Evening star., 1914-07-19

seas used 600 years ago Is to invite sui
eide. for the squalls of the southern Pa
cific are sudden and deadly and no small
boat caught in them can hope to live.
Whence, then, came these people who
knew nothing of the images erected on
this island?
The images themselves are marvels of
fragility. They weigh from three to thirty
tons and Yet they are carved as cut glass
might be carved. The chief image in the
rotunda of one OF the old Smithsonian
buildings has neck which can scarcely
support the gigantic head, and the cap
which Surmounts the head has TO be held
in place by an. iron rod attached to the
pedestal. 1t Is an incongruous figure
something that could hardly be expected
in the world today. The face, formed of
time-defying lava rock. has evidently
bl'aved the winds and storms of centuries.
1t is a grim, saturnine face. suggesting
the possibilities of sudden death: of pris-
oners who were led silently to the altar
of sacrifice and there killed on some
great lava stone. The eyes protrude. The
gigantic hat, shaped like the hat Of
Cossack and Of a dull red color. adds to
the sinister mystery which this god pos
seSSes.
Archeologists frankly admit that the
mystery of the Easter Island gods is
something beyond their ken. They esti
mate that there were coo of these gods
on the island originally. and many of
them have since been destroyed in fights
between the natives. They were grouped
in circles, six to twelve gods represent
ing a complete circle, and they are all
possessed of the weird. grim expression
which suggests blood sacrifice.
There are no large trees on Easter
Island, and the land from the interior to
the coast is inconceivably rugged. How
did the aborigines living before the time
of the present Polyuesians move these
huge objects, fragile as glass. from the
inner side of a volcano across the many
miles to the places where the forgotten
temples were erected? The study is In
teresting. There are today 400 Polyue-
SLAMS on the Easter Island. and from the
youngest TO the oldest they incline to the
belief that the removal of these gods
from volcano craters was accomplished
by supernatural means.
Staring insistently into the faces OF
these cryptic gods of the South sea,
staring benignly in the fashion OF one
who has seen all things and seeks to
see no more, is the reclining Buddha,
one of the most valuable of all the
museum collections and one of the
strangest figures that mythology pos
sesses. Buddha is the god of the orient.
Six hundred years before the birth OF
Christ he was known in India as the
prince of peace" and was Venerated as
a beardless young man to whom the
secrets of the world were like the talk
of young child. He is presented in
three attitudes. standing. sitting and
reclining. The reclining Buddha is one
of the most difficult In all the world to
get. 1t represents the god leaving his
earthly home and passing forever into
nirvana, the place of eternal rest. The
right hand of Ruddha holds his face as
If he were resting upon lounge, and
his arm. dropping toward his knees,
carries the idea of utter relaxation.
Viewing this picture brings the sug
gestion that he Is floating upon cloud
and that he has already realized what
phases of the future world he must
meet. This is the only Buddha In the
museum which is made Of alabaster. 1t
is so fragile that one foot in the course
OF moving, was cracked and the broken
foot now rests beside the image as if to
tell how false some gods may be.
On the head of the reclining Buddha
are the sacred snails, which sculptors
gave to him that he might be protected