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Easter Island: Early Witnesses

George Cooke


693

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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