2o8 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



woven witli a small liand-loom, wliich is lield by the toes and a 

 cord passing around the body. This loom is a very rough affair, 

 but in all essential parts is similar to the hand-loom still to be 

 seen in parts of the United States. • The cloth is very rough and 

 hard, but extremely durable. The piece is narrow, but just 

 suited to the one pattern of outer garment worn by men and 

 women alike : this is something like the Japanese kimono, but 

 higher in the neck, and has more shapely sleeves. It is a long, 

 perfectly straight gown, reaches nearly to the feet, folds across 

 the body, and is secured at the waist by a girdle similar to the 

 Japanese ohi, but much narrower and nothing like so elaborate. 

 The Ainu are very fond of ornamenting this gown with broad 

 stripes of blue cotton cloth (an inch or two wide), stitched on in 

 geometrical figures with thread, which makes a contrast : these 

 figures are usually put on the front corners, around the neck, on 

 the yoke, and on the sleeves. A burial-robe, which I saw in the 

 Ainu collection of the Satporo Museum, was made of the attush, 

 tan-colored, and ornamented with stripes of Turkey-red (an inch 

 and a quarter wide), stitched with black, and with dark-blue 

 cotton cloth stitched with thread of a lighter shade. The de- 

 sign was straight or at right angles, only one or two slightly 

 curved lines appearing in a most intricate pattern. 



The durability of the Ainu coat, with a certain attractiveness 

 about the trimming, makes it quite popular with the Japanese, 

 and as soon as one lands on the island of Yezo the Ainu styles 

 are seen. The sleeves of this coat are much more sensible than 

 those of the Japanese, which are long and constantly flapping 

 about the legs, whereas the Ainu fits rather snugly about the 

 wrist. Like the Japanese, the Ainu married women wear an 

 under-garment, or smock, of cotton cloth ; usually this is merely 

 a straight piece of cloth folded around the waist and loins. In 

 winter the Ainu wear skin-clothing, and leggings and boots made 

 of deerskin ; the coast Ainu make boots of salmon-skin. 



Girdles — or obi — are made of attush or elm-fiber. A woman's 

 obi, which I have, is made of hemp. It is eight feet long and 

 only two inches wide, coarsely woven of large thread, with nar- 

 row, dark-blue stripes on the edges and half-way between the 

 edges and middle, and one broader stripe in the center with a 

 light-blue median line. Near each end is a little bit of red as 

 an added ornament. The Karafuto (Saghalien) Ainu women 

 wear girdles made of leather, and ornamented with rings and 

 Chinese cash, which they probably get from Mantchooria. The 

 Ainu do not protect their heads and feet at all, except during 

 the winter. 



One of the most common things seen in an Ainu village is 

 the tara, or strap used for carrying all manner of bundles, and 



