Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-01-30

annual egg races.
| TOWERS AND BURIAL PLATFORMS.
Among the most interesting monuments on
Easter Island are round towers built upor
projecting bluffs, usually surmountin buria
platforms which are filed with human re-
mains. At these points men were kept con
stantly on the watch for turtles, which fur
ofplaces along the shore are discovered artificial
hoHows in the hard rock, which must have
been excavated at q cost Of great labor. They
are SO arranged as to be just awash when the
tide is full. and il is believed that they were
utilized as live boxes for keeping fish. On one
occasion. when the expedition was engaged in
! uncovering a particularly ancient tomb and in
removing bones thereform young native as
slsting the party uttered a howl of despair and
became Frustrated with grief at the sight Of q
skull which he claimed to recognize as that OF
his greatgrand-father. He made such a dis
turbance that the relic was restored to its rest
| ing place, whereupon the afflicted youth dried
his eyes and intimated that he was willing to
let the skull 60, together with the whole lot OF
| remains belonging to his family, in considera-
ton of the moderate sum of 81. So the bones
were taken by the unsympathetic explorers,
and he was not paid a cent for consolation.
The natives believe that gnomes, ghouls and
COLLINS inhabit the inaccessible caves and
inches In the rocks prowling about after dark.
Their fish hooks used to be made always OF the
bones of deceased fishermen, which were sup
| posed to exert mysterious influence over the
denizens of the deep. Each fisherman was
! provided with stone fish god for fetch.
FIRES were kept up perpetually in the caves,
being tended as zealously as was the celestial
flame of Zoroaster, because they could only be
lighted again by the difficult process Of rub
Ding sticks together. In each cave there is a
niche, which was formerly occupied by small
household gods Of wood. These were quite ar
tstically made and had eyes of obsidian.
No quadrupeds seem to have been indigenous
TO the island except certain species of rode nts.
La Perouse found no domestic animals there.
but left behind three sheep. two goats and two
pigs. In the ruined tombs and platforms my
rlads OF rats OF great size find refuge. The
bones are much gnawed by them and their
nests are often discovered inside of the skulls.
Many of the caves are Inhabited by cats of sur
prlsing bigness and Of formidable appearance,
which are the wild descendants of feline pets
landed by passing vessels. Aquatic birds of
the kind known as ''noddies" are so tame that
they will sit on the shoulders of the natives
Marine turtles abound and occupy promine mt
place in the native traditions. being frequently
represented in hieroglyps and on the sculp-
tured rocks. species of cray fish Ii caught
by diving and giant eels are fished for in the
crevices along the shore. Enormous cock
reaches infest the caves. the full-grovn ones
measuring two inches in length, with antenns
to correspond.
WOODEN TABLETS.
The tablets of wood already referred to are
among the most remarkable objects found on
Easter Island They inscribed with picto-
graphic characters so beautifully executed that
the writing would do credit to the art of the
modern engraver, although they were made
with no better tools than obsidian points.
knowledge of these written characters was con-
fined 20 the royal family. the chiefs of the six
districts. the sons OF the chiefs and the priests
The people were obliged by law to assemble
once year for the purl Ose of hearing all the
tablets read. This occasion, called the Feast
of the Tablets" was the most important fes-
uval OF the year. not even war being allowed to
interfere with it, When i'll 1868. the Peru
VANS captured and carried away the king and
all persons in authority, there was no one left
who was able to read the characters
old man. from whom the expedition got the key
by plying him with stimulants. Tradition says
that siXty-seyen tablets we're brought TO the
island by its first king Hotu-Matua. They con-
tanned ailegories, proverbs AMI traditions re-
lating to the land whence he came. One OF the
more modern tablets reads as follows:
When the island first became known to our
forefathers it was crossed with roads beauti-
fully paved with fiat stones. Coffee trees we're
growing close together along tie borders of
the roads, so that they met overhead and the
branches were laced together like muscles.
Heke was the builder OF these roads. and it was
he who sat Ill the place OF honor in the middle
where the roads brsnched away in every direc-
ton. The roads were cunningly contrivcd TO
represent the plan of the web of the gray and
black spider. and no man could discover the
beginning or the end thereof"
Such being the case. one might imagine that
Easter Island would not have been an easy
place to find ones way about in during those
happy days The legend of Hotu-Aatua is "a
very interesting one. He dwclt on an island
Ear to the westward. being powerful chief.
His brother fell in love with a girl who could
not decide between him and another sutton.
Finally she TOLD the other fellow that she would
accept him on condition that he would walk
around the island without stopping to rest or
sleep. While he was doing the ciIcui, she
eloped with Hotu-Matuas brother. A war fol-
lowed and Hotu-Ma;ua and his brother were
compelled to fly after many defeats They
took two big canoes, each ninety feet in length.
with 500 followers. Orio, the Tilted loYer, came
along in disguise, and when they got - raster
Island he hid among the rocks and murdered
every one he could get chance at. At length
Matua caught him in a net and pounded
him to death. Whether all this is true or not,
there seems to be no doubt that Easter island
was originally colonized by Malay o-Po ynesian
stock.
WONDERFUL MONUMENTS OF ANTIQUITY.
Wonderful monuments Of antiquity are scat
tered all through Polynesia. and there is hardly
group OF islands which the explorer can
not find great works, architectural and ether
wise, va PeoPics VIM passeu away ayes ago. In
the Friendly Islands are the graves of the TUT
Iongas-nineteen truncated pyramids, each
100 feet square at the base and rising to the
height of twenty-five feet The stones of
which they are composed huge blocks of
cora. concrete. many of them eighteen feet
long and weighing twenty tons. They were
cut three miles away ana il is u mystery how
they could have been transported for such u
distance. The construction of these pyramids
extended over a period of 1880 years. They
are overgrown by dense forests of banyan and
other trees. The Tui-Tongas were hereditary
high priests. According to law they could only
marry the daughters OF the king. Their sons
became priests, while their daughters were
brought up to the duties of vestal virgins
The latter served in the temples and were not
permitted to marry. In 1868 the last Of the
Iui-Tongas died.
The architectural ruins of Java surpass those
of Central America. AtChandi-Sewa are found
the remains OF what was once an assemblage
Of two hundred and ninety-six temples, ar
ranged in five parallelograms, one INSIDE of
the other. In the center Of all is a large tenn
pie in the shape of a cross, surrounded by
forty flights OF steps, richly ornamented with
sculptures and containing many apartments
Eighty miles to the eastward is the temple of
Borobods, consisting Of central dome fifty
feet in diameter, around which is a triple circle
OF seventy-two towers, the whole building be-
ing go feet square and 100 feet high. In the
walls are inches containing 400 cross-leRged
figures larger than life. The amount of human
labor and skill expended upon the pyramids of
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