a disagreeable bitter taste; and the natives, when they saw our people chew them, made signs to spit them out; from whence it was concluded that they think them poisonous. The wood is of a reddish colour, and pretty hard and heavy, but very crooked, small, and short, not exceeding six or seven feet in height. At the S.W. corner of the island, they found another small shrub, whose wood was white and brittle, and in some measure, as also its leaf, resembling the ash. They also saw in several places the Otaheitean cloth plant, but it was poor and weak, and not above two and a half feet high at most.

They saw not an animal of any sort, and but very few birds; nor indeed any thing which can induce s.h.i.+ps that are not in the utmost distress, to touch at this island.

This account of the excursion I had from Mr Pickersgill and Mr Wales, men on whose veracity I could depend; and therefore I determined to leave the island the next morning, since nothing was to be obtained that could make it worth my while to stay longer; for the water which we had sent on board, was not much better than if it had been taken up out of the sea.[6]

We had a calm till ten o'clock in the morning of the 16th, when a breeze sprung up at west, accompanied with heavy showers of rain, which lasted about an hour. The weather then clearing up, we got under sail, stood to sea, and kept plying to and fro, while an officer was sent on sh.o.r.e with two boats, to purchase such refreshments as the natives might have brought down; for I judged this would be the case, as they knew nothing of our sailing. The event proved that I was not mistaken; for the boats made two trips before night, when we hoisted them in, and made sail to the N.W., with a light breeze at N.N.E.

[1] "The joy which this fortunate event spread on every countenance, is scarcely to be described. We had been one hundred and three days out of sight of land; and the rigorous weather to the south, the fatigues of continual attendance during storms, or amidst dangerous ma.s.ses of ice, the sudden changes of climate, and the long continuance of a noxious diet, all together had emaciated and worn out our crew.

The expectation of a speedy end to their sufferings, and the hope of finding the land stocked with abundance of fowls and planted with fruits, according to the accounts of the Dutch navigator, now filled them with uncommon alacrity and cheerfulness."--G.F.

Captain Cook was much indebted for now falling in with this island, to the superior means he possessed of ascertaining his longitude. Byron, Carteret, and Bouganville, all missed it, although they took their departure from no greater a distance than the islands of Juan Fernandez. Most of the writers who mention Easter Island, agree pretty well together as to its lat.i.tude, but the Spanish accounts are not less than thirty leagues erroneous as to its longitude.--E.

[2] See this in vol. XI. p. 95 of this collection; but the description afterwards given is much more satisfactory.--E.

[3] "He was of the middle size, about five feet eight inches high, and remarkably hairy on the breast, and all over the body. His colour was a chesnut brown, his beard strong, but clipped short, and of a black colour, as was also the hair of his head, which was likewise cut short. His ears were very long, almost hanging on his shoulders, and his legs punctured in compartments after a taste which we had observed no where else. He had only a belt round his middle, from whence a kind of net-work descended before, too thin to conceal any thing from the sight. A string was tied about his neck, and a flat bone, something shaped like a tongue, and about four inches long, was fastened to it, and hung down on the breast. This he told us, was a porpoise's bone (eavee toharra) expressing it exactly by the same words which an Otaheitean would have made use of. Mahine, who had already expressed his impatience to go ash.o.r.e, was much pleased to find that the inhabitants spoke a language so similar to his own, and attempted to converse with our new visitor several times, but was interrupted by the questions which many other persons in the s.h.i.+p put to him."--G.F.

[4] "Almost all of them were naked, some having only a belt round the middle, from whence a small bit of cloth, six or eight inches long, or a little net, hang down before. A very few of them had a cloak which reached to the knees, made of cloth, resembling that of Otaheite in the texture, and st.i.tched or quilted with thread to make it the more lasting. Most of these cloaks were painted yellow with the turmeric root."--G.F.

[5] "After staying among the natives for some time on the beach, we began to walk into the country. The whole ground was covered with roots and stones of all sizes, which seemed to have been exposed to a great fire, where they had acquired a black colour and porous appearance. Two or three shrivelled species of gra.s.ses grew up among these stones, and in a slight degree softened the desolate appearance of the country. About fifteen yards from the landing place, we saw a perpendicular wall of square hewn stones, about a foot and a half or two feet long, and one foot broad. Its greatest height was about seven or eight feet, but it gradually sloped on both sides, and its length might be about twenty yards. A remarkable circ.u.mstance was the junction of these stones, which were laid after the most excellent rules of art, fitting in such a manner as to make a durable piece of architecture. The stone itself, of which they are cut, is not of great hardness, being a blackish brown cavernous and brittle stony lava. The ground rose from the water side upwards; so that another wall, parallel to the first, about twelve yards from it, and facing the country, was not above two or three feet high. The whole area between the two walls was filled up with soil and covered over with gra.s.s.

About fifty yards farther to the south, there was another elevated area, of which the surface was paved with square stones exactly similar to those which formed the walls. In the midst of this area, there was a pillar consisting of a single stone, which represented a human figure to the waist, about twenty feet high, and upwards of five feet wide. The workmans.h.i.+p of this figure was rude, and spoke the arts in their infancy. The eyes, nose, and mouth, were scarcely marked on a lumpish ill-shaped head; and the ears, which were excessively long, quite in the fas.h.i.+on of the country, were better executed than any other part, though a European artist would have been ashamed of them.

The neck was clumsy and short, and the shoulders and arms very slightly represented. On the top of the head a huge round cylinder of stone was placed upright, being above five feet in diameter and in height. This cap, which resembled the head-dress of some Egyptian divinity, consisted of a different stone from the rest of the pillar, being of a more reddish colour; and had a hole on each side, as if it had been made round by turning. The cap, together with the head, made one half of the whole pillar which appeared above ground. We did not observe that the natives paid any wors.h.i.+p to these pillars, yet they seemed to hold them in some kind of veneration, as they sometimes expressed a dislike when we walked over the paved area or pedestals, or examined the stones of which it consisted. A few of the natives accompanied us farther on into the country, where we had seen some bushes at a distance, which we hoped would afford us something new.

Our road was intolerably rugged, over heaps of volcanic stones, which rolled away under our feet, and against which we continually hurt ourselves. The natives who were accustomed to this desolate ground, skipped nimbly from stone to stone without the least difficulty. In our way we saw several black rats running about, which it seems are common to every island in the South Sea. Being arrived at the shrubbery which we had in view, we found it was nothing but a small plantation of the paper mulberry, of which here, as well as at Otaheite, they make their cloth. Its stems were from two to four feet high, and planted in rows, among very large rocks, where the rains had washed a little soil together. In the neighbourhood of these we saw some bushes of the _hibiscus populneus_, Linn, which is common also in the Society Isles, where it is one of the numerous plants made use of to dye yellow; and likewise a _mimosa_, which is the only shrub that affords the natives sticks for their clubs and patoo-patoos, and wood sufficient to patch up a canoe. We found the face of the country more barren and ruinous the farther we advanced. The small number of inhabitants, who met us at the landing-place, seemed to have been the bulk of the nation, since we met no other people on our walk; and yet for these few we did not see above ten or twelve huts, though the view commanded a great part of the island. One of the sightliest of these was situated on a little hillock, about half a mile from the sea, which we ascended. Its construction was such as evinced the poverty and wretched condition of its owners. The natives told us they pa.s.sed the night in these huts; and we easily conceived their situation to be uncomfortable, especially as we saw so very few of them, that they must be crammed full, unless the generality of the people lie in the open air, and leave these wretched dwellings to their chiefs, or make use of them only in bad weather. Besides these huts, we observed some heaps of stones piled up into little hillocks, which had one steep perpendicular side, where a hole went under ground. The s.p.a.ce within could be but very small, and yet it is very probable that these cavities served to give shelter to the people during night. They may, however, communicate with natural caverns, which are very common in the lava currents of volcanic countries. We should have been glad to have ascertained this circ.u.mstance, but the natives always denied us admittance into these places."--G.F.

[6] "Captain Cook had not been very fortunate in trading with the people. They seemed indeed to be so dest.i.tute as to have no provisions to spare. A few matted baskets full of sweet potatoes, some sugar- canes, bunches of bananas, and two or three small fowls ready dressed, were the whole purchase which he had made for a few iron tools, and some Otaheite cloth. He had presented the people with beads, but they always threw them away with contempt, as far as ever they could.

Whatever else they saw about us, they were desirous of possessing, though they had nothing to give in return.--G.F.

SECTION VIII.

_A Description of the Island, and its Produce, Situation, and Inhabitants; their Manners and Customs; Conjectures concerning their Government, Religion, and other Subjects; with a more particular Account of the gigantic Statues._

I shall now give some farther account of this island, which is undoubtedly the same that Admiral Roggewein touched at in April 1722; although the description given of it by the authors of that voyage does by no means agree with it now. It may also be the same that was seen by Captain Davis in 1686; for, when seen from the east, it answers very well to Wafer's description, as I have before observed. In short, if this is not the land, his discovery cannot lie far from the coast of America, as this lat.i.tude has been well explored from the meridian of 80 to 110. Captain Carteret carried it much farther; but his track seems to have been a little too far south. Had I found fresh water, I intended spending some days in looking for the low sandy isle Davis fell in with, which would have determined the point. But as I did not find water, and had a long run to make before I was a.s.sured of getting any, and being in want of refreshments, I declined the search; as a small delay might have been attended with bad consequences to the crew, many of them beginning to be more or less affected with the scurvy.

No nation need contend for the honour of the discovery of this island, as there can be few places which afford less convenience for s.h.i.+pping than it does. Here is no safe anchorage, no wood for fuel, nor any fresh water worth taking on board. Nature has been exceedingly sparing of her favours to this spot. As every thing must be raised by dint of labour, it cannot be supposed that the inhabitants plant much more than is sufficient for themselves; and as they are but few in number, they cannot have much to spare to supply the wants of visitant strangers. The produce is sweet potatoes, yams, tara or eddy root, plantains, and sugar-canes, all pretty good, the potatoes especially, which are the best of the kind I ever tasted. Gourds they have also, but so very few, that a cocoa-nut sh.e.l.l was the most valuable thing we could give them. They have a few tame fowls, such as c.o.c.ks and hens, small but well tasted. They have also rats, which it seems they eat; for I saw a man with some dead ones in his hand, and he seemed unwilling to part with them, giving me to understand they were for food. Of land-birds there were hardly any, and sea-birds but few; these were men-of-war, tropic, and egg-birds, noddies, tern, &c. The coast seemed not to abound with fish, at least we could catch none with hook and line, and it was but very little we saw among the natives.

Such is the produce of Easter Island, or Davis's Land, which is situated in lat.i.tude 27 5' 30" S., longitude 109 46' 20" W. It is about ten or twelve leagues in circuit, hath a hilly and stony surface, and an iron-bound sh.o.r.e. The hills are of such a height as to be seen fifteen or sixteen leagues. Off the south end, are two rocky islets, lying near the sh.o.r.e. The north and east points of the island rise directly from the sea to a considerable height; between them and the S.E. side, the sh.o.r.e forms an open bay, in which I believe the Dutch anch.o.r.ed. We anch.o.r.ed, as hath been already mentioned, on the west side of the island, three miles to the north of the south point, with the sandy beach bearing E.S.S. This is a very good road with easterly winds, but a dangerous one with westerly; as the other on the S.E. side must be with easterly winds.

For this, and other bad accommodations already mentioned, nothing but necessity will induce any one to touch at this isle, unless it can be done without going much out of the way; in which case, touching here may be advantageous, as the people willingly and readily part with such refreshments as they have, and at an easy rate. We certainly received great benefit from the little we got; but few s.h.i.+ps can come here without being in want of water, and this want cannot be here supplied. The little we took on board, could not be made use of, it being only salt water which had filtered through a stony beach into a stone well; this the natives had made for the purpose, a little to the southward of the sandy beach so often mentioned, and the water ebbed and flowed into it with the tide.

The inhabitants of this island do not seem to exceed six or seven hundred souls, and above two-thirds of those we saw were males. They either have but few females amongst them, or else many were restrained from making their appearance during our stay, for though we saw nothing to induce us to believe the men were of a jealous disposition, or the women afraid to appear in public, something of this kind was probably the case.[1]

In colour, features, and language, they bear such an affinity to the people of the more western isles, that no one will doubt they have had the same origin. It is extraordinary that the same nation should have spread themselves over all the isles in this vast ocean, from New Zealand to this island, which is almost one-fourth part of the circ.u.mference of the globe.

Many of them have now no other knowledge of each other, than what is preserved by antiquated tradition; and they have, by length of time, become, as it were, different nations, each having adopted some peculiar custom or habit, &c. Nevertheless, a careful observer will soon see the affinity each has to the other. In general, the people of this isle are a slender race. I did not see a man that would measure six feet; so far are they from being giants, as one of the authors of Roggewein's voyage a.s.serts. They are brisk and active, have good features, and not disagreeable countenances; are friendly and hospitable to strangers, but as much addicted to pilfering as any of their neighbours.

_Tattowing_, or puncturing the skin, is much used here. The men are marked from head to foot, with figures all nearly alike; only some give them one direction, and some another, as fancy leads. The women are but little punctured; red and white paint is an ornament with _them_, as also with the men; the former is made of turmeric, but what composes the latter I know not.

Their clothing is a piece or two of quilted cloth, about six feet by four, or a mat. One piece wrapped round their loins, and another over their shoulders, make a complete dress. But the men, for the most part, are in a manner naked, wearing nothing but a slip of cloth betwixt their legs, each end of which is fastened to a cord or belt they wear round the waist. Their cloth is made of the same materials as at Otaheite, viz. of the bark of the cloth-plant; but, as they have but little of it, our Otaheitean cloth, or indeed any sort of it, came here to a good market.

Their hair in general is black; the women wear it long, and sometimes tied up on the crown of the head; but the men wear it, and their beards, cropped short. Their headdress is a round fillet adorned with feathers, and a straw bonnet something like a Scotch one; the former, I believe, being chiefly worn by the men, and the latter by the women. Both men and women have very large holes, or rather slits, in their ears, extending to near three inches in length. They sometimes turn this slit over the upper part, and then the ear looks as if the flap was cut off. The chief ear-ornaments are the white down of feathers, and rings, which they wear in the inside of the hole, made of some elastic substance, rolled up like a watch-spring. I judged this was to keep the hole at its utmost extension. I do not remember seeing them wear any other ornaments, excepting amulets made of bone or sh.e.l.ls.[2]

As harmless and friendly as these people seemed to be, they are not without offensive weapons, such as short wooden clubs and spears; the latter of which are crooked sticks about six feet long, armed at one end with pieces of flint. They have also a weapon made of wood, like the _Patoo patoo_ of New Zealand.

Their houses are low miserable huts, constructed by setting sticks upright in the ground, at six or eight feet distance, then bending them towards each other, and tying them together at the top, forming thereby a kind of Gothic arch. The longest sticks are placed in the middle, and shorter ones each way, and a less distance asunder, by which means the building is highest and broadest in the middle, and lower and narrower towards each end. To these are tied others horizontally, and the whole is thatched over with leaves of sugar-cane. The door-way is in the middle of one side, formed like a porch, and so low and narrow, as just to admit a man to enter upon all fours. The largest house I saw was about sixty feet long, eight or nine feet high in the middle, and three or four at each end; its breadth, at these parts, was nearly equal to its height. Some have a kind of vaulted houses built with stone, and partly under ground; but I never was in one of these.

I saw no household utensils among them, except gourds, and of these but very few. They were extravagantly fond of cocoa-nut sh.e.l.ls, more so than of any thing we could give them. They dress their victuals in the same manner as at Otaheite; that is, with hot stones in an oven or hole in the ground.

The straw or tops of sugar-cane, plantain heads, &c. serve them for fuel to heat the stones. Plantains, which require but little dressing, they roast under fires of straw, dried gra.s.s, &c. and whole races of them are ripened or roasted in this manner. We frequently saw ten or a dozen, or more, such fires in one place, and most commonly in the mornings and evenings.

Not more than three or four canoes were seen on the whole island, and these very mean, and built of many pieces sewed together with small line. They are about eighteen or twenty feet long, head and stem carved or raised a little, are very narrow, and fitted with out-riggers. They do not seem capable of carrying above four persons, and are by no means fit for any distant navigation. As small and mean as these canoes were, it was a matter of wonder to us, where they got the wood to build them with; for in one of them was a board six or eight feet long, fourteen inches broad at one end, and eight at the other; whereas we did not see a stick on the island that would have made a board half this size, nor, indeed, was there another piece in the whole canoe half so big.

There are two ways by which it is possible they may have got this large wood; it might have been left here by the Spaniards, or it might have been driven on the sh.o.r.e of the island from some distant land. It is even possible that there may be some land in the neighbourhood, from whence they might have got it. We, however, saw no signs of any, nor could we get the least information on this head from the natives, although we tried every method we could think of to obtain it. We were almost as unfortunate in our enquiries for the proper or native name of the island; for, on comparing notes, I found we had got three different names for it, viz. Tamareki, Whyhu, and Teapy. Without pretending to say which, or whether any of them is right, I shall only observe, that the last was obtained by Oedidee, who understood their language much better than any of us, though even he understood it but very imperfectly.

It appears by the account of Roggewein's voyage, that these people had no better vessels than when he first visited them. The want of materials, and not of genius, seems to be the reason why they have made no improvement in this art. Some pieces of carving were found amongst them, both well designed and executed.[3] Their plantations are prettily laid out by line, but not inclosed by any fence; indeed they have nothing for this purpose but stones.

I have no doubt that all these plantations are private property, and that there are here, as at Otaheite, chiefs (which they call _Areekes_) to whom these plantations belong. But of the power or authority of these chiefs, or of the government of these people, I confess myself quite ignorant.

Nor are we better acquainted with their religion. The gigantic statues, so often mentioned, are not, in my opinion, looked upon as idols by the present inhabitants, whatever they might have been in the days of the Dutch; at least I saw nothing that could induce me to think so. On the contrary, I rather suppose that they are burying-places for certain tribes or families. I, as well as some others, saw a human skeleton lying in one of the platforms, just covered with stones. Some of these platforms of masonry are thirty or forty feet long, twelve or sixteen broad, and from three to twelve in height; which last in some measure depends on the nature of the ground; for they are generally at the brink of the bank facing the sea, so that this face may be ten or twelve feet or more high, and the other may not be above three or four. They are built, or rather faced, with hewn stones, of a very large size; and the workmans.h.i.+p is not inferior to the best plain piece of masonry we have in England. They use no sort of cement, yet the joints are exceedingly close, and the stones morticed and tenanted one into another, in a very artful manner. The side-walls are not perpendicular, but inclining a little inwards, in the same manner that breast-works, &c. are built in Europe; yet had not all this care, pains, and sagacity, been able to preserve these curious structures from the ravages of all-devouring time.

The statues, or at least many of them, are erected on these platforms, which serve as foundations. They are, as near as we could judge, about half length, ending in a sort of stump at the bottom, on which they stand. The workmans.h.i.+p is rude, but not bad; nor are the features of the face ill formed, the nose and chin in particular; but the ears are long beyond proportion; and, as to the bodies, there is hardly any thing like a human figure about them.

I had an opportunity of examining only two or three of these statues, which are near the landing-place; and they were of a grey stone, seemingly of the same sort as that with which the platforms were built. But some of the gentlemen, who travelled over the island, and examined many of them, were of opinion that the stone of which they were made, was different from any they saw on the island, and had much the appearance of being fact.i.tious. We could hardly conceive how these islanders, wholly unacquainted with any mechanical power, could raise such stupendous figures, and afterwards place the large cylindric stones before mentioned upon their heads. The only method I can conceive, is by raising the upper end by little and little, supporting it by stones as it is raised, and building about it till they got it erect; thus a sort of mount or scaffolding would be made, upon which they might roll the cylinder, and place it upon the head of the statue, and then the stones might be removed from about it. But if the stones are fact.i.tious, the statues might have been put together on the place, in their present position, and the cylinder put on by building a mount round them, as above mentioned. But, let them have been made and set up by this or any other method, they must have been a work of immense time, and sufficiently shew the ingenuity and perseverance of these islanders in the age in which they were built; for the present inhabitants have most certainly had no hand in them, as they do not even repair the foundations of those which are going to decay. They give different names to them, such as Gotomoara, Marapate, Kanaro, Goway-too-goo, Matta Matta, &c. &c. to which they sometimes prefix the word Moi, and sometimes annex Areeke. The latter signifies chief, and the former burying, or sleeping-place, as well as we could understand.[4]

Besides the monuments of antiquity, which were pretty numerous, and no where but on or near the sea-coast, there were many little heaps of stones, piled up in different places along the coast. Two or three of the uppermost stones in each pile were generally white, perhaps always so, when the pile is complete. It will hardly be doubted that these piles of stone had a meaning; probably they might mark the place where people had been buried, and serve instead of the large statues.

The working-tools of these people are but very mean, and, like those of all the other islanders we have visited in this ocean, made of stone, bone, sh.e.l.ls, &c. They set but little value on iron or iron tools, which is the more extraordinary, as they know their use; but the reason may be, their having but little occasion for them.

[1] "It was impossible for us to guess at the cause of this disproportion in the number of the different s.e.xes; but as all the women we saw were very liberal of their favours, I conjectured at that time, that the married and the modest, who might be supposed to form the greater part, did not care to come near us, or were forced by the men to stay at their dwellings in the remote parts of the island.

These few who appeared were the most lascivious of their s.e.x, that perhaps have ever been noticed in any country, and shame seemed to be entirely unknown to them."--G.F.

[2] "They were inferior in stature to the natives of the Society and Friendly Isles, and to those of New Zealand, there being not a single person amongst them, who might be reckoned tall. Their body was likewise lean, and their face much thinner than that of any people we had hitherto seen in the South Sea. Both s.e.xes had thin, but not savage features, though the little shelter which their barren country offers against the sunbeams, had contracted their brows sometimes, and drawn the muscles of their face up towards the eye. Their noses were not very broad, but rather flat between the eyes; their lips strong, though not so thick as those of negroes; and their hair black and curling, but always cut short, so as not to exceed three inches. Their eyes were dark-brown, and rather small, the white being less clear than in other nations of the South Seas."--G.F.

[3] "These were human figures made of narrow pieces of wood about eighteen inches or two feet long, and wrought in a much neater and more proportionate manner than we could have expected, after seeing the rude sculpture of the statues. They were made to represent persons of both s.e.xes; the features were not very pleasing, and the whole figure was much too long to be natural; however, there was something characteristic in them, which shewed a taste for the arts. The wood of which they were made was finely polished, close grained, and of a dark-brown, like that of the casuarina. Mahine was most pleased with these carved human figures, the workmans.h.i.+p of which much excelled those of the _e tees_ in his country, and he purchased several of them, a.s.suring us they would be greatly valued at Otaheite. As he took great pains to collect these curiosities, he once met with a figure of a woman's hand, carved of a yellowish wood, nearly of the natural size. Upon examination, its fingers were all bent upwards, as they are in the action of dancing at Otaheite, and its nails were represented very long, extending at least three-fourths of an inch beyond the fingers end. The wood of which it was made was the rare perfume wood of Otaheite, with the chips of which they communicate fragrance to their oils. We had neither seen this wood growing, nor observed the custom of wearing long nails at this island, and therefore were at a loss to conceive how this piece of well-executed carving could be met with there. Mahine afterwards presented this piece to my father, who in his turn made a present of it to the British Museum."--G.F.

[4] "The most diligent enquiries on our part, have not been sufficient to throw clear light on the surprising objects which struck our eyes in this island. We may, however, attempt to account for these gigantic monuments, of which great numbers exist in every part; for as they are so disproportionate to the present strength of the nation, it is most reasonable to look upon them as the remains of better times. The nearest calculation we could make, never brought the number of inhabitants in this island beyond seven hundred, who, dest.i.tute of tools, of shelter and clothing, are obliged to spend all their time in providing food to support their precarious existence. It is obvious that they are too much occupied with their wants, to think of forming statues, which would cost them ages to finish, and require their united strength to erect. Accordingly, we did not see a single instrument among them in all our excursions, which could have been of the least use in masonry or sculpture. We neither met with any quarries, where they had recently dug the materials, nor with unfinished statues, which we might have considered as the work of the present race. It is therefore probable, that these people were formerly more numerous, more opulent and happy, when they could spare sufficient time, to flatter the vanity of their princes, by perpetuating their names by lasting monuments. The remains of plantations found on the summits of the hub, give strength and support to this conjecture. It is not in our power to determine by what various accidents a nation so flouris.h.i.+ng, could be reduced in number, and degraded to its present indigence. But we are well convinced that many causes may produce this effect, and that the devastation which a volcano might make, is alone sufficient to heap a load of miseries on a people confined to so small a s.p.a.ce. In fact, this island, which may perhaps, in remote ages, have been produced by a volcano, since all its minerals are merely volcanic, has at least in all likelihood been destroyed by its fire. All kinds of trees and plants, all-domestic animals, nay a great part of the nation itself, may have perished in the dreadful convulsion of nature: Hunger and misery must have been but too powerful enemies to those who escaped the fire. We cannot well account for these little carved images which we saw among the natives, and the representation of a dancing woman's hand, which are made of a kind of wood at present not to be met with upon the island. The only idea which offers itself is, that they were made long ago, and have been saved by accident or predilection, at the general catastrophe which seems to have happened. In numberless circ.u.mstances the people agree with the tribes who inhabit New Zealand, the Friendly and the Society Islands, and who seem to have had one common origin with them.

Their features are very similar, so that the general character may easily be distinguished. Their colour a yellowish brown, most like the hue of the New Zealanders; their art of puncturing, the use of the mulberry-bark for clothing, the predilection for red paint and red dresses, the shape and workmans.h.i.+p of their clubs, the mode of dressing their victuals, all form a strong resemblance to the natives of these islands. We may add, the simplicity of their languages, that of Easter Island being a dialect, which, in many respects, resembles that of New Zealand, especially in the harshness of p.r.o.nunciation and the use of gutturals, and yet, in other instances, partakes of that of Otaheite. The monarchical government likewise strengthens the affinity between the Easter Islanders and the tropical tribes, its prerogatives being only varied according to the different degrees of fertility of the islands, and the opulence or luxury of the people. The statues, which are erected in honour of their kings, have a great affinity to the wooden figures called Tea, on the chief's marais or burying- places, at Otaheite; but we could not possibly consider them as idols.

The disposition of these people is far from being warlike; their numbers are too inconsiderable and their poverty too general, to create civil disturbances amongst them. It is equally improbable that they have foreign wars, since hitherto we know of no island near enough to admit of an interview between the inhabitants; neither could we obtain any intelligence from those of Easter Island upon the subject. This being premised, it is extraordinary that they should have different kinds of offensive weapons, and especially such as resemble those of the New Zealanders; and we must add this circ.u.mstance to several others which are inexplicable to us. Upon the whole, supposing Easter Island to have undergone a late misfortune from volcanic fires, its inhabitants are more to be pitied than any less civilized society, being acquainted with a number of conveniences, comforts, and luxuries of life, which they formerly possessed, and of which the remembrance must embitter the loss."--G.P.

Forster the father is decided in opinion, as to the revolution that has undoubtedly occurred in this island, being occasioned by a volcano and earthquake, and gives a very curious account of a notion prevalent amongst the Society Isles, and forming indeed part of their mythological creed, which, if to be credited, affords support to it.

The subject altogether is of a most interesting and important nature, but cannot possibly be investigated or even specified in an adequate manner in this place. We hope to do it justice hereafter.--E.