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Easter Island: Early Witnesses

William Thomson


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   The road to Wonosalem led through a magnificent forest, in the depths of which we passed a fine ruin of what appeared to have been a royal tomb or mausoleum. It is formed entirely of stone, and elaborately carved. Near the base is a course of boldly projecting blocks, sculptured in high relief, with a series of scenes which are probably incidents in the life of the defunct. These are all beautifully executed, some of the figures of animals in particular being easily recognizable, and very accurate. The general design, as far as the ruined state of the upper part will permit of its being seen, is very good, the effect being given by an immense number and variety of projecting or retreating courses of squared stones in place of mouldings. The size of the structure is about 30 feet square by 20 feet high, and as the traveler comes suddenly upon it on a small elevation by the road side, overshadowed by gigantic trees, overrun with plants and creepers, and closely backed by the gloomy forest, he is struck by the solemnity and picturesque beauty of the scene, and is led to ponder on the strange law of progress, which looks so like retrogression, and which in so many distant parts of the world has exterminated or driven out a highly artistic and constructive race, to make room for one which, as far as we can judge is very far its inferior. The number and beauty of the architectural remains in Java have never been popularly illustrated or described, and it will therefore take most people by surprise to learn that they far surpass those of Central America, perchance those of India. To give some idea of these ruins, perhaps to excite wealthy amateurs to explore them thoroughly, and to obtain by photography on accurate record of these beautiful sculptures before it is too late, I will enumerate the most important as briefly described in Sir Stanforns Raffle's History of Java.
   Near the center of Java, between the native capitals of Djoko-Kerta and Sura-Kerta, is the village of Brambanam, not far from which are abundance of ruins, the most important being the temples of Loro-Jongran and Chandi-Sewa. At Loro-Jongran there were separate buildings, six large, and fourteen small temples. They are now a mass of ruins, but the largest temple was supposed to have been 90 feet high. They were all constructed of solid stone, everywhere decorated with carvings and bas-reliefs, and adorned with numbers of statues, many of which remain entire. At Chandi-Sewa, or the "thousand temples," are many fine colossal figures. Captain Baker, who surveyed these ruins, said that he had never in his life seen such stupendous and finished specimens of human labor, and the science and taste of ages long since forgotten, crowded together in so small a compass as in this spot. They cover a span of nearly 600 feet square, and consist of an outer row of eighty-four temples; a second row of seventy-six; a third row of sixty-four; a fourth of forty-four; and fifth forming an inner parallelogram of twenty-eight; in all two hundred

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