THE KURILSKY AINU 
35 
not all, primitive races inhabiting a rigorous climate—■ 
as, for instance, a fondness for raw food, oil, and 
blubber; the use of dog-sledges, snow-shoes, boats 
and canoes made of skins, ornaments and weapons 
made of walrus ivory; the almost universal use of 
skins and furs for clothing; and houses constructed 
to keep out cold. The Ainu always cooks his food. 
He is a great flesh-eater, but not fond of oil or 
blubber. Although he has dogs, and Yezo and 
Yetorup during the winter are suitable, he does 
not make use of dog-sleighs. He uses, or formerly 
used, bamboo to tip his weapons, and he does not 
possess ornaments or weapons or charms made of 
walrus or mammoth ivory, some few of which would 
surely have been preserved and handed down had 
his race originally come from the north. His clothing 
is chiefly made of a coarse cloth woven from the 
bark of a tree. His house is such as would naturally 
be used in a warm or mild climate ; it is not even 
adapted to the climate of Yezo, to say nothing of 
regions farther north. 
The Ainu say that Yezo was formerly inhabited 
by a people whom they call Koro-pok-guru (dwellers 
in holes), and whom they say they destroyed. They 
also speak of these ancient inhabitants as Koshito 
(small people), because, they say, they were a very 
diminutive race. It is possible that the Ainu belief 
that the Koro-pok-guru were a diminutive people 
is a comparatively modern one. The inside of the 
dwellings of the Koro-pok-guru are very low, and 
the entrance door and lobby passage still lower, 
being only about feet high, so that an ordinary 
man has to stoop considerably on entering. It is 
quite conceivable that the Ainu should imagine 
