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Easter Island: Early Witnesses
William Thomson
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a valuable collection of curios and relics of the former inhabitants. Nearly all of our first night on shore was devoted to the purchase and cataloguing of specimens from Mr. Salmon's collection, all of which will be referred to and described elsewhere. Duplicates were obtained of all articles furnished Lieut. Commander Geisler, of the Hyane, for the museum at Berlin, and of those collected by the Topaze for the British Museum, together with original tablets and other relics of great interest and value that had escaped the attention of former collectors.
RECONNAISANCE TO RANA KAO.
Sunday, December 19.-Made an early start from Vaihu and rode to the central elevations called Mount Teraai, Mount Punapau, and Mount Tuatapu and inspected the quarries from whence the red tufa was obtained which formed the crowns or head-dresses that ornamented all the huge images. Following the road to the southwest we made the ascent of Rana Kao. The crater is nearly circular and about a mile in diameter (Plate XVII), with steep jagged sides, or walls, except on the south, where the lava-flow escaped to the sea. A lake fills the bottom of what was once the volcanic caldron; the water is of great depth and the surface covered with a coat of peat, so dense and strong that cattle range over it, finding food at irregular intervals. The surface of the lake is about 700 feet from the top, but the cattle have made a path by which the descent can be made with safety.
Skirting the edge of the crater to the southward the ridge becomes narrower, falling precipitously a thousand feet to the sea on one side, and descending abruptly into the crater on the other until it terminates in an elongated wall of rock rising to a sharp, jagged edge impassable to either man or beast. Just where this elevated edge contracts rapidly towards the south are located the ancient stone-houses of Orongo. (Plate XVIII). These burrow-like dwellings were built with little regard to streets, avenues, etc., but were regulated by the contour of the land. Piles of débris in one or two spots marked the destroying hand of former investigators, but the large majority of the houses were intact, and in some instances the openings had been sealed up with stone, making it difficult to outline the original entrances. These dwellings were constructed without windows or other openings except a door-way so low and narrow that an entrance could only be effected by crawling upon the hands and knees, while in many cases it was necessary to creep serpent-like through the contracted confines. Many interiors were inspected by the light of candles provided for the purpose and houses marked for thorough investigation on the morrow. ). These burrow-like dwellings were built with little regard to streets, avenues, etc., but were regulated by the contour of the land. Piles of débris in one or two spots marked the destroying hand of former investigators, but the large majority of the houses were intact, and in some instances the openings had been sealed up with stone, making it difficult to outline the original entrances. These dwellings were constructed without windows or other openings except a door-way so low and narrow that an entrance could only be effected by crawling upon the hands and knees, while in many cases it was necessary to creep serpent-like through the contracted confines. Many interiors were inspected by the light of candles provided for the purpose and houses marked for thorough investigation on the morrow.
While tracing and sketching the sculptured rocks in the vicinity of Orongo, the declining sun hastened the departure for Vaihu, where the hours after our evening meal were devoted to making notes of the native traditions as translated by Mr. Salmon, until that good-natured gentleman
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