Traditions of the Ainos. 235 



mountains bounding the Tshicari Valley on the north, to Shoya 

 on the extreme north and Mombetsu on the east. The southern 

 island was known as Mado-mai, and embraced the territory from 

 Chitocie Lake on the north to Hakodate and Matsu-mai on the 

 south. Tradition does not inform us as to the time which has 

 since elapsed. After a time, however, there was a great earth- 

 quake, and the earth became violently agitated, being thrown up 

 into great waves. This lasted for one hundred days. This un- 

 usual commotion caused the surface to be thrown up into great 

 folds, and volcanoes and mountains to rise where plains had 

 been known before. The first volcano to appear was that near 

 Usiu, and known to the Ainos as Abouta. The second was 

 Sawara, on the southern shore of Volcano Bay ; while the third 

 volcano was Tarumai on the south-east coast near Tomakomai and 

 on the eastern shore of Lake Chitocie. This general commotion 

 furthermore caused a general elevation by which the islands 

 became united. The name, Mado-mai, formerly applied to the 

 southern island, now became the name of the southern district, 

 but more particularly of a town on its southern coast, and this 

 name, once distinctly Aino, became subsequently corrupted by the 

 Japanese into Matsumai, by which the former capital of the island 

 is now known. 



By some it is related that the Ainos were always friendly 

 toward one another, but united in their antipathy toward the 

 Japanese, for whom they had a well-defined dislike. This tradi- 

 tion evidently relates to a period subsequent to the union of the 

 two islands. Such a change might naturally be conceived to 

 bring about conditions favoring amity, where before jealous rivalry 

 alone existed ; and this would be the more probable, if there were 

 a common enemy to combat. It is very difficult to obtain any 

 account which points directly to open warfare with the Japanese 

 in the past, and there is a reserve thrown about any narration of 

 this sort, as well as about the conveyance of information touching 

 matters of present moment, which indicates a strong and inher- 

 ent dread of their conquerors. If we were to give these traditions 

 the weight of truth, that relating to amicable relations amons the 

 various Aino tribes, and combined enmity toward the Japanese, 

 would seem to indicate that the geological changes here spoken of 

 must have occurred before the Japanese occupation, for well- 



