But Some Of The Gentlemen, Who Travelled Over The Island, And Examined Many Of Them, Were Of Opinion That The Stone Of Which They Were Made, Was Different From Any They Saw On The Island, And Had Much The Appearance Of Being Factitious.

We could hardly conceive how these islanders, wholly unacquainted with any mechanical power, could raise such stupendous figures, and afterwards place the large cylindric stones before mentioned upon their heads.

The only method I can conceive, is by raising the upper end by little and little, supporting it by stones as it is raised, and building about it till they got it erect; thus a sort of mount or scaffolding would be made, upon which they might roll the cylinder, and place it upon the head of the statue, and then the stones might be removed from about it. But if the stones are factitious, the statues might have been put together on the place, in their present position, and the cylinder put on by building a mount round them, as above mentioned. But, let them have been made and set up by this or any other method, they must have been a work of immense time, and sufficiently shew the ingenuity and perseverance of these islanders in the age in which they were built; for the present inhabitants have most certainly had no hand in them, as they do not even repair the foundations of those which are going to decay. They give different names to them, such as Gotomoara, Marapate, Kanaro, Goway-too-goo, Matta Matta, &c. &c. to which they sometimes prefix the word Moi, and sometimes annex Areeke. The latter signifies chief, and the former burying, or sleeping-place, as well as we could understand.[4]

Besides the monuments of antiquity, which were pretty numerous, and no where but on or near the sea-coast, there were many little heaps of stones, piled up in different places along the coast. Two or three of the uppermost stones in each pile were generally white, perhaps always so, when the pile is complete. It will hardly be doubted that these piles of stone had a meaning; probably they might mark the place where people had been buried, and serve instead of the large statues.

The working-tools of these people are but very mean, and, like those of all the other islanders we have visited in this ocean, made of stone, bone, shells, &c. They set but little value on iron or iron tools, which is the more extraordinary, as they know their use; but the reason may be, their having but little occasion for them.

[1] "It was impossible for us to guess at the cause of this disproportion in the number of the different sexes; but as all the women we saw were very liberal of their favours, I conjectured at that time, that the married and the modest, who might be supposed to form the greater part, did not care to come near us, or were forced by the men to stay at their dwellings in the remote parts of the island. These few who appeared were the most lascivious of their sex, that perhaps have ever been noticed in any country, and shame seemed to be entirely unknown to them." - G.F.

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