II.] HAIR-ALTARS. 41 



Statements made by the natives, it was supposed that they belonged 

 to a race which had preceded the present inhabitants of the island. 

 The presence of a presumed emblem of Phallic worship in the 

 ■\'icinity was thought to confirm the fact, but these objects are 

 so frcLXuent in Japan that it is scarcely likely to have owed its 

 existence to any other country. It is, however, by no means 

 improbable that a prehistoric race did exist, if we judge from the 

 analogy of other islands in these seas. It is curious that dug-out 

 canoes should be in use at the present day in Liu-kiu, more 

 especially as the materials necessary for their construction cannot 

 be too plentiful. They are in this part of the world almost purely 

 characteristic of a Malayan race, and would be more likely to 

 be the last relics of a bygone people than later introductions to a 

 much further advanced civilisation. Further exploration, however, 

 may perhaps set the matter at rest, for the islands are practically 

 tcrrce incognitce even at the present day ; and with the sole exception 

 of the short excursion made by some members of the American 

 expedition, the interior has as yet remained totally unvisited by 

 Europeans. 



During our rambles in the streets of Xapha we several times 

 noticed little stone edifices about four or five feet in height, re- 

 sembling somewhat the shape of the large stone lanterns so common 

 in Japan. These were full of little rolls of human hair, — the refuse 

 combings from Liu-kiuan toilet-tables to all appearances. Our 

 friend the Japanese doctor, whom I asked about them, did not 

 know their use, but referred to a native. We were told that the 

 hair was burnt in them on certain occasions by the priests. In 

 China there are, I believe, small altars of a somewhat similar 

 nature, in which all scraps of paper with writing on them are 

 burnt, lest the name of any deity which may happen to Idc inscribed 

 on them should be exposed to the dishonour of being trodden in 

 the dirt. But what was the meaning of the burnt offerings of hair 

 we could not discover. 



To the curio-hunter the Liu-kiu Islands are a most unprofitable 



