The Durham recorder. [volume] (Durham, N.C.) 1879-19??, 1891-03-04
PRESERVED in STONE
ONE OF tsssa PROFOUND MYSTERIES
oxxSss, SOUTH SEAS, 81,

Figurcs.s SHRssivs snuins aud Palaccs
with pshi.sd waiis--Ehs wonaers %
Raster EtAasd. 'sa a..s .
The Caroline islands, which are nov.
recognised * belonging toSpain, though
the Gerznans tried 30 annex them a few
years ago, form ono Of the largest archi-
pelagos of tAe Eacihc, covering y sea area
OF more than 2, 600 milcs, and comprising
over 500s separate fragments OF land,
Some of these isiets are mere rocks,
many are nninhabited and a few are
very popnioust Excepting those at the
eastern end Of. che cnain, and the largs
island OF zap ut the western end, theS.
have been rarely, come Of them never,
visited by white men, unless in the dub
ous form Of beach icombers.
Kusaie, sometines called Strong is.-
and, is sbo6t fifty miles in cireuInfer-
ence, Is Of basaltic formation, has .
barge extenf 6f high ground, and boasts
Of two sxeellenf harbors. The people
are repntedly industrious and peaceable
for Sosth Sea islanders they have
. king Of their, own. They belong, 10
all appearances. Il, the Polynesian race,
but travellers have declared that they
seem capAbie OF q higher civilization
than tho average ;Polynesian. Il Is re
markable that the chiefs communicate
BY signs and, speech mot understood BY
the common people Ia 4s.e. f.,aB
LITTLE RASTER ISLAND.
II We traverse some few thousand
miles of ocean % the very eastern ont
skirts Of Polynesfa we shall find the lit
tie island 6alied Easter island, which l.
barely ten miles hong by four miles
broad. ssrkich has, no trees, no running
water, and very little about it to attract
settlers. It Is Of volcanic origin and
one Of the extinct craters Is over ! 1000
feet high n st,saaasg. sss .istt 5
Yet siis physically undressing isl-
and. ps0paed by Polynesians Of the fair
type. spch ss are found IN the Society
idands b the greatest mystery OF the Pa
cifc. Il b covered with remains Of some
prehistoric peopie Of whom every record
but that preservedin stone seemsto have
vsnishea. a..ar 8, ts.-.,,,,u..... =.
At tie southwest end Of this little isl
ind there are 70 be found the ruins Of
nearly . Hundred stone houses, built IN
regulafiiines and facing the sea The
walls Of these houses are 1--WE fest thick
and over Eve feet high, built Of layers Of
fat stones and lined inside with fat
slabs internally me houses measure
about forty feet long BY thirteen feet
wide, and they arerOofed over with slabs
Overlapping Lie tiles- The inside walls
are painted IN three colop-red, black
and vhite-with figures. Of birds and
mystic beasts and faces and geometrical
figures II one Of these houses was
found . cpri6as ss6he statue eight fest
high and weighing about four tons.
which i nov in the British museum.
ThseeaScAffs near this ancient settle
ment are carved into grotesque shapes
not unlike the paintings on the walls, and
the coast 5 marked with hundreds Of
these strange sculptures WV"
Agzih. On each hsadland Of the island
there is an enormous stone platform.
built of hssu bfocksof great EiEe, fitted
togeth<r without cement They Ars built
onsloYng ground presenting 90 the sea-
ward side . wall face twenty or thirty
fsst high and two or three hundred feet
long, and on ths landward side q wan
q about three feet in height rising from
a leyd terrace sN
EVIDENCES on WORSHIP.
Thes platforms have evidently had 70
Do with the religious practices Of the
early settlers, whoever they were; for
upon al o. them are large stone pedes-
tails which have supported images. and
90 some n thrm broken images are sin
% hs sesa. On enc platform fifteen
images we1e found. in dse ranging from
thnss 70 thirty five feet in height They
are a human shape, representing the
upper part d he. body only, with arms
and hsnds close % the sides. The beads
are cut hEt % allow q crowns being
piscsa osI tbsrn, winch crowns aeesn %
haretrn made, nct q the sane mate
nal - TIE ststs,es, bot a red tufa.
Tbs has becn traced 70 al extinct crater
within > fsw miiaz q Tie houses. and On
the brink a this crater largs number
u crowns were fond, finished and
ready for removal bsfors some strange
fas dep4yisd ehs isiasd o. tbsss an.
cis4gtswdfnhiterA
TIE imsgx th~rnselpes are made a
gng Lava, winch Il only fouDd Il quite
Asotha4 ez.tsr a The Other end u Dc
iaiADi AZ tbs Crater. called Otouli,
tkrt are sgTeral 6nisbei and partly
hnished isnages, just a. they were left
b The workman. II = remarkable that
Is t<ssent nativss have small wooden
GsiAks nxrNcd out u 9 hard. dark WOOD.
but tsese images are hideous and differ
shossihr from the dignissd statues u
De piAtEerfns d
: Tbk prssent inhabitants are drnpiy
taiiooei Eayagea. Who are more than
sasDects5 % hsye . tasts for eannibai.
ism They live in long. i0w hguaea, 10
shaIs like an upturned canoe, with only
ssingis Opcning about two feet square,
wholly unliiR the massive stone yitlsrss
49, A~-~-----s~.----- gzfss
Tom Jones Rabbit Ranch.
a. Atlanta iaarbai.
= Tom Jones, q worthy eolored
man, living near the North
depot in Athens, has
domesticated a large colony Of
Ole old field gray rabbits. Tom
has about twenty five breeders,
and sass.that rabbits are raised