THE AINOS OF YEZO, JAPAN. 443 



food and raiment, the wigwam is close and smoky, the fruits of the 

 earth are nuts, aud acorns, and roots, aud grubs dug out of *he ground. 

 To know how miserably a savage lives, one must see him in his house. 

 A century ago the Ainos were living in the age of stone. They are 

 beyond it now only because they have obtained knives from the Japan- 

 ese. The stone arrow-heads, which one may pick up almost anywhere, 

 even in the plowed fields of Hakodate, have given way to heads of 

 bamboo or iron. At Yeterof I purchased a stone implement for cut- 

 ting, which could not have been very old. They have no writings, no 

 records of their past, no aspirations. Their language is still a puzzle, 

 their traditions and myths are scarcely known except to a few students. 

 They are incapable of advancement. After a century of contact with 

 the Japanese, they have learned no arts, adopted no improvements. 

 The hunter to day shoots the bear with poisoned arrow from a bow as 

 primitive as early man himself, although the Japanese are famous for 

 their archery and weapons. 



PHYSICAL CHARACTERS OF THE AINOS. 



The appearance and general characteristics of the Ainos have already 

 been described. It is, therefore, only necessary to allude particularly 

 to certain conspicuous features, mainly to their hairy nature. For a 

 good series of physical measurements the reader is referred to those of 

 Dr. Scheube,* and especially to a very valuable contribution by Prof. 

 W. Donitz.t The last-named author concludes that on the whole the 

 results of his observations indicate that the Ainos belong to the Mon- 

 golian stock. This conclusion is not sustained by all observers. Dr. 

 Scheube, for example, concludes from the results of measurements of 

 Aiuo skulls, and from other characters, that they do not belong to the 

 Mongolian type. Their great hairiness, the position of the eyes, the 

 conformation of the nose, the great breadth of the face, etc., are all 

 characters which distinguish them from Mongols. 



The most conspicuous feature of the Ainos is their remarkable hairi- 

 ness. The testimony of travelers concerning this matter is conflicting, 

 but we may explain this on the supposition that the observers have 

 not always recognized the typical Aino. Mr. Batchelor says : " I have 

 seen one old man so completely covered with hair that his body could 

 hardly be seen." This was an exceptional case, but my own observa- 

 tions have fully substantiated the results of those writers who have 

 carefully investigated the physical characters of these people. Dr. 

 Scheube relates that he has seen men with hair on the breast 10 centi- 

 metres in length, and on the back 5 centimetres and over. This subject 

 has been examined by Dr. Hilgendorf,f who, in 1875, made a seiies of 



* Scheube, B. Die Ainos. Mittkeilungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft fiir Natur- 

 und Volkerkunde Osfcasiens, in (1882), 220-245. 



tDonitz, Prof. W. Bemerkungen ueber Ainos, loc. cit., Dec, 1874, 61-67. 



t Mittb. Deutschen Gesellsch. fiir Natur- u. Volkerkunde. June, 1875, pp. 11-13. 



