A STUDY OF THE AINU OF YEZO. 205 



In stature they are rather under the average of the Caucasian;, 

 nor do they seem to be as tall as the southern Japanese, but upon 

 this point I am not prepared to make any positive statement, as 

 I took no measurements. Batchelor says : " Their men would 

 measure about five feet seven inches in height. . . . Their fore- 

 heads are high, and the facial angle measures about 70°." I can 

 not but think this is rather taller than the average ; for one 

 young man who seemed quite a giant among his fellows could 

 not have been more than five feet eight inches in height. Their 

 proportions are good, and the men are both stout and squarely 

 built, the whole appearance being rather more attractive than 

 that of the Japanese of the same relative standing. Their at- 

 tractiveness, however, does not tempt one to anything like famil- 

 iarity, as in their personal habits they are the very personifica- 

 tion of dirtiness. Washing of person or clothing for the sake of 

 cleanliness never seems to be considered of the slightest impor- 

 tance to them. In warm weather the younger people are tempted 

 to cool off a bit by bathing and swimming in the rivers or salt- 

 water estuaries near the villages ; but, during all of my expe- 

 rience '(and this is fully confirmed by the statements of others 

 who have had longer knowledge of them), I never once saw a 

 man or a woman performing anything like ablutions in an Ainu 

 village. When brought under civilizing influences, they adapt 

 themselves to their environment, and make very good servants. 



An old custom of the people forbids an Ainu woman exposing 

 her person in any way. Some go so far as to say that they must 

 not be unclothed even in private. Consequently, the girls whom 

 I saw in bathing wore their cotton gowns, cut in the shape of a 

 shift, while the boys were without clothing of any kind, though 

 some of them wore amulets (of Japanese origin) tied around their 

 necks. 



I was particularly struck by the shapeliness of the Ainu 

 limbs and extremities. Some of the women had small hands 

 and feet, attached to well-turned wrists and ankles, whose sym- 

 metry and delicacy of shape dirt could not hide. The color of 

 the skin seems to be darker than that of the Japanese, but just 

 how much of this is due to exposure, and how much to their 

 antipathy to water and utter ignorance of soap, it is impossible 

 to even guess. 



The face is round and broad, and although it is lacking in 

 length as a rule, yet in many instances the chin is not badly 

 shaped ; the lips are large without being disgustingly gross ; the 

 eyes are dark-brown in color, and rather larger than those of the 

 Japanese, without any drooping of the inner corner of the upper 

 lid, and hence appear to be straight, without any of the obliquity 

 which characterizes the Mongolian eyes ; the cheek-bones are 



