Pierre Loti dibujó y registró en sus cuadernos de guardiamarina sus impresiones, datos de la población y paisajes, logrando llevar a Francia un testimonio real de la cultura Rara Nui.

Pierre Loti drew in his midshipman notebook impressions, population data and landscapes, succeeded in bringing France a real testament of the Rapa Nui Culture

The 6th of June in 1871 was a very sad day for the Rapanui.  Half of them abandoned the Island with the Catholic missionaries after unending attacks by the despotic Frenchman Dutrout-Bornier, who had transformed the Island into a sheep station, with subterfuge and threats, taking over 13,237 hectares (32,710 acres) of the 16,000 hectares (nearly 40,000 acres) that are the Island.  (Steven Roger Fischer).  The only positive aspect of this situation was that the constant battles between the Rapanui themselves had stopped.   The group which supported the missionaries, who had refused to legitimize Bornier’s tactics with their signatures, was leaving the Island, following the priests and brothers to their new destination in Mangareva.  The other 175 who remained on the Island settled mostly in Mataveri and Hanga Roa with a very few in Vaihu, and all becoming laborers for Bornier.  He centralized all authority and on several occasions attempted to obtain French protection.

Intrigued by Bornier’s proposition, the French government ordered the Commander in Chief of their great Pacific Fleet, Admiral F. de Lapelin, to visit Rapa Nui in order to explore it and, incidentally, to take one of the monumental stone statues for the Louvre.  Between the 3rd and the 8th of January in 1872, the frigate “La Flore” anchored in the bay of Hanga Roa while De Lapelin obtained valuable information from the only white man resident on the Island, a Dane by the name of Schmidt, who was replacing Bornier during one of his temporary absences.

On board “La Flore” was also a young cadet, Julien Viaud, who later would become famous as a writer and novelist under the pen name of Pierre Loti.  During his stay, he interacted with some of the Islanders, visited their small huts and traded for some stone and wood sculptures and other ornamental objects.  Pierre Loti, in his writing, tells that in one of the huts, shaped like an overturned boat and only 4 meters (13 feet) long by 2 meters (6.5 feet) wide and 1.5 meters (less than 5 feet) high, lived no less than seven people, without counting the many chickens, seven cats and some rabbits.  In the interior he was able to distinguish, hanging on the wall, some small wooden idols wrapped in a vegetable fiber, obsidian points, feather adornments and other items.  Atamu, an Islander, led Loti to Rano Raraku to see the Moai.  Returning at sunset, he had the opportunity to meet the wife of the Dane : “She was wearing European rags of many colors and was tattooed on the lips.  She served us a drink of fresh water, something scarce on the Island because it can only be gotten after a heavy rain.  Otherwise, they have no option except to take water from the craters of the volcanoes.”

He shared his time on the Island with the natives, describing them as “inoffensive with a sweet and childish face, which inspires no fear, with long hair, special smiles of white teeth and eyes that carry a deep sadness.”   Pierre Loti sketched and wrote his impressions in his seaman’s notebooks, making note of data on the population and the scenery, and taking back to France a true testimony of the Rapanui culture.  His book “Easter Island” was published in Europe in 1899 and is today a reference document used by many ethnographers.  It gave the Western World an early view of Rapa Nui and its megalithic statues.  The head of one of the statues is now on exhibit in the Musée de l´Homme in Paris.

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