Easter Island

Easter Island, in the Pacific, in lat. 27° S. and long. 109° W, is a volcanic island of 47 square miles. It is remarkable as having some stone houses and stone statues of peculiar appearance, with inscriptions as yet undeciphered, which seem to indicate a degree of very ancient civilisation. It derives, its name from the fact of its discovery upon Easter Day, 1722. It was visited by Captain Cook in 1773.