42 



THE LIU-KIU ISLANDS. 



[chap. 



ground. Tliere are, practically, no shops, except for the sale of 

 ordinary domestic articles and the absolute necessaries of life. 

 The smiple tastes of the people and the little intercourse with 

 other countries have not favoured the development of art in any 



form, and the many beautiful objects 

 of that kind that are found in 

 Japan are, it seems, quite unknown 

 in the islands, in spite of the many 

 points of sunilarity in other ways 

 existing between the two nations. 

 Articles of common lacquer are 

 made, but apparently for use rather 

 than ornament. The so-called Liu- 



kiu lacquer — of extreme 

 hardness and of a beauti- 

 fully deep rich red colour, 

 — sometimes, though 

 rarely, to be picked up in 

 Japan — we were unable to 

 procure ; and its produc- 

 tion is said to be a lost 

 art. Xo jewellery is worn, 

 and the dresses, made for 

 the most part of cotton 

 or coarse grass-cloth, have 

 no special interest. The 

 stuffs forming the robes 



of those of higher rank are no doubt imported either from China 

 or Japan. Almost the only souvenirs that we brought away with 

 us were the peculiar silver hair-pins to which I have already 

 alluded, and a musical instrument much like the samisen of the 

 Japanese — a species of banjo with three strings, chiefly remarkable 

 for having the body covered with snake-skin. 



LIU-KIU Samisen. 



