The island gets its name from its discovery by the Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen, on Easter (April 5) in 1722. Roggeveen’s first impression was not of a paradise but of a wasteland.
The island Roggeveen saw was grassland without a single tree or bush over ten feet high. The islanders Roggeveen encountered had no source of real firewood to warm themselves during Easter Island's cool, wet, windy winters. Their native animals included nothing larger than insects.For domestic animals, they had only chickens.