Traditions of the Ainos. 233 



they met the Japanese, and by them were repulsed and turned back 

 into Yezo. 



The belief seems to be general that the world is round, and 

 that it is stationary, the heavenly bodies moving round it. The 

 evidence they adduce in proof of this is that e sun and moon 

 rise on one side and set upon the other. This tradition may 

 have been borrowed from the Japanese, and obtained through 

 the teaching of certain Buddhist priests ; for although, until a very 

 recent period at least, the idea was generally current among the 

 Japanese that the world is flat, it has long been held by certain 

 Buddhist sects that the world is round, and that the heavenly 

 bodies alone move. 



Volcanoes and earthquakes, and all manifestations of vio- 

 lent changes within the earth's crust, receive due explanation. 

 The centre of the earth is supposed to be filled with water, and 

 is generally regarded as an inferno, receiving, therefore, in allu- 

 sion to its wet and undesirable character, the name of Deni-Boko- 

 nashi or " wet hell." This region is presided over by a huge fish, 

 called dokushish. As he swims about and violently lashes his 

 tail, striking it against the walls of the earth, the tremors pro- 

 duced are recognized on the exterior as earthquakes. There are 

 places in the earth, however, which communicate with the inte- 

 rior where the fish dwells, and the latter is thereby enabled to 

 exert his influence upon human destiny. Lake Chitocie is 

 firmly believed to be such an opening, and so implicitly do the 

 Ainos believe in the presence of the dokushish there, and his 

 power to exercise an evil influence over them, that none will 

 venture out upon the deep water. In my experience of the 

 Ainos, though a boat was kept on the lake all the time, no 

 one could be induced to leave the shallow water of the shore, for, 

 said they, " if we go far out, the big fish will surely destroy us." So 

 if one wishes to cross the lake, a distance of some seven or eight 

 miles, he must submit to a circumnavigation. The destructive 

 tendency of this great marine monster is said to have been 

 demonstrated at the expense of many boats and lives. 



The Japanese have a tradition very similar to this, at least 

 so far as the cause of the earthquake is concerned ; with them, 

 the active agent is the namadzu, or cat-fish. This appears to be 

 the same as the Aino dokushish, a fish which is very abundant 

 in certain localities. 



