EASTER ISLAND (RAPA-NUI) AND RAPA (RAPA-ITI) ISLAND.
IN the “Revue de L'Ecole D'Anthropologie de Paris” for March, 1910, p. 86, Dr. Couteaud has a paper on Easter Island, in which he treats of the origin of the people, etc. His contribution throws but little further light on this “mystery of the Pacific” with its four hundred stone statues and incised wooden tablets, though the Doctor gives two local traditions which he gathered himself, apparently; the one at Rapa-nui 1 (or Easter Island), the other at Rapa-iti (or Oparo), an island situated in 27° 30' South Latitude, and 144° Long. West, and some eleven hundred and fifty miles south-easterly from Rarotonga; and these are worth perhaps reproducing here for the benefit of any of our members who are engaged in the study of the Polynesian migrations.
The Doctor seems to think it quite possible that some of the Polynesian voyagers reached the South American Coast, and he makes the following quotation from a Chilian author (whose name he does not give) in support of this theory. He says, “The following is the most curious passage, ‘As one does not know whence Mango-Capac and Mama-Oello came from when they reached the empire of the Incas, many persons presume that they came from the west, that is, from Easter Island or from one of the Malay Islands.’ … The belief in an invasion of Malayo-Polynesians or Asiatics was at one time very prevalent in the western parts of South America, where the ancient people have retained the recollection of Chinese junks or of large canoes, elevated at their extremities, which have been cast on the coast.” … Dr. Couteaud further says, “In 1868 Clement (now Sir Clement) Markham of the ‘Topaze’ expressed himself as follows on the subject” (of the statues of Easter Island), “‘It is impossible not to be struck with the resemblance of these monuments to those of the Aymaras, the ancient Peruvian race.’ An old Danish sailor, who - 172 
had lived both in Peru and Easter Island, made the same reflections to me. The statues of Easter Island, therefore, would seem to be an argument in favour of their American origin.”
had lived both in Peru and Easter Island, made the same reflections to me. The statues of Easter Island, therefore, would seem to be an argument in favour of their American origin.”The Doctor says, “A well-informed Tahitian” (M. Nari Salmon, brother of our esteemed member M. Tati Salmon), “who had lived at Easter Island and had made a fine ethnological collection (now in the Museum of Leipzig), told me that the Natives claim to descend from Maoris who came in canoes from distant islands, the most easterly of the Pacific. They even gave the names of these islands which appear not to coincide with any that are now known. If these stories are exact, Easter Island recognises different origins, but in which Rapa (Rapa-iti) holds the most prominent place. … The Easter Islanders have an expressive metaphor indicating the idea that they sprang from a Maori colony; they call their island Te Pito-te-fenua, which signifies the ‘umbilical cord of the land.’ This cord, where is it therefore? At Rapa-(iti), we say, with most of the ethnologists. All the inhabitants of Rapa, those of the Society Islands and adjacent archipelagoes are unanimous in giving to Easter Island the name of Rapa-nui. For the rest, the traditions procured as well in Rapa-(iti) as in Rapa-nui contain the recollection of an exodus indicating that the first of these islands contributed, if not entirely, at least a large part, to the colonisation of the second.”
“On the occasion of many visits to Rapa-(iti) I learnt from the old men the following legend, which, though not unpublished, is little known and has never been reported with fidelity:
“‘A long time ago, vanquished in war, Hotu-rapa, king of Rapa-(iti), fled with his adherents in three canoes laden with provisions. The winds drove them in the direction of Rapa-nui. 2 The canoe of the king, containing a large quantity of fowls, bananas, roots of taro, etc., was the only one that accomplished the voyage in safety. Rapa-nui was inhabited at that time by warriors with long ears (clearly represented in the hieroglyphs of Easter Island). The invaders massacred them, sparing none but the women and girls. Since that great event, twenty-two generations of Maori kings have reigned on Rapa-nui. The first one was Hotu-matua, and the whole of the names have been conserved to modern times.’
“It would seem, therefore, well established, according to these traditions, that the people of Rapa-(iti) colonised Easter Island. In spite of the six hundred and fifty leagues that separate them, intermittent and very risky relations have persisted between these two Maori peoples. A somewhat obscure legend, overlaid by mythology, was told me at Rapa-(iti) on this subject, as follows:
- 173 “‘After a long voyage, a canoe from Rapa-nui arrived one day at Rapa-(iti). It contained no one but women, who debarked half perished with hunger and thirst. No man existed at that time on the deserted shores of Rapa-(iti). The vahines (women, in Maori) despaired of conserving their race, when, at command of one of the party, they threw themselves into the waves, extending their arms towards Rapa-nui and invoking their gods. Their prayers were answered; some of the women conceived, and thus the race was preserved for ever.’
“That legend taken strictly would make Rapa-(iti) a colony of Easter Island. But it is in contradiction with the most accredited traditions, and, perhaps, it simply signifies that communication between the two islands existed. In effect, the stories of the old men state specifically that the two islands only recognised one king, who resided at Rapa-(iti), whom I have seen; he was then about twenty-five years of age.”
“Where, then, is that island, that Rapa, ‘umbilical cord’ of Easter Island? It is a land without history, almost without geography, for the mother is less known than the daughter. Rapa, or Rapa-iti, also called Oparo, is a small island nearly in the same latitude as Easter Island. Its coasts deeply indented make it resemble a crab of ten miles in length by six in width. Its broken surface has no plains; everywhere there are nothing but hills and valleys, with streams and cascades with a narrow border along the sea, on which are the plantations of taro, which, together with fish, form the food of the inhabitants.
“The surface essentially volcanic is covered with a thin bed of sandy soil; nevertheless there is to be found on the heights of the island a bed of coal. The climate, more fresh than that of the tropics, allows much the same growth as Tahiti, but is much less vigorous. The bread-fruit is not to be seen; the cocoanut grows with difficulty, but bears no fruit; the sugar-cane is small and useless; the mangoes are rare and indifferent. On the other hand the vegetables of Europe flourish fairly well. … The inhabitants are tall, robust, with plenty of muscle, darker than the Tahitians because they are less mixed. They are few in number, friendly, hospitable, religious. … When I knew them a quarter of a century ago, they seemed ‘endowed with all the virtues.’ …
“The heights of Rapa are crowned with veritable forts, which recall the pas of New Zealand. These constructions, dating from a considerable antiquity, are composed of platforms built up by heavy stones and earth; and the enclosures furnished with parapets measuring about twelve mētres in length by ten wide. At their bases one finds stone axes and other tools of ordinary use or for defence. The people built their houses in the neighbourhood, and retired to the fortresses at the least alarm. According to the old men, their ancestors were very - 174 warlike, and had two sovereigns, between whom the island was divided and who were frequently at war. The last of these was Parima, regent of Pomare, who was dispossessed of his realm at the time of the union of Tahiti and its dependencies with France.
warlike, and had two sovereigns, between whom the island was divided and who were frequently at war. The last of these was Parima, regent of Pomare, who was dispossessed of his realm at the time of the union of Tahiti and its dependencies with France.“The Tubuai and Gambier (Mangareva) islands are near to Rapa, 3 and relations have existed between them from ancient times. No historic documents or hierogliphic inscriptions have been discovered at Rapa revealing any common origin between that little island and Easter Island; and were it not for the oral traditions one would never suspect the ties that connect the mother to the daughter isle.”
We may remark that the best existing account of Easter Island, its mysterious statues and incised inscriptions on wooden tablets, is to be found in Mr. W. T. Thompson's “Te pito te henua, or Easter Island,” published by the National Museum, Washington, in 1891, which contains many illustrations of the statues and inscriptions, with some (supposed) translations of the latter into Maori and English. It is clear, however, that the Maori is full of errors—possibly due to bad handwriting. The language spoken by the people is very closely allied to that of New Zealand. In the first volume of our “Journal” Dr. Carrol, of Sydney, also gave some translations of the tablets, which he conceives to be expressed in some of the South American languages; whilst Bishop Tepano Jaussen, in 1893, in his “L'Ile de Paques,” also figures some of the tablets and gives their translation in Maori. The Bishop considers that they are expressed in the Maori dialect as still spoken by the Easter Islanders.
In “The Transactions, New Zealand Institute,” Vol. I., 1868, will be found an interesting description of a visit to Rapa (or Rapa-iti), written by Captain Vine Hall, accompanied by a map, a chart of the harbour (a very good one), and several sketches; those showing the stone-faced forts are particularly interesting. They are very like Maori pas, and it is noteworthy that this is the only island in Polynesia where pas are to be found. It has been stated that the Natives came originally from Rarotonga; Rapa was certainly known traditionally to the Rarotongans.
The mystery of Easter Island is not yet solved. It offers to some of our wealthy men a splendid opportunity of adding to the sum of human knowledge by sending an expedition there, members of which should reside on the island for at least twelve months, and gather such information as may perhaps solve the mystery.
In the magazine “Life,” for April, 1910, will be found an article entitled “The Lost Land of the Maoris,” by Captain Barcley, F.R.G.S., F.R.U.S.I., in which he seeks to prove that Easter Island is the - 175 Hawaiki of the Maoris, and bases his argument mainly on the supposed fact that somewhat similar statues to those of Easter Island have been found in New Zealand. These “statues” are the two stone figures on Mokoia Island, Lake Rotorua, named Matua-tonga and Maru-tehe. The author is evidently not well posted in modern research as to the immediate origin of the Maoris, which is now quite conclusively shown to be Tahiti and the adjacent islands. And his argument as to the identity of the Rotorua “statues,” as he calls them, can have no weight when we know that these images, far from having been brought from Hawaiki, as the legends say, are made of the local Ryolitic tufa of Rotorua. They were kumara gods, a male and a female, and no doubt, like all such things, were very sacred. I have seen Matu-tonga myself; it is about four to five feet high and very rudely cut out of the soft tufa, with the head on one side gazing upwards like the faces on the heitiki.
Hawaiki of the Maoris, and bases his argument mainly on the supposed fact that somewhat similar statues to those of Easter Island have been found in New Zealand. These “statues” are the two stone figures on Mokoia Island, Lake Rotorua, named Matua-tonga and Maru-tehe. The author is evidently not well posted in modern research as to the immediate origin of the Maoris, which is now quite conclusively shown to be Tahiti and the adjacent islands. And his argument as to the identity of the Rotorua “statues,” as he calls them, can have no weight when we know that these images, far from having been brought from Hawaiki, as the legends say, are made of the local Ryolitic tufa of Rotorua. They were kumara gods, a male and a female, and no doubt, like all such things, were very sacred. I have seen Matu-tonga myself; it is about four to five feet high and very rudely cut out of the soft tufa, with the head on one side gazing upwards like the faces on the heitiki.Captain Barcley appears to have been on board H.M.S. “Topaze” during her visit to Easter Island, referred to by Dr. Couteaud. He says, writing of the Maoris, “traces of their voyages and travels exist, not only throughout the Southern Pacific but far beyond. On the banks of the Rio Negro, a great river of Patagonia discharging into the Atlantic, there are numerous Maori graves; Maori stone implements have been discovered in Cusco in Peru, and even more wonderful, far inland in South America, on the eastern slopes of the Andes near Santiago del Estero, in Argentine.” It is submitted that whilst there may be some probability of Polynesian voyages being extended to the West Coast of South America, much more information is necessary before such precise statements as those above can be justified.
Again, in the “Revue de L'Ecole D'Anthropologie” for May, 1910, we find the following editorial note on Easter Island. After saying that Pierre Loti has lately written about the island, “who, in effect, knows nothing precise on anything,” goes on to say, “It is to the tablets or inscribed planchettes with pictograph writing, of which a modele (pattern) has been found in South America, that we may reasonably demand the secret of the origin of the authors of these stupade (? gross) statues in stone, and which the Polynesians have copied. It is useful to recall here the publication which the ‘Journal of the Polynesian Society’ (Vol. for 1892, p. 95, 103, and 233) has made. We are not able to give here the translation of that work, now somewhat old. But it is inadvisable that it remains unknown to those who are occupying themselves about the monuments of Easter Island. These inscriptions are estimated as between six hundred and thirteen hundred. They present differences in the vocabularies employed (p. 245) but belong to the Quichua language, and are of the period of the most recent kings of Cuzco.”
1 It has been said that the name Rapa-nui is not known to the Easter Islanders—that it was given by the Chilian slavers to distinguish this island from the other, or Rapa-iti.—Editor.
2 Rapa-nui (Easter Island) is very nearly due east from Rapa-iti, distant about two thousand miles.
3 The first is about four hundred and fifty miles N.W., and the second about six hundred and eighty miles N.E. of Rapa-iti.
No comments:
Post a Comment