422 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1890. 



tsucM-gumo, refers to the same people. In the light of the observations 

 related further on, it would also seem probable that the pits of Yezo 

 are the ruins of the dwellings once occupied by them, now affording 

 landmarks whereby we may trace the migrations of a once uumerous 

 people to their disappearance and oblivion. 



Iu the year 1878 Prof. John Milne* visited Shumushu or Peroi Island, 

 the most northern of the Kuriles. There, at the village of Myrup, he 

 found a small colony of migratory people who made huts over excava- 

 tions. His account of them is short. He writes : 



Here there were three wooden houses which had heen built by the Russians, and 

 quite a number (perhaps a score) of half underground dwellings. Ou landing we 

 found that all these were deserted, and in many cases even difficult to find, owing to 

 the growth of wormwood and wild grasses. 



The inhabitants of the islaud, who call themselves Kurilsky, are twenty- three in 

 in number. They chiefly live at a place called Seleuo, about 4 miles distant. I men- 

 tion these people, as they seem to be the only inhabitants of the Kuriles north of 

 Iturup (Yeterof). 



It appears that the dwellers in the deserted houses were migratory. 

 Professor Milne has elsewhere declared that "these excavations have 

 a striking resemblance to the pits which we find further south." 



A Japanese author, Mr. Y. Hashiba, has published a description of 

 some peculiar dwellings built over pits, which he found iu Shonai, on 

 the west coast of the northern part of the main islaud of Japan. 

 I am indebted to Mr. P. Jaisohn for a partial translation of this arti- 

 cle, which is written in Japanese. There are two huts, built over 

 circular pits about 1 foot iu depth by 2 to 3 yards in diameter. 

 The framework of one is of reeds, that of the other of branches, 

 over which there is a covering of earth 2 feet thick. Iu the middle of 

 the floor is a triangular fireplace. Other pits were found iu the vicin- 

 ity and fragments of pottery, but the pottery is said to differ from that 

 found in Yezo. The points of difference I have beeu unable to learn. 



The Aleuts build also over excavations in the earth, erecting a frame- 

 work of wood over which they pile a covering of sods. The entrance to 

 such dwellings is through a low passage along which one must crawl. 



When the Japanese obtained the Kurile Islands from Eussia in ex- 

 change for Saghalin, they determined to transfer the few inhabitants 

 they found there to a more accessible spot. They selected the island of 

 Shikotan, and although the people did not wish to change their abode, 

 a steamer was sent to take them away, and thus a colony of about one 

 huudred persons was established on Shikotan. This island is situated 

 nearly east of the extreme eastern limit of Yezo and south of Kuuashiri. 

 It is small, mountainous, not of much importance, and difficult to 

 reach . 



Professor Milne was the first to tell me of these people, but he had 

 not seen them. At Nemuro I made inquiries about them and resolved 



f Trans. Seismological Soc. of Japan, IX, 188G, pp. 127, 128. 



