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8 o'clock in the morning of the day mentioned,
and, passing through the villages of Mataveri and
Hanga Roa, struck the coast line abreast of the
ship at Hanga Roa Bay on the western side of the
island, and thence proceeded in a northerly
direction. The indentations of the coast were
closely followed; every part of the ground
carefully examined; each image platform discovered
was accurately measured and plotted on the chart
prepared for the purpose; the number of stone
images was noted, and where there were
"indications" excavations were made; crania, when
uncovered and in good condition, were preserved;
caves were visited and searched; the bearings of
promontories, points of land, mountains, etc.,
were taken for corrections on the chart, and so
on. The work was tedious and laborious; the
ground gone over was rugged and uneven, rocky at
times, at others densely strewn with volcanic
bowlders of every shape and size, the sharp points
of which proved very trying to the feet. Again,
our path lay over ground covered with hummock
grass, the hard tufts of which made insecure
footing and caused frequent turning and spraining
of the ankles. Then, too, it was necessary to
retrace our steps oftentimes, as well as to follow
the windings of the cliffs, so that, although
constantly moving from place to place, our
progress in a direct line was slow and the work
exhausting in the extreme.
Toward the middle of
the afternoon two of the natives, who were
thoroughly acquainted with the region and who
reported "good water" at a certain point ahead,
with two of our own people, taking with them the
pack animals, were sent forward to select a
camping place for the night. Subsequently one of
the natives returned and piloted us to the point
selected, at a considerable distance from the sea,
which we reached at 5 p.m., weary but in
excellent spirits. We found here an
inviting-looking place, covering a space of about
a hundred feet square, inclosed by a stone wall
and with banana trees, stalks of sugar cane, and
taro growing in profusion. Inside was the opening
to a small but comfortable cave, sufficiently
large to accommodate all our people, who were
assigned to it, while a tent, improvised of
blankets and waterproof coats, was erected outside
the inclosure against another stone wall for the
accommodation of the officers. It having been
suggested by the writer that for convenience of
future reference we name our nightly stopping
places, this, our first nightly abode, was, by
unanimous consent, christened "Camp Mohican."
Although the distance on the chart in a straight
line from our starting point in the morning to the
site of our first camp measured but about 5 miles,
we must have traversed fully three times that
space in going around headlands and bays, crossing
and recrossing, inspecting and measuring
platforms.
Soon after a hearty meal, a
constituent of which was baked lamb Rapa Nui style
(18,000 head of sheep roam the island), and a
comfortable smoke, darkness coming on, all hands
turned in for the night, the
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