EASTER ISLAND.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 216, 16 October 1914, Page 6

EASTER ISLAND.

EXPLORING PARTY ATTACKED,; » RESPONSIBLE NATIVES I DEPORTED. 3 By Cable. — Press Association. — Copyright* f (Received October 16, 8 a.m.) \ LONDON, October 15. 3 , The .commanded of the scientific ex» pedition to Easter Island reports an. r insurrection. A woman dreamed that 1 God had told her the island belonged to " the Kanakas, who attacked vthem, con--3 verging upon the When a 3 Chilian warship came, the ringleaders t were deported. > [Easter Island is a small island of jj volcanic origin, lying to the westward. ° of the South American coast. It is at 3 present inhabited by a race of Polynesian origin, but the huge monoliths and statues in stone found in great quantities all over the island indicate , that it was at one time inhabited by a- '. race much more advanced in civilisal tion. It is believed by many ethnolob gist's that the island was the religious '. centre of an island empire, now for the [ most part submerged, of which islands - , now remaining in the Pacific are the relics. The fact that Easter Island is a volcanic cone, and , that the colossal" statues are found so plentifully upon it, is thought to indicate that in the distant past it was the holy mountain of a van-, ished race. The features of the statues do not resemble the Polynesian type. The island was discovered by the Dutch' Admiral, Roggeveen, in 17-72, and was--visited .by Captain . -Cook .; in now belongs to Chile, and the population is not much more than 150.]