"His mind had been struck by a phenomenon in the torrid zone," says the narrative. "As long as the ships remained in these latitudes, we had had scarcely any night, and he had seen that we could write at midnight by the light of the sun. OEdidi could scarcely believe his eyes, and he assured us that his fellow countrymen would put him down as a liar, if he talked to them of petrified rain, and of perpetual day."
The young Tahitan had time to become accustomed to this phenomenon, for the ship advanced as far as 76° south, amidst floating ice. Then, convinced that if a continent existed the ice made access to it impossible, Cook determined to proceed to the North.
General dissatisfaction prevailed; no one on board was free from severe colds, or from an attack of scurvy. The captain himself was seriously affected by bilious sickness, which kept him in bed. For eight days his life was in danger, and his recovery was likely to be equally painful and slow. The same route was followed until the 11th of March, when with the rising of the sun the joyful cry of "Land! land!" arose.
It was the Easter Island, of Roggewein's Davis' Land. Upon nearing it, the navigators were struck with astonishment, as the Dutch had been, by the enormous statues erected on the shore. Cook says that the latitude of Easter Island answers very closely to that marked in Roggewein's MS. journal, and its longitude is only one degree wrong.
The shore, composed of black broken rock of ferruginous appearance, shows traces of violent subterranean eruption. A few scattered plantations were perceived in the centre of the island.
Singular coincidence! The first word spoken by the natives as the strangers approached the shore, was to ask in the Tahitan tongue for a rope. This again suggested that the origin of both races was the same. Like the Tahitans they were tattooed, and clothed in stuffs similar to those of the Society Islands.
"The action of the sun on their heads," says the narrative, "has forced them to find different means for protecting themselves. The greater number of the men wear a circular head-covering about two inches thick, twisted with grass from one side to the other, and covered with a great quantity of those long, black feathers which adorn the frigate bird. Others have enormous hats of brown gulls' feathers, almost as large as the wigs of European lawyers, and many have a simple wooden hoop, surrounded with white gulls' feathers, which wave in the air. The women wear large and wide hats of neat plaits, which come to a point in front, with a ridge along the top, and two great lobes on either side.
"The country was a picture of desolation. It was surveyed by two detachments, and was found to be covered with black and porous stones. The entire vegetation which could thrive on this mass of lava consisted of two or three kinds of rugose grass, which grew on the rocks, scanty bushes, especially the paper-mulberry, the 'hibiscus,' and the mimosa, and some plantains. Close to the landing-place is a perpendicular wall, constructed of square stones, compactly and durably joined in accordance with art rules, and fitting in a style of durability. Further on, in the centre of a well-paved area, a monolith is erected, representing a half-naked human figure, some twenty1 feet high, and more than five wide, very roughly hewn. The head is badly designed, the eyes, nose, and mouth scarcely indicated, but the ears are very long, as is the fashion in this country, and are better finished than the rest."
1 In the earlier editions of the French translation of Cook's Voyages (Paris, 1878, seven 4to vols.), the height of this statue is given as two feet, evidently by a typographical error. We now correct this mistake, which has been repeated in all subsequent editions.
These monuments, which are numerous, do not appear to have been erected or hewn by the race the English found, or this race had degenerated; for these natives paid no respect to the statues, although they treated them with a certain veneration, and objected to any one's walking on the pavement near them.