Logo
Prev
Bookmark
Rotate
Print
Next
Contents
All Pages
Related Articles
Browse Issues
Help
Search
Home
'
National Geographic : 1962 Jan
Contents
they lived in houses made of stone, while their agents took up posts upon the islet of Motu Nui just off the coast. The man who found the first egg of the sooty terns that nested each year on Motu Nui would swim back through the shark-infested waters to the foot of the volcano, climb its sheer face, and present the treasured egg to his leader. A priest would thereupon declare the lucky chief tangatamanu, or bird-man, for the coming year. We saw nothing of the curious cult but the silent stone huts and a jumbled mass of rocks covered with petroglyphs (page 112). Outlined in basalt, stylized tangata manu, bird-masked humans holding eggs in attitudes of reverence, made their offerings beneath an empty sky. Fittingly enough, the only sound to break the stillness was the fretful squawking of birds as they wheeled above the vast abyss of Rano Kao's crater. My wearying horse traced a long loop past Punapau, another extinct volcano KODACHROMEBY SERGIO LARRAIN Only stone foundations remain of an old-time dwell ing near Hotuiti Anchorage. When in use, the house re sembled an inverted longboat. Builders fitted wooden poles into the holes, lashed them together in the form of an arch, and covered them with thatch. Trees Imported From Tahiti Shade a Modern Home on an Island Once Almost Barren of Trees Here, in the quiet village of Hanga Roa, lives Easter's en tire population, some 1,100 people. Corrugated-iron roofs catch rain, for water is scarce. Grass-carpeted street in foreground provides a playground for the boy and his dog. Easter's five Jeeps present no traffic problem. 106
Links
Archive
1962 Feb
1961 Dec
Navigation
Previous Page
Next Page