Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-01-31

captured and carried away by the Peruvi-
ans, together with all the chiefs and most
of the other able-bodied men, the unfortu-
nate savages being doomed to spend the
rest of their DAYS at work on the guano de-
posits They were cruelty treated, and of
the few who were finally released many
died of smallpox on their VOYAGE back to
the island. The disease, being carried
ashore, almost wiped out the population,
which at present numbers only 155 souls.
Morals of the Living Race.
These natives attach no moral delinquency
to the crime of stealing. They had god of
thieving. and successful thefts were believed
to be accomplished under his patronage,
those who committed such offences being
only detected when their acts were not
sanctioned by the divinity. The thief who
was caught did not lose the respect of his
friends, but was subject to retaliation in a
peculiar form. In case of detection he was
obliged to submit to being beaten and other
wise abused by the injured party and was
not permitted to offer any resistance, though
he might be the stronger. Thus retaliation
could be enforced by the weak and feeble
against the strong and powerful, and any
objection made to it would summon the aid
OF the entire community.
Both men and women, particularly the
latter, were tattooed in elaborate patterns
with sharp-pointed fish bones. The men
threw stones with marvellous accuracy from
the hand, and their spears were pointed
with nothing more formidable than sharp
ened sections of calabash until they found
that fakes of volcanic glass inflicted more
severe WOUNDS. In front of each dwelling
was a small excavation lined with stone
slabs, in which fire was built. When the
stones were sufficiently heated the fire was
removed, and the food to be cooked was put
into this primitive oven and covered over
with damp earth to retain the warmth.
The Ceremony of Egg Hunting.
During the winter months large sea birds
of various species visit the island in vast
numbers for breeding purposes. Their
favorite spots of resort are two tiny islands
few hundred yards from the shore. Here
the first eggs of the season each year are
laid, and in ancient times the occasion was
made one of festival According to the
custom, the person who was so fortunate as
to secure the first egg from the little islands
and return with it unbroken became enti-
tied to certain rights and privileges during
the following twelvemonth- He was sup
posed to have won the approval of the
Great Spirit of the Sea, and had right to
expect contributions of food, etc, from his
fellows.
A certain time was set for the scramble,
which began at the word ego" from the
King, who was the only able-bodied man
that did not participate. 1t was go-as-you-
please race, everyone taking his own route
over the cliffs and swimming to the islands.
The sculptured rocks along the shore bear
record to this day, in the form of carvings
the ocean deity, of the graft
tude of successful contestants in these annual
egg races.
How They Got Their Food.
Among the most interesting monuments
on Easter Island are round towers built
upon projecting bluffs, usually surmounting
burial platforms which are illed with human
remains. At these points men were kept
constantly on the watch for turtles, which
furnished much of the food supply. In
number of places along the shore are dis
covered artificial hollows in the hard rock,
which must have been excavated at great
cost of labor. They are 80 arranged as to be
Just awssh when the tide is full, and it is be-
lieved that they were utilized as ive-boxes
for keeping fish.
Their ish-hooks used to be made always of
the bones of deceased fishermen, which were
supposed to exert mysterious influence
man was provided with stone fsh-god for
a fetch. Fires were kept up perpetually
in the caves, being tended as zealously as
was the celestial fame of Zoroaster, because
they could only be lighted again by the
dificult process OF rubbing sticks together.
In each cave there is niche, which was
formerly occupied by small household gods
of wood. These were quite artistically
made, and had eyes of obsidian.
No quadrupeds seem to have been in
digenous to the island, except certain
species of rodents. The bones are much
gnawed by rats, and their nests are often
discovered inside of the skulls.
Where the Inform alton Comes From.
The tablets of wood referred to are in
scribed with Photographic characters, so
beautifully executed that the writing would
do credit to the art of the modern engraver,
they were made with no better
tools than obsidian points. The people
were obliged by law to assemble once year
for the purpose of hearing all the tablets
read. This occasion, called the "Feast of
the Tablets" was the most important festi-
val of the year, not even war being allowed
to interfere with it.
Tradition says that 81 tablets were brought
to the island by the first King, Hotu-Matua
They contained allegories, proverbs and
traditions relating to the land whence he
came. One of the more modern tablets reads
as follows:
When the island first became known to
orr forefathers it was crossed with roads
beautifully paved with fiat stones. Coffee
trees were growing close together along the
borders of the roads, SO that they met over
head, and the branches were laced together
like mussels. Heke was the builder of these
roads, and it was he who sat in the place of
honor in the middle where the roads
branched away in every direction. The
roads were cunningly contrived to represent
the plan of the web of the gray and black
spider, and no man could discover the be-
ginning or the end thereof. RIB