"The Days of a Man 1900 



phizing on things in general. For twenty minutes we 

 listened to the steady stream, until, during a mo- 

 ment's pause for breath, a cat crossed the floor and 

 joined us at the fire. Whereupon I remarked "neko," 

 the Japanese word for cat, a simple move which 

 tended to check the swelling current of oratory. I 

 next pointed to his daughter, saying "musume," 

 maiden. This brought him down from the clouds, 

 and he turned to common things, trying to discuss 

 the weather with my boatmen, who, like myself, 

 knew not a word of Ainu. 



In the other huts I entered to pay my respects, the 

 men were also at home; these, though younger than 

 the chief, with long, black, curly hair and patriarchal 

 beards, had the same weak nose and brown, appealing 

 eyes. But not another soul said a word in my pres- 

 ence, and the children would neither play with me 

 nor respond in any way to my advances. 



Most of the women were busy picking over sea- 

 urchins, the eggs of which they save as food. The 

 married ones all show the outline of a black mustache 

 tattooed on the upper lip, a custom the Japanese have 

 tried to discourage. But despite that disfiguring 

 mark, some of the younger wives were handsome in 

 a sad, sallow way, and the girls seemed healthy and 

 vigorous. The Japanese order them all about merci- 

 lessly, however, and it is evident that they regard 

 their rulers as superior beings, in spite of their own 

 greater size and physical strength as well as more 

 imposing appearance. 



According to ethnological theory, the Ainus are a 

 branch of the Aryan race, belonging to the group 

 vaguely known as Turanian and remotely allied to the 

 tribes of the Caucasus; indeed, they may perhaps 



n 58 3 



