Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-08-14

feet from the nape of the neck to tn,
crown. The faces of the images have vel
defined features, with thin lips, broat
noses, expanded nostrils and general dis
dainfnl expression 1t is believed, from
the appearance OF the eye-sockets, that OBJ
sidan eyeballs were intended 20 be in
serted. The ears are very carefully carved
and are prominent.
/ There are also, in different parts OK the
| island, wooden tablets covered with curious
carvings and strange hieroglyphics, which
no one can explain.
1t is remarkable that the present natives
have small wooden images carved out OF
/ hard, dark wood; but these images are
hideous, and differ altogether from the dig
nified statues of the platforms.
The present inhabitants are simply
tatooed savages who are more than sus-
pected to have taste for cannibalism
They live in long, low houses, in shape
like an upturned canoe, with only a single
opening about two feet square, wholly IN
like the massive stone village we have de-
scribed. There may have been wood on
the island at one time, for the natives are
well provided with clubs and spears, and
they also have double headed paddle
which has not been observed elsewhere in
the Pacific. But, on the other hand, they
may have brought these implements with
them, for they have a tradition that their
great-great- grandfathers emigrated from
the island OF Rapaiti, about 1900 miles
away and just south of the Australia group.
Be this as it may, they call their present
abode Rapa-hui, or Great Rapa, to distin-
guish it from what they call their former
home.
At Oparo, or Rapaiti, Captain Vine Hall
found temple, or castle, in FIVE stages,
surrounded by walls which inclose stone
houses; and also square platforms of stone
on the sides of one of the hills, similar to
those on Easter Island The traditions of
the natives Of Oparo-which is an island
of only some twenty miles in circumfer-
ence-are full of warlike struggles, and
tt ere is reason to suppose that these strug-
giles were with strangers who may have
been intrenched in this castle. If these
strangers were compelled by the natives to
fly to their boats, after some fight, they
would certainly have driited to Easter
Island. But who were these strangers?
The reputed origin of the Easter Island
ers throws no light upon the stone houses
and statues and sculptures The present
islanders know nothing about these re-
mains, and clearly have no sort of connec-
tion with them. They are the relics of
an ancient people with intelligence far
beyond anything now found in the Pacific;
with notions of architecture and sculpture
and painting and engineering, and with
some distinct and elaborate form of pagan
ism.
Who were they? That is the great
mystery of the Pacific. But looking first
at the ruins of the Caroline group, and |
then at those on the small, remote Easter
Island, it is possible to imagine that the
islands were the sacred and reserved spots |
of some ancient civilized race which once |
overran portion of the South Seas The |
position of Easter Island would lend sup
port to the supposition that this ancient |
civilization may have had its origin on the |
American continent, and we know that in
Central America there are evidences of a |
of a vast antiquity.
The problem of the Pacific, still to be |
solved, however is; Who built the forts of |
Kusaie and Ponape, the stone houses and |
platforms of Easter Island, and who wor-
SHIPPED these sphynx-like gigantic images? |
PEARS soap secures beautiful CON-