THE AINOS OF YEZO, JAPAN. 



431 



The principal Japanese settlements are Sapporo, Hakodate, and 

 Nemuro. The population of the island is confined almost entirely to 

 the coast. Small villages of Japanese and Ainos are scattered along 

 the coast a few miles apart, wherever the locations are favorable for 

 fishing or collecting seaweed. On the northeast coast the priucipal 

 towns are Mombets, Abashiri, and Shari. Between Hakodate and 

 Nemuro are Ku # shiro, Horoidzumi, Tomakomai, and Horobets. On some 

 of the larger rivers, as the Ishikari, the Kusuri, and the Tokachi, there 

 are small settlements of Ainos. On routes of travel far up in the 

 mountains there will be found isolated stations, where one can obtain 

 shelter and food with changes of horses. Otherwise the interior is an 

 uninhabited wilderness, the abode of bears, foxes, and other animals. 



The total population of the Hokkaido, which is the official designation 

 of that section of Japan which includes Yezo and the islands off the 

 northeast coast, is stated as 226,236. I am unable to state the number 

 of persons on the island of Yezo alone, but there are very few on Ku- 

 mashiri and Yeterof, and the Kuriles are practically uninhabited. Of 

 this number about 16,000 are said to be Ainos. The distribution of the 

 Aino population will be more fully considered in another place. 



The principal support of this population is the fisheries, which are of 

 great value. The following statistics of the fisheries were kindly fur- 

 nished from the official reports by Mr. K. Ito, president of the Hokusui 

 Kyokwai, or Northern Fisheries Society : 



FISHERIES OP YEZO— PRODUCTION OF 1886. 



Fish. 



Spring salmon, Masu, salted 



Fall salmon, Sake, salted 



Beche de mer, Jrikn 



Seaweed, Kombu 



O.ysters, dried 



Fish guano : 



Herring 



Salmon, Masu 



Iwashi (Chipca melanostrata) . 



Other kinds 



Fish oil : 



Herring 



Iwasbi •. 



Production. 



Koku* 



5, 029, 489 

 110,729,265 



1, 027, 589 

 180, 373, 249 



4, 773, 040 



572, 374, 304 



15,511 



22, 259, 300 



14,595,711 



7, 096, 905 

 405, 600 



Where exported. 



Main island. 



Do. 

 197,311 catties sent to China. 

 29,050,587 catties sent to China. 

 All sent to China. 



Other islands of Japan. 

 Do. 

 Do. 

 Do. 



Unknown amount exported to United States. 

 Do. 



One koku of fish is about 333 pounds. One koku of oil is about 40 gallons. 

 THE AINOS. 



The Ainos are a peculiar race, quite distinct from the Japanese now 

 found ; a mere remnant of a once numerous people in Yezo and on the 

 islands Kumashiri and Yeterof. The application of the name Aino 

 requires to be more carefully restricted than it has been, In Yezo we 



