Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 28, 1917.djvu/384

 350 The Bird Cult of Easter Island.

told " Kaho ki te hiva," " Go to the world outside " ; there was no objection to eating the young birds. The tara departed from Motu Nui about March, but a few stragglers remained ; we saw one bird and obtained eggs at the begin- ning of July, but the natives failed to get any for us in August. When in the following spring the new Bird-man had achieved his egg, he brought it to Orohie and was given the old one which he buried in a gourd in a cranny of Rano Raraku ; he then took the place of his predecessor, who returned to his ordinary life.

While the foregoing may be described as the accepted procedure in connection with the finding of the first egg, it must not, as will readily be understood, be regarded as absolutely fixed and unvarying — the ceremonial of even an English Coronation is subject to alteration. Also before the end the cult admittedly degenerated and residence at Orongo was abandoned. Some years the race was a " walk over " for one man, the remaining competitors having been squared ; on other occasions the finders of further eggs in the hunt beside the absolute first one were allowed to count as bird-men.^ In this last case the year was said, in answer to a question, to be known by the name of the name of the first finder, all the eggs being finally disposed of in one gourd. It was very definitely volunteered that this plurality was" a late development, that originally there was only one bird-man each year. When there were thus several winners one hopu used sometimes to act for more than one employer ; a single employer also might have more than one hopu. The fourth year before the final end seems to have been very much "go as you please," for four clans took part and there were ten winners ; two hopu had two employers each, and three bird-men took their own eggs, one also acting for another man. With regard to the disposal of the egg one old man said that it was not

'This accounts for the large number of bird-men still survi%-ing, see above.