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an unfinished condition; that many more are to be
found in the quarries, both inside the crater and
on its outer slope, in all states of development
and inferring from this that the workmen suddenly
ceased their labors, the thought readily suggests
itself, in explanation of the mystery, that either
Rana Roraka or one of the neighboring volcanoes
suddenly entered into a state of activity, threw
out these showers of stones and, probably
destroying many lives, stopped the labors of the
workmen, which were thenceforth never resumed.
Perhaps, too, the same calamity overthrew many of
the idols, of which not one is now standing on its
pedestal, laid waste the island, and wrought the
destruction of the trees which once adorned it,
and from the period of the occurrence of that
disaster, the time of which can only be remotely
guessed at, dates the decadence, of the ancient
people of Te Pito te henua.
The soil of the island
is very rich and productive, scant and unpromising
as it may appear in many places, and with proper
clearing and cultivation, and the planting of
the appropriate varieties of food, such as could
be stored for consumption during the dry season,
supplemented by the sustenance to be derived
from the supplies of fish taken, with which the
waters abound, a very large population might, no
doubt, be maintained.
As to the supply of water requisite for such a
number of people, objection on that ground is not
insuperable. Diligent search was made by the
writer for the remains of cisterns, or any other
evidences which they might have left of having had
reservoirs for the storage of the precious fluid.
None such were to be seen anywhere, and yet they
might have possessed them, but of so perishable a
character that all traces have long since been
obliterated. It seems certain that they had no
knowledge of any cement; it is not likely,
therefore, that their reservoirs would have been
built of stone. Then, too, there remains the fact
of the immense bodies of water stored in these
natural cisterns, the craters, particularly of
Rana Kao. Here is a volume of water, at the
present time at least 300 feet in depth, with a
circumference at the surface of 2½ miles, and, if
the parts of the crater visible above the water
line be extended downward, probably conical in
shape. A moment's consideration will show that
here is a supply of water sufficient for an
almost unlimited number of beings for an
indefinite period. It may easily be imagined,
also, that measures were most likely taken to
maintain its purity, and that a people as
intelligent as they appear to have been had some
device for obviating the labor of transportation
to the top of the crater.
From what has been said it would appear that, even
at the present day, the physical characteristics
and natural conditions governing the island are
not incompatible with the existence and well-being
of a large population. I was not surprised,
therefore, when Mr. Salmon informed me that
from 1850 to 1860 the number of inhabitants was
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