Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-01-31
SOUTH SEA MYSTERY.
What a Smithsonian Expedition Has
Learned of Easter Island.
RELICS OF EARLY CIVILIZATION.
Colossal Stone Statues That Tell Story of
Art Primeval
HISTORY FROM TABLETS OF WOOD
RELICS OF EARLY CIVILIZATION.
HISTORY FROM TABLETS OF WOOD

CORRESPONDENCE OF TEE DIsPATCH.1
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 27.-What has al
ways been regarded as an island of mystery
and wonder has been explored by an expe-
6ition of the Smithsonian Institution. In
the midst of the vast Pacific it goes far to
realize in sober matter of fact the descrip-
tion given by Rider Hsggard of the i'm
aginary kingdom of Kor, once the residence
OF 8 numerous population and afterward an
immense cemetery, its thousands of rocky
caverns flied with the bones of moldering
dead. Such, in truth, is Easter Island.
Tablets of wood have been discovered bear
ing inscriptions in an ancient language
which tell many surprising things, and
these, together with numerous curiosities
for the National Museum and great amount
Of information, have been brought away.
Although but rock Of lava thrown up
from the depths of the sea and having an
area of only 50 square miles, Easter Island
once possessed a population of more than
20, 900. 1t is actually honeycombed with
caves formed by bubbles Of expanding gases
during volcanic action, and .hese were
used for dwelling places by. the people
while alive, their bones reposing in them
II.
oils.
Art OF Dead Nation.
Not merely are the caverns crowded with
skeletons, but everywhere are scattered
the ruins of enormous tombs and catacombs.
Most remarkable of the tombs are immense
platforms built of rough and hewn stones,
which were formerly surmounted by colossal
statues These statues, which now lie prone
and scattered about, were executed by
ancient sculptors whose art has perished
with them. The very rocks of the island
are carved with strange and fantastic images
of mythical animals, human faces, Birds
fishes, etc. Within the caves and on the
walls and ceilings of houses built of slabs
OF stone, are painted the most curious fres-
Goes in similar designs, with red, black and
white pigments
Up in the mountains are found the work
shops of the sculptors. Inside of huge
extinct crater is discovered one of these
statue factories where the efigies may be
seen in all stages of incompletion. The
biggest of them is 20 feet high, the head
alone measuring % feet, and it is in as per-
feet condition as when it was first COM
pleted There are 80 such statues within
the crater of various sizes, and 40 of
them are finished and ready to be trans
ported to the burial platforms which they
were designed to adorn.
Incredible Feats of Engineering.
1t is now known that the first process in
carving one of these images was to select
suitable rock and sketch upon it the outline
of the proposed statue. The front of it
was then carved into shape and finished,
the last work being to cut the back loose.
1t was then hoisted out of the crater and
lowered to the plain below by system of
off rrbi oh
made to the intended destination and cov-
cred with seaweeds, and over this the
colossus was dragged with hempen ropes by
as many men as were needed. Finally it
was rolled up an incline at the rear of the
platform and set in place there. So great
8 feat of engineering was involved that one
is lost in wonder at the patience and in
genuity of savages who were able to accom-
plish ii without either mechanical knowledge
or appliances The average weight of the
images is about II tons, but some of them
weigh as much as 40 tons
Outside of the crater, on the west side of
the mountain, is bigger workshop, where
155 statues are to be seen, including those
which stand at the foot of the volcano,
ready for removal to the platforms. The
expedition counted all the efigies on the
island, which were found to number $50.
The Statues Lie Face Downward.
Most of them lie near the platforms along
the shore, not one being left standing,
while manv more are scattered over the
plain toward the village of Vaihu, all lying
face downward. This latter point seems
strange, inasmuch as they could hardly have
been hauled in such a fashion. Some of
the statues represent females. Doubtless
gray lava was selected as the material be-
cause it was easily worked with rude stone
implements. 1t used to be supposed
that these stone giants were gods, but
it is now known they represent persons of
distinction and were set UP as monuments
to perpetuate their memory. The smallest
of them that has been found measures three
feet in hcight. They are all very much
alike, each being the upper half of a human
figure, cut of at the hips. The faces are of
an unvsrying type, with heavy brows, long
nose and short upper lip. In every case the
head is cut fat on top, so as to hold the
crown. All the effgies, upon being placed
in position, were adorned with massive
crowns Of red tufs, sometimes weighing as
much as three tons and measuring IL feet in
diameter The burial platforms were
usually neST the beach, so that the image
could look out upon the sea- They were
constructed of rough pieces of rock ordi-
narlly, with facing OF cut stones neatly
Joined, inclosing chambers which were filled
with eorpses wrapped in dried grass and
laid at full length with their heads toward
the ocean.
Grinning Skulls as Trophies.
Beneath one platform was discovered
vault containing vast number of skulls
closely packed together. From the fact that
ali of these crania were those of adults it is
presumed that they were trophies of a war
The largest platform is $40 feet long, 9 feet
wide and s feet high. 1t was ornamented
with 10 gigantic statues, all of which are
now thrown down on their faces, their
crowns lying near by.
The image-ma&ers were privileged class,
anu their profession descended from father
TO son. The statues in ali stages OF compile
ton At the workshops ana those abandoned
on the ROADS to the coast indicate that the
labor was suddenly arrested, presumably by
some extraordinary calamity, but tradition
is silent as TO the reason why. Respecting
the cause of the destruction and overthrow
OF these monuments a very extraordinary
story Is told by the surviving natives. 1t
has to do with the practice OF cannibalism,
which was found popular on Easter Island.
Ruins are found to-day of sacrifcial altars,
on which there is reason to believe that
of individuals were cooked. In
these altars are receptacles which were util-
lied as ovens for roasting to a proper turn
the bodies of victims
TraGition's Explanation of the Ruins.
The completion of burial platform was
always made the occasion for a feast. Ira
dition states that the one called ''Tahiri"
was the last one built. Its workmanship
was exceptionally fine, as may be seen to
this day, and it was intended that the 20
foot image in the crater workshop should
nd Erar,-thino haino in raodi- 1