Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 28, 1917.djvu/407

 in regard to Easter Island. -^"Ji

tara (Sooty tern) itself (Fig. 15), the straight, pointed beak and forked tail pointing to this bird. But many of the other representations equally clearly represent the frigate- bird, with hooked beak and forked tail, or in several instances portray an anthropomorphized bird having frigate-bird attributes, I shall refer to many of these designs later when dealing with the hieroglyphic symbols on the inscribed tablets, but I would specially draw attention here to some examples of the designs representing half-bird half-man figures, of which more than 100 were seen by Mr. and Mrs. Routledge carved in relief on the rocks at Orongo, the centre of the annual ceremony, which are believed to represent the Bird-men, or winners in the successive annual races for the sacred egg. One of the illustrations which I give (Fig. 16) represents a bird-headed human figure grotesquely rendered, and another (Fig. 17) shows a similar figure which has a special interest, inasmuch as it is represented as carrying the sacred egg in its hand. Presumably, both these designs are concerned with the cult of Manu tara, and the second example certainly seems to represent the Bird-man carrying his trophy. At the same time, it cannot be said that the sharp, straight beak of the tern is at all clearly indicated, the beaks are in fact thick and heavy- looking. Moreover, the suggestion (especially pronounced in Fig. 17) of a gular pouch, seems to point to contamination with older designs representing the frigate-bird. That these designs were modified from an original representing the anthropomorphized frigate-bird is practically proved by three examples collected during the visit of the German cruiser " Hyane," which are figured by Geiseler.^ In each instance two identical figures having human bodies and birds' heads are shown seated opposite to one another with hands joined. In two of the designs which are bas-rehefs on stone-slabs, the birds' beaks curve strongly downward at the tips, while in the third, of which I give a copy (Fig.

1 0s/er Insel, 1883, plates 1 5, 17 and 18.