Various old people were brought out from the village at Hanga Roa to pay visits to the camp, but the information forthcoming was never of great extent; one elderly gentleman in particular took much more interest in roaming round the mountain, recalling various scenes of his youth, than in anything connected with the statues. A few names are still remembered in connection with the individual figures, and are said to be those of the makers of the images, and some proof is afforded of the reality of the tradition by the fact that the clans of the persons named are consistently given. Another class of names is, however, obviously derived merely from local circumstances; one in the quarry, under a drip from above, is known by the equivalent for “Dropping Water,” while a series inside the crater are called after the birds which frequent the cliff-side, “Kia-kia, Flying,” “Kia-kia, Sitting,” and so forth. A solitary legend relates to an unique figure, resembling rather a block than an image, which lies on the surface on the outside of the mountain (no. 24, fig. 60). It is the single exception to the rule mentioned above, that no evolution can be traced in the statues on the island. The usual conception is there, and the hands are shown, but the head seems to melt into the body and the ear and arm to have become confused. It is said to have been the first image made and is known as Tai-haré-atua, which tradition says was the name of the maker. He found himself unable to fashion it properly, and went over to the other side of the island to consult with a man who lived near Hanga Roa, named Rauwai-ika. He stayed the night there, but the expert remained silent, and he was retiring disappointed in the morning, when he was followed by his host, who called him back. “Make your image,” said he, “like me,”—that is, in form of a man.
On our first visit to the mountain, overcome by the wonder of the scene, we turned to our Fernandez boy and asked him what he thought of the statues. Like the classical curate, when the bishop inquired as to the character of his egg, he struggled manfully between the desire to please and a sense of truth; like the curate, he took refuge in compromise. “Some of them,” he said doubtfully, he thought “were very nice.” If the figures at first strike even the cultured observer as crude and archaic, it must be remembered that not only are they the work of stone tools, but to be rightly seen should not be scrutinised near at hand. “Hoa-haka-nanaia,” for instance, is wholly and dismally out of place under a smoky portico, but on the slopes of a mountain, gazing in impenetrable calm over sea and land, the simplicity of outline is soon found to be marvellously impressive. The longer the acquaintance the more this feeling strengthens; there is always the sense of quiet dignity, of suggestion and of mystery.
FIG. 58.
STATUES ON RANO RARAKU, SHOWING DISTENSION OF EAR.
LOBE REPRESENTED AS A ROPE
[Nos. 27 and 29. Fig. 60.]
FIG. 59.
LOBE CONTAINING A DISC.
[No. 23. Fig. 60.]
FIG. 60A.
KEY TO DIAGRAMMATIC SKETCH.
FIG. 60.
EXTERIOR OF RANO RARAKU. EASTERN PORTION OF SOUTHERN ASPECT.
Diagrammatic sketch showing position of statues.