There is much we shall never know—the thoughts which passed through the minds of those old image-makers as they worked at their craft, the scenes enacted as their humbler neighbours toilsomely moved the great figures to their place, the weird ceremonies which doubtless marked their erection, not least the story of the persistence which erected and re-erected the burying-places after again and yet again they had been destroyed—such things are gone for ever. But the broad outlines and events of the story, with their approximate dates, to these there is every prospect we shall attain with reasonable certainty, and that before very many years have elapsed. K. R. _April 1920._ CONTENTS PART I _THE VOYAGE TO EASTER ISLAND_ CHAPTER I PAGE THE START 3 Why we went to Easter Island—The Building and Equipping of the Yacht—The Start from Southampton—Dartmouth—Falmouth. CHAPTER II THE VOYAGE TO SOUTH AMERICA 14 A Gale at Sea—Madeira—Canary Islands—Cape Verde Islands—Across the Atlantic. CHAPTER III BRAZIL 34 Pernambuco—Bahia—Cabral Bay—Cape Frio—Rio de Janeiro—Porto Bello—A Pampero. CHAPTER IV ARGENTINA 52 The River Plate—Buenos Aires, its Trade and People. CHAPTER V PATAGONIA 65 Port Desire—Eastern Magellan Straits—Punta Arenas—Western Magellan Straits—Patagonian Channels. CHAPTER VI CHILE 99 Refitting at Talcahuano—Trip to Santiago and across the Summit of the Andes—Valparaiso—To Juan Fernandez—Typhoid on Board—Back to Chile—Juan Fernandez again. CHAPTER VII JUAN FERNANDEZ 111 The Island—Selkirk—Anson—Fate of the _Dresden_. CHAPTER VIII LIFE ON BOARD 115 PART II _EASTER ISLAND_ CHAPTER IX ARRIVAL AT EASTER ISLAND 124 First Impressions—The Story of the El Dorado—_Mana_ despatched.