Page:The Boy Travellers in Australasia.djvu/97

Rh of a race something like the Maoris of New Zealand, and they speak a language similar to those people. Although undoubtedly a cannibal race—in fact, one old man speaks with enthusiasm when asked regarding the custom—they are at present quiet and enlightened, but retain many superstitious ideas which they have received by transmission. They venerate a small sea-bird, the egg of which is sacred to them, and their season of feast begins in August, when the first eggs of these birds are taken from two barren rocks near the cliffs. Men and youths swim to these rocks, and the one who first secures an egg is held in high esteem; he lords it over the others for twelve months, his food being furnished for him, and he is not permitted to bathe for three months. A recent visitor says the people are so dirty that you could suppose every man, woman, and child had performed the successful feat the last feast-time. The last king was Kai Makor, who died about 1864, when Peruvian ships visited Rapa Nui, and a number of the natives were seized and taken to work the guano on the Chincha Islands, where the greater number died. A few were finally sent back, and they brought with them small-pox, which caused great havoc and nearly depopulated the island. Water is scarce, but the climate is equable, and one of the most delightful in the world, the thermometer seldom registering higher than 75° to 80° during the warmest season.

"An image and some other curiosities were brought away in 1886 by the United States steamer Mohican, which visited the island in that year. They are now in the Naval Museum at Washington, and it is hoped that some one will be able to decipher the hieroglyphics, which thus far have remained without an interpreter."