Palm Trees, Mana, and the Moving of the Moai

Abstract

In his description of Easter Island, Captain James Cook (1777) reports, "... the country appeared quite barren and without wood," and the naturalist G. Forster noted, "... there was not a tree upon the island which exceeded the height of ten feet". That was in 1774, and even today the only large trees to be found have been introduced-primarily eucalyptus and a few dozen coconut palms brought in from Tahiti.