464 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1890. 



been colored black and brown for the same purpose. The brown color is 

 produced by soaking the bark in water along with the bark of yEsculus 

 turbinata. The black color is similarly produced from the bark of the 

 han-no-ki,(Alnus Maritima.) The suge is also used for making small 

 bags. Similar bags are sometimes made of straw 



The bark of the Linden ( Tilia cordata) is much nsed for twine, and a 

 strong braided cord is made of this fiber. The Aino fish-nets are made 

 of the same material. 



CARRYING BURDENS. 



The usual mode of carrying burdens is by means of a band of woven 

 or braided ohiyo, Ulmus Montana bark, passing over the forehead and 

 tied behind the load on the back, as rep"esented in Plate cv. These 

 bands, called tara or pacJcai-tara, are used also for carrying babes on 

 the back. Sometimes a straight stick, about 15 inches in length, is 

 tied so as to hang horizontally in the proper position to support the 

 burden, as shown by one of the bands in the collection. The Aino 

 women make great use of these tara. They will carry very heavy 

 loads with them, and it is customary for them to bring large tubs of 

 water to their homes precisely as the man represented in Plate CV is 

 carrying an empty tub. 



MODE OF GREETING. 



The Aino ceremony of greeting is simple and pleasing. The two hands 

 are placed together with palms upward and outward. They are then 

 gracefully raised to the chin and moved downward, stroking the long 

 beard. They may not indeed touch the beard, but the movement is the 

 same. It may be shortened to a mere flourish of the hands, just as a 

 bow may be made formal or short. 



It is now quite customary for the Ainos to bow in greeting. Some- 

 times they squat on the floor, and then bend over until their foreheads 

 nearly touch it. This custom is undoubtedly borrowed from the Jap- 

 anese, and is not at all pleasing, as their original form of greeting cer- 

 tainly is. A good description of the usual form of greeting is thus given 

 by Mr. Blackiston : 



My Aino was a stranger to these people, so on meeting, before exchanging a word, 

 he went through a ceremonious form of salutation individually with each of the prin- 

 cipal men. This they performed by going down on their knees, holding out the hands 

 with the palms together, rubbed them backward and forward twice, the saluted 

 party following the motions, of the saluting one, then raised hoth hands to a level 

 with the chin, palms uppermost, lowered then), raised them again, stroking the beard, 

 lowered them and performed the last operation over again, which completed the cer- 

 emony. 



Mr. G-reey thus describes the Aino greeting represented in Plate cvi, 

 taken from the original Japanese drawing: 



The three chiefs placed their left hands over their right and began to rub them. 

 This they continued to do for over hvo minutes, during which time they looked very 



