AINU MAN WALKING WITH SNOW-SHOESAINU MAN WALKING WITH SNOW-SHOES.
The Ainu people may be called physically strong, but yet they are not to be compared to the Caucasian races. They are fairly good walkers, capable mountaineers, and deft marksmen, but they do not excel in any of these exercises, either by speed and endurance in the former two, or by special accuracy and long-range in the latter.
In the Ainu country most of the hard work is done by the women, who thus surpass the men in both endurance and muscular strength. Ainu men are indolent, save under excitement.They will cover a long distance—say forty miles—in one day, bear-hunting, and not suffer from great fatigue, while they will not be able to walk half that distance under less exciting conditions. The average distance which an Ainu can walk in one day on a fairly level track does not exceed twenty-five miles at the rate of two and a half miles an hour. The distance he can run would not go beyond ten English miles, and this is partly from want of training, as he never runs if he can help it. If, however, the walk of twenty-five miles, or the run of ten miles, had to be kept up for several days in succession at the same pace, few Ainu could manage to hold out for more than three days at most; while a walking average of fifteen miles and a running average of six miles each day could be kept up for a week. In walking and running women are as good as men in one day's distances; but, contrary to what they are in manual labour, they lack endurance in locomotion, and break down after the second or third day. Men regard running as unbecoming after childhood. "If we must go quick, why not go on horseback?" says the practical Ainu, who is as perfect a horseman as the Indian.
When riding, he is able to cover a distance of fifty-five miles easily in one day on a good pony, and about seventy miles if he changes his quadruped four times. Both men and women ride in the same fashion, astride, and nearly always on bareback, or with simply a bear-skin thrown over the horse. Pack-saddles are only used when carrying wood, fish, sea-weed, or other heavy articles; and though the Japanese of Yezo designate these by the name ofAinu kurah(Ainu saddles), they are only in reality rough imitations of their own pack-saddles. Though women do ride on occasions, it is the men who are the true equestrians. From their infancy they spend a great deal of their time on horseback, while women ride only when obliged. Being, therefore, accustomed from their earliest days to ride pretty nearly from morning to night, men can stand many days of hard riding, and are not so easily exhausted as by walking or running. The Ainu are good at horse-racing, as we have seen at the Piratori festival, but foot-racing, even when the distance was short, gave but poor results.
Weights and burdens are carried entirely by women, andthey carry them either on the head, if the load be not too heavy, or on the back by means of aThiaske Tarra, or simplyTarra, a long ribbon-like band tied round the bundle, leaving a loop which goes over the forehead, thus dividing the weight between the shoulders and the forehead. When carrying a weight with theTarrathe woman stoops, and the greater the weight the lower the head has to be. The strain on the forehead and muscles of the neck is greatly modified by bending the body more or less; the weight increasing on the shoulders in proportion as the pull decreases from the forehead. The advantage of this contrivance is that it leaves both hands free. Very heavy loads can be carried by average women with this simple contrivance, and its common use may account for the strong and well-developed necks noticeable among them, but not among the men. Children are carried on the back of other children by means of a modifiedTarrathat has a stick about twenty inches long, the two ends ofTHE THIASKE-TARRA, FOR CARRYING CHILDREN.THE THIASKE-TARRA, FOR CARRYING CHILDREN.which are fastened to the two ends of the band. The child carried sits comfortably on this stick while the centre part of theTarrarests on the head of the child-carrier. This centre part is generally lined with a piece of skin or cloth, and ornamented with a few simple Ainu designs. A weight which cannot be lifted with both hands is easily borne for a long distance by the aid of theTarra; and I should think that with it a strong woman could carry on her back a load, say, of from eighty to ninety pounds. It is difficult to institute comparative tests of strength, as constant practice, without counting "knack," often enables a person to perform feats which baffle a much stronger man. Taken altogether, the Ainu strength is relative to their height; but they are somewhat below the average Caucasian races both in endurance, and yet more in speed and muscular power.
When actively employed, the Ainu can abstain from food for fourteen or sixteen hours; when quiescent for about twenty. They can go without drink (when it is not alcoholic) for ten or twelve hours without feeling inconvenience. A pebble is often sucked, or a straw is chewed when fluid is not obtainable,thus causing a flow of saliva, which to a certain extent quenches their thirst. However, the reason given by the Ainu is not this. According to them, certain stones and some kinds of grass contain a great amount of water.
More interesting to me than their physical characteristics were their movements and attitudes, which I was able to study and note correctly without their observation. For instance when Ainu try to move some heavy object they pull it towards them. Thus, when they drag their "dug-outs" and canoes on shore, and again when they launch them, they never push from them, but always pull towards them. If an Ainu has to break a stick planted in the ground he does it by pulling it; whereas a Japanese will push it. Again, in pulling a rope the Ainu pull; the Japanese push by placing the rope over one shoulder and walking in the direction wanted. In a crowd where a Japanese would push his way through by extending his arms and thus separating people, the Ainu seizes a man on each side, pulling one to the right and the other to the left till space for him to pass is made.
As muscles are only strengthened by exercise, it is not astonishing that we never find well-developed arms among the hairy people, who so seldom make vigorous use of them. Children are as fond of climbing trees as the average English boy; and sometimes this is done in our way, by putting the legs and arms round the trunk and gradually "swarming" up; but with trees of a small diameter the ways of monkeys are adopted. The arms are stretched, and one hand is placed on each side of the tree. Both feet are then pushed against the trunk, keeping the leg slightly bent, but stiff. One hand goes rapidly over the other, one foot above the other, and so on; and the more rapid the movement the easier the climb, if care be taken to plant the feet firmly so as not to slip. Ainu boys are dexterous at this; but I have never seen full-grown men attempt it, though I am sure they could if they chose. Elderly people are very sedate in Ainuland, and violent movements are generally avoided.
Where the Ainu are indeed great is at making grimaces. The Ainu resemble monkeys in many ways, but in this special accomplishment they beat monkeys hollow. It would take volumes to describe all the different grimaces which I saw themmake, especially at myself while I was sketching them; but one or two of their "favourites" may prove worth describing.
One Ainu at Shari, on the north-east coast, excelled in moving his scalp, and by raising his eyebrows at the same time creased the skin of his forehead to such an extent as to make his eyebrows almost meet his hair. The nostrils were expanded and the upper lip was raised so as to show the teeth firmly closed. The same man was also good at moving his ears. Others preferred to put out their tongue, emitting at the same time a harsh sound from the throat.
Although many Ainu could not voluntarily move their scalp they often did so unaware. When eating, especially if a piece of food required some effort to swallow, the neck was outstretched, the mouth closed tight, the eyebrows raised high, and the scalp brought far forward over the forehead. In masticating, the ears would sometimes move involuntarily, as with dogs or monkeys.
The Ainu are also good at rapid "winking," first with one eye, then the other, each eye playing at an inexpressibly funny kind of bo-peep.En revanche, they make no great use of their hands, and it is not uncommon for them to use their feet to assist their hands. Indeed, their toes are supplementary fingers, and they often hold things between the big toe and the next, as when making nets orInaos(wooden wands with overhanging shavings). When making nets, the string is firmly held by the big toe bent over; when shapingInaosthe lower point of the wand is passed between the two toes, which keep it fast while the long shavings are cut.
When women wind the thread made of theUlmus campestrisfibre, they often let it run between the two larger toes while they wind it on a spool or a reed. Then, again, the toes are often used to pick up small objects out of the reach of the hands, and also to scratch the lower extremities. The two middle fingers of the hand and the three smaller toes of the foot are seldom used by the Ainu, and are somewhat inert. The little finger is slightly more active. Whenever Ainu point at anything they habitually do so with the open hand, for they have a certain difficulty in using any finger separately. This difficulty is not so great with the first finger; but where a European would use only his thumb and first finger, anAinu uses all four fingers and his thumb as well, as in carrying food to his mouth, picking up small objects, lifting a cup, pulling his own hair, scratching his ears, &c. That the Ainu have more muscular power in the head than either in the hands or feet when violent exertion is required is certain, as I had frequent proof when requiring natives to make my baggage fast with ropes to my pack-saddle. Where a European would have done this by passing the ropes round the baggage and pulling them fast to the saddle, the Ainu set his foot (generally the right) against the baggage and pulled the ropes with his teeth. By this method he used one-third more force than he would had he done his work with his hands. Though the Ainu are very supple about the body, they are nevertheless stiffer than we are about the knees and hands, which last peculiarity prevents them from learning any kind of sleight-of-hand. They are supple because of the singular flexibility of their spine and the "looseness" of their arms about their shoulders. When resting or tired, the shoulders droop so far forward as to prove that the muscular tension which we constantly exert to have "square shoulders" is foreign to the hairy people. The Ainu are deficient in biceps, and such an arm as a blacksmith's or athlete's, which is not uncommon among ourselves, is in Ainuland a thing unknown. Their muscles have not the firmness of those of civilised men. Want of use entails loss of power in the muscular system, and that, unfortunately, produces further results in paralysis,kaki, and rheumatism. In the legs thetendo Achillis, which often assumes such enormous proportions with us, is only moderately developed with them, though it is generally larger than the biceps, owing to the habit of walking and riding. Notwithstanding this, the centre of muscular power, as we have seen, is undoubtedly in the head, as with inferior animals; and the Ainu are fully aware of this, for if not why should they carry all weights on the head or by the help of the head? Why should they use their teeth instead of their hands when an extra powerful pull is required? And why should theypushwith their heads when pulling with their teeth is not practicable?
Having examined the different movements of the Ainu, let us now take some account of their attitudes. What struck memost was the unconscious ease with which they stood, sat, and slept, no matter in what circumstances.
It may be well to repeat here that the Ainu are not burdened, as we are, with articles of furniture and a code of manners which so greatly modify our attitudes and make us conscious of all we do. Moreover, we wear crippling boots and nonsensical garments, which, besides not being ornamental, more or less alter and deform different parts of our body, considerably restrict certain attitudes, and greatly stiffen some of our limbs; as, for example, the exaggerated smallness of waist in women.
It is remarkable what a close resemblance the hairy people bear to the prehistoric man as constructed bysavantsout of skulls and skeletons—a resemblance found, I believe, in no other race of savages.
Take an Ainu standing at ease; he carries his head straight, but without stretching his neck, so that if a horizontal line were passed through themeatus auditoriusit would cut the face directly under the eyes. If another line were drawn perpendicular to the horizontal, we should find that the front of the face is not on the same plane with the forehead, but projects considerably beyond in its lower part. In thoroughbred Ainu the head is well posed on the cervical vertebræ, and seldom shows an inclination from back to front, from right to left, orvice versâ; but in half-castes an inclination forward, and also slightly from the left to the right, is a marked characteristic.
The body when standing still is a trifle inclined forward, but when walking the inclination is greatly increased.
The body is well balanced, and this inclination is partly due to the head being abnormally large for the body; also to the habit of keeping the knees slightly bent either when standing still or when in motion.
The women, through carrying heavy weights on the head, are straighter than men when standing as well as when walking without a burden. Their spinal column describes a gentle curve inwards, while with men it has a slight tendency outwards. When an Ainu is standing at rest his arms hang by his side, the palms of the hands are turned inwards with a small inclination towards the front. But a pose which iseven more characteristic than this is when both hands are placed in front, the fingers of the right hand overlapping those of the left. When sitting this is their invariable attitude, but in walking the arms hang by the side, and no swing is given to them to help the motion. In running, the arms are bent, and sometimes the hands are kept half opened about the level of the shoulders.
The Ainu legs, notwithstanding their greater muscular power than that of the arms, are neither stout nor well-developed—but they are wiry. The hips are narrow, and the legs are slightly curved.
The gait is energetic but not fast, each step being flat, with the foot firmly planted on the ground. When in motion the feet are perfectly straight, and move parallel to each other, and at each step the heel and toes touch the ground at the same time—an undeniable proof that the body is well balanced when they walk.
The Ainu walk mostly unshod, and the average length of the step in men is twenty-six inches (from heel of left to tip of right foot), and in women about twenty inches. The average number of steps to the minute is ninety-two in men and ninety-eight in women. Where the Ainu is seen at his best is when he is riding bareback. He sits so firmly that animal and rider seem to be only one body. The knees are slightly bent, and the legs and feet hang so that the toes are a great deal lower than the heels, and are also turned in. No voluntary muscular contraction is affected on the muscles of the legs; for if the knees are bent this is because of the shape of the horse's body, and if the rider "sticks" on his steed it is merely by the counterbalance of the dead weight of his two legs. The body of the rider is quite erect when riding gently, but on increasing speed the body is thrown backwards, the legs remaining in the same position. The single rein is held in the right hand resting on the horse's mane, and the left arm habitually hangs or rests on the rider's leg. When feeding in his hut, the Ainu sits cross-legged, but in places where he can lean against something, or out in the open, he squats, bearing his weight on both feet, but with the legs bent to such an extent that his head is on a level with his knees. Often his arms are rested on the knees themselves, and food is passedwith the hands to the mouth, to be then torn by the teeth. No forks, spoons, or chopsticks are used by the thoroughbred Ainu; but Japanese influence has induced some of the more civilised specimens of Volcano Bay and Piratori to give up partly the use of mother Nature's forks and take to theHashi(chopsticks), also to adopt some ugly tin spoons as the sign of their adherence to civilisation. Lastly, when asleep the Ainu generally lie flat on the back. Sleeping on the right side and resting the head on the bent elbow is also a common posture; and when sleeping for a short period of time during the day I have often seen men still sitting, bring up their legs, cross their arms on their knees, and then rest the head on the arms; thus placidly having a "nap" without waking up with a stiff neck, stiff legs, and "pins and needles" in their arms, which would be the sure result if the average European tried that mode of repose.
Most Ainu have no bedding of any kind, and most of them sleep on hard rough planks or on the ground itself. Some of the people, however, sleep on bear-skins in winter, as it keeps them warm, and the colder the night the closer all the members of the family pack together to warm each other with their natural heat. A strange peculiarity, when Ainu are asleep, lying flat on their back, is, that instead of keeping both legs fully stretched out, one, or sometimes both, are raised and bent, with the sole of the foot planted on the ground. This peculiarity is chiefly noticeable in men, and I have observed it many times, especially in old people. The reason of it is this. The Ainu having no pillow, the head has to be turned so far back to rest on the ground itself that action at the other end of the body is necessary to counterbalance the strain on the spine. I came to this conclusion by being often placed in the same circumstances as the hairy people themselves, when I found that lying flat on my back on the hard unpillowed ground, if the legs were straightened only a small portion of the spine between the shoulders was supported, but by raising the legs the whole spinal column rested on the level surface.
As we have now seen the Ainu asleep in a "comfortable attitude," we shall leave them for the present, and I shall take my readers to examine their clothes, their ornaments, and their tattoos.
THE ATZISTHE ATZIS.
WINTER BEAR-SKIN COATWINTER BEAR-SKIN COAT.
The Ainu men generally go naked in summer time, but in some parts of Yezo civilisation has forced them to adopt cheap Japanese clothes. It must not be supposed from this that the real Ainu never wear any clothes at all, for indeed on grand occasions they dress gaudily enough, but always in a rude, elementary kind of way. For winter use they sew together the skins of either bear or deer, fox or wolf, making a kind of sleeveless jacket, which protects the chest, the shoulders, and the back. Another kind of fur garment of deer-skin is longer and has sleeves, is large at the shoulders, and very narrow at the wrist, as a still further protection against the cold. This deer-skin coat is mostly worn by women as an under-garment. Besides these fur garments for winter weather, they wear theatzis, a long reddish-yellow wrapper, made of the woven fibre of theUlmus campestris. It has sleeves similar to the deer-skin coat, only these sleeves are a great deal wider.
BACK OF ATZISBACK OF ATZIS.
On the southern coast some of the civilised tribes have either adopted Japanesekimonosaltogether, or make theiratzisafter the same pattern, to ingratiate themselves with their masters, on the principle of imitation being the sincerest flattery, and perhaps also because they come cheaper in the end. Theatzisreaches below the knees, and is folded round the body. It is kept in position by a girdle or belt of the same material, or of bear or sea-lion skin. Thisatzisis ornamented with embroidery both back and front, round the sleeves, round the neck, and all round the border, or, as we should say, hem. The embroideries are done in Japanese coloured cottons and threads. The colours are invariably red, blue, and white, on a background of this yellowUlmus campestriscloth. They have the same characteristic patterns, and are identical with the ornaments on knife-sheaths, drinking-bowls, moustache-lifters, &c., as the readers will find in the chapter on the "Arts of the Ainu." Men and women wearatzisof the same shape, only those of the women are longer than those of the men, and reach nearly to the feet. Moreover, the patterns which are embroidered on the men's dresses are not considered suitable for the women's, andvice versâ. Women—who, by the way, do all these embroideries—have to content themselves with the simplest patterns devisable—a mere thin line of blue stitches; but they give to the men a more elaborate ornament. They first sew on heavy bands of material, which then they embroider in highly complicated patterns, thus giving a much heavier and handsomer appearance to the maleatzis. In winter the sleeveless fur jacket is sewn over theatzis, and, as has been said, women wear the deer-skin gown as an under-garment. Ainu embroideries vary considerably, not only in different tribes and different villages, but also in each family, according to the talent and patience possessed by the embroidress. It takes an affectionate wife a year or longer to ornament the elm-bark dress of her beloved husband, and in the case of a chief's robe the work never comes to an end, as additions are constantly made. Children have an extremely simple embroidery, when any, round the sleeves and hem of theatzis, but never any, simple or elaborate, either on the back or front.
I have often seen women working patiently hour after hour while sitting on the tiny door of their storehouses; and the result of their labour would be half an inch of coarse stitching, which for them was a great work of art. Most Ainu now possess needles of Japanese manufacture, but in former days they had only bone needles, and instead of fine well-dyed Japanese thread were obliged to be content with the fibre of the elm tree dyed black. The ornamentations on theatzisof Ainu who have no Japanese needles are necessarily a great deal coarser and simpler than those which are done with steel needles and cotton threads. The essential characteristics are the same in both. In sewing together skins for winter garments fish-bone needles are often used up to this day.
These embroidered clothes, when new, are only worn on grand occasions, as at a bear festival, or when paying a visit to a neighbouring village. A few rags constitute the usual every-day costume, and no difference is made between the in-door and the out-of-door clothing. In fact, most Ainu sleep in their clothes, such as they are.
THE HOSHITHE "HOSHI."
One article of dress which is worn by all alike, young and old, male or female, is thehoshi, or leggings. Like their gowns, these are sometimes made of the inner fibre of the elm-tree bark and sometimes of rushes and reeds plaited as in the ordinary rush matting. When of elm-tree bark, they are often embroidered in the upper part, as can be seen in the illustration. They are fastened just under the knee by means of the two upper strings, then wrapped tightly round the leg and bound round the ankle with the lower and longer ribbon. The Ainu go barefooted in the summer, but during the winter months, when the cold is too severe for this, they cover their feet with mocassins and long boots made of salmon-skin, and often of deer-skin. When the Ainu goes for a long journey or a hunt, during which he has to traverse rough ground, he generally protects his skin boots—the soles of which wouldsoon be destroyed by the sharp stones and ice—by slipping over them a pair of thick rope sandals, which protect the sides, the back, the toes, and sole of the foot. If to thisBOOTS TO BE SOAKED IN WATER SO AS TO TAKE SHAPE OF FOOT, AND TO BE KEPT UP WITH A STRING.BOOTS TO BE SOAKED IN WATER SO AS TO TAKE SHAPE OF FOOT, AND TO BE KEPT UP WITH A STRING.DEER-SKIN SHOE.DEER-SKIN SHOE.inventory be added a head-gear consisting of a band wound round the head, and an occasional apron, the whole of the Ainu wardrobe is catalogued. This band, which is worn principally by women, is untied and removed when saluting or meeting a man, whether on the road or in the woods. ATHE TARRA OR HEAD-BANDTHE TARRA OR HEAD-BAND.Japanese towel often takes the place of the native manufacture. I am inclined to think that this custom of covering the head has been acquired from the Japanese, as none of the Ainu of the Upper Tokachi—the only pure ones remaining—wore anything in the shape of band or kerchief, while it is extremely common with the Ainu of Volcano Bay and Piratori to wear these unbecoming towels. At Piratori the Ainu women give a more artistic character to this ugly headgear by embroidering it in front and wearing it like a tiara. An apron is occasionally worn by Ainu, but this too, in my opinion, has been borrowed from the Japanese. Ainu clothes often get undone, owing to their shape, and therefore Ainu men sometimes wear these aprons, but rather because they are made to wear them than from native modesty or inclination to be commonly decent. I have seen Ainu on the north-east coast of Yezo and on Lake Kutcharo wear coarse hats of matted rushes. When laid flat, these hats have a diameter of about thirty inches; but when worn, they are folded in two, and kept in this position by a string tied under the chin and passed through the hat. They are used principally in winter as a protection against the snow. The Ainu care more to adorn than to clothe themselves. A few glass beads, a metal earring, a silver coin, or anything that shines, can make a man or a woman as happy as a king. Intoxicants come first of all things, but after them there is nothing in this world that Ainucherish more than personal ornaments, and this is, of course, even truer of women than of men. What strikes a stranger when looking at an Ainu for the first time is, as I have already said, the size of their metal earrings and heavy glass necklaces. As the Ainu cannot work in metals or make glass, these ornaments have been purchased from Japanese, Chinese, and Corean adventurers, and many costly skins of bears, foxes, wolves, or seals are gaily bartered for a few beads, worth next to nothing. The Ainu is fond of metals, but he does not know the difference between one and the other. All that glitters is gold for him; and if it is not gold then it must be silver. Therefore some Ainu are known to have invested all their fortune of valuable furs for a pair of brass earrings, and, what is more, they have never grudged the bargain! Previous to the importation of these worthless articles their ornaments were made of wood, bone, and shells, of which "survivals" are still to be seen with the Ainu of the Upper Tokachi.
The large circular earrings are much prized: men and women alike wear them. Many men, however, do not wear these metal earrings, but prefer instead a long strip of red or black cloth, or skin.
The lobes of the ears are frequently torn down by wearing these heavy earrings from early childhood, and they know not how to mend them by sewing them. Another hole is sometimes bored in the upper and sound part.
Ainu women of civilised districts occasionally wear metal finger-rings, but these are of course of foreign make, and imported.
Ainumenokos(girls) seem to have no partiality for bracelets or amulets, but necklaces are the dream of their life. The delight of an Ainu woman in a new necklace is in proportion to the size and number of the beads. A woman who possesses one of extra large beads is envied by all her less fortunate neighbours; and she who has several strings is at once admired and hated by all the womankind of the village. For, indeed, Ainu women are "human" enough to know how to hate each other! The beads which most take their fancy are the blue, black, white, or metal ones. The larger beads in the necklace are in front; and the rough woodenpendants with bits of bone, metal, or broken beads inlaid in it, which hang to the necklace, rest on the breast. Large Japanese sword-hilts are often used as pendants by the Volcano Bay natives.
The Ainu of the Upper Tokachi region had none of these beads, but a rough wooden pendant was suspended round their neck by a leather string.
Girdles are worn by men and women for two purposes—first, to keep their clothes together; next, to support the large knives which the Ainu always carry with them.
The Ishikari Ainu who lived formerly in Sakhalin wear leather belts, and the women wear besides a peculiar cloth headgear. Both these articles are ornamented with drops of melted lead and Chinese cash sewn on to the cloth.
These are all the articles of clothing and ornament which are in common use among the Ainu. None of them are worn as symbols of rank, or to denote virginity. No Ainu can explain why he or she wears one thing more than another, except for the reason that he or she likes it. There are no Ainu laws as regards clothing, and with the exception of the "chief," who on special occasions dresses more gaudily, and wears a crown made either of willow-tree shavings or dried sea-weed, with a small carved-wood bear head in front, they all dress pretty much alike. A chief could not be distinguished from a commoner by his everyday clothing.
Speaking of personal ornamentation, I may as well describe the way in which the hair is dressed, and also the tattoo-marks.
Little care is taken of the long hair, which reaches down to the shoulders. It is never washed, nor brushed, nor combed. At the back it is cut in a semicircle round the neck. Over the forehead the men shave a small part of the long hair, which, falling over their eyes, is uncomfortable to them; but women do not. Until lately this shaving was done with sharp shells, and wives shaved their husbands. The process was said to be rather painful, and the thoughtful women have now adopted knives for that purpose, to the great delight of the stronger sex. The part shaved is in the shape of a lozenge two and a half inches by two inches respectively from angle to angle. This open space causes the hair to part in two differentdirections and hang down in large wavy curls. The fingers are occasionally passed through it, and then with the palms of the hands it is plastered down on both sides.
A characteristic Ainu method of making the morning "toilette" is to bend the head low and let the long hair fall over the forehead. The two hands are then placed under it on the temples, and suddenly and violently the head is shaken and thrown back, the hair being pressed down by the hands at the same time. If the first attempt at neatness is not approved of, the process is repeated two or more times. I must confess that personally I could seldom see any marked difference between a head of hair "dressed" and one "not dressed"; but it must be remembered that the Ainu have no looking-glasses, and what they think is right is of course right for them.
Formerly, when an old woman lost her husband she had her head entirely shaved, and when the hair had grown long again she repeated the process as a proof of fidelity and affection to her deceased spouse. It is very rarely done now. She used to wear a sort of cap, with an aperture at the top, round the crown of the head during the time that her hair was short; and it was incumbent on the widow to wear a look of sorrow and pain till her hair grew long again.
The Ainu men have long beards and moustaches, which are never trimmed, with the exception of the Kurilsky Ainu, who trim theirs. The beard begins to grow when they are very young, but it is shaved till they reach manhood. It is then left to grow naturally, and never touched again as long as they live. Ainu women, whom nature has not favoured with such a manly ornament, supplement their deficiency by having a long moustache tattooed on their lips. Their hands and arms are also tattooed.
The tattooing among the Ainu is limited to the fair sex, and it is confined to the head and arms. Why and when the fashion was adopted is not known, and the semi-Ainu legends on the subject are very vague. One legend says that when the Ainu conquered Yezo, which was then inhabited by a race of dwarfs—"the Koro-pok-kuru"—some Koro-pok-kuru women came to the Ainu camp to beg food from them, and they did so by passing their arms through the reed walls ofthe Ainu huts. One day an Ainu clutched one of these arms and pulled it in, when a tattooed pattern on the tiny arm was greatly admired by the hairy conquerors, who adopted the practice from that day.
A simpler reason is that the women, not being so hairy as the men, are humiliated by their inferiority in that respect, and try to make up for it by tattooing themselves. In support of this theory may be quoted the fact that women are only tattooed in parts which are left uncovered when clad in their longatzisgowns.
The Ainu process of tattooing is a painful one. The tattoo marks are usually done with the point of a knife; not with tattooing needles, as by the Japanese. Many incisions are cut nearly parallel to each other. These are then filled with cuttlefish-black. Sometimes smoke-black mixed with the blood from the incisions is used instead. On the lips the operation is so painful that it has to be done by instalments. It is begun with a small semicircle on the upper lip when the girl is only two or three years of age, and a few incisions are added every year till she is married, the moustache then reaching nearly to the ears, where at its completion it ends in a point. Both lips are surrounded by it; but not all women are thus marked. Some have no more than a semicircular tattoo on the upper lip; others have an additional semicircle under the lower lip; and many get tired of the painful process when the tattoo is hardly large enough to surround their lips. The father of the girl is generally the operator, but occasionally it is the mother who "decorates" the lips and arms of her female offspring. Besides this tattooed moustache, a horizontal line joins the eyebrows, and another line, parallel to it, runs across the forehead. The tattoo could not be of a coarser kind. A rough geometrical drawing adorns the arms and hands of women, the pattern of one arm being often different from that of the other. Frequently only one arm is tattooed. I never saw tattoos that went further than the elbow, neither did I see any other part of the body tattooed. The four specimens given in the illustration show the patterns most usual in different tribes, though each individual has some slight variations.
Fig. 1 was copied by me from the arm of a woman at Frishikobets(Tokachi River); Figs. 2 and 3 are the two arms of Kawata Tera, a girl of Tobuts (north-east coast of Yezo); and Fig. 4 is the left arm of a girl at Piratori.
TATTOO MARKSTATTOO-MARKS ON WOMEN'S ARMS.
It will be noticed that in the regions where the Ainu have come in contact with Japanese, rings are tattooed round the fingers, while the Tokachi Ainu women have none. In the two arms of Kawata Tera (Figs. 2 and 3) the dissimilarity of the two patterns is very marked at first sight, but on a close examination it is easy to perceive that the operator meant to carry out the same pattern on the right arm as on the left; only through his incapacity to reproduce correctly his former lines, or for other reasons, he got muddled up in the design, and left his work unfinished. If all the lines in the upper half of Fig. 3 were continued, the design would be very similar to Fig. 2.
Tattooing is considered an ornament, besides, as I have already mentioned, adding the coveted air of "virility" to women. There is no religious feeling connected with it, and the practice is rapidly dying out, as the Japanese men make fun of the Ainu women, who after all only tattoo their mouths and arms, while they themselves often tattoo the whole of the body. The Ainu have no rules as to when the girls are to be operated on. They are done both before and after marriage, contrary to what has been said, that the women do not tattoo themselvesafter they have become wives. The moustache is generally finished before a girl gets married, as she herself is anxious to be thus decorated; but there are no rules as to virginity or marriage, for the arms and hands are as often tattooed after marriage as before. Indeed, in the Ainu country, "tattooing" one's wife seems to be one of the pleasures of the honeymoon. The design of these tattoos is meant to be, but is seldom, symmetrical. The Ainu apparently execute these designs on a preconceived plan, but the results rarely come up to expectation, as no drawing of the design is prepared beforehand. The bluish-black colour of the tattoo is very permanent and strong, and many an Ainu woman is disfigured for life, who, according to our ideas, would otherwise be good-looking.
SNOW-SHOESSNOW-SHOES.
AINU SALUTATIONAINU SALUTATION.
The music of each nation has certain characteristics of its own; and though according to European ideas the music of what are called barbarous peoples may sound in some sense excruciating, it always has a certain occult charm, more especially to one who is able to forget his former training, and teach himself to see, hear, and think in the same way as the natives he is studying.
Undoubtedly we Westerns have brought music to a pitch of refinement that no savage nation has even attempted to reach; but in my opinion we do savages injustice when we call their music "unmitigated discord." Barbarians like the Ainu do not indicate their rhythmical effects and modulations by means of a musical notation; and harmony is of course very defective with them, from our point of view. On the other hand, the feeling and passion with which they chant their songs make them go straight to the heart, if as a melody they are not always pleasing to the cultivated Western ear.
An Ainu seldom sings for the mere pleasure of art as art, and it is only when full of joy or "crazed with care" that he gives expression to his feelings in music. Then he pours outhis whole soul in that which to him is melody beyond the power of words to compass.
After a hunt, a fishing expedition, a journey, or a misfortune, the Ainu enters his hut and seats himself cross-legged on the ground. He then holds out both hands with the palms together, and rubs them backwards and forwards three or four times; after this he raises them, palms upwards, to a level with his head, gracefully lowers them to his knees, and then, raising them again, strokes his hair and beard. Again he lowers his hands twice, thrice, or even more times, according to the amount of respect to which the person saluted is entitled, the latter following in every smallest detail the motions of his saluting friend. When this complicated salutation has been performed separately before each male member of the household, the new arrival relates the tale of his good-or ill-luck; and if the events be of an unusual character the story is chanted in a sort of sing-song which makes each note of joy or lamentation vibrate in the heart of the listener. It is only in such circumstances of stress of feeling that I ever heard the Ainu sing, though sometimes women and young folks when alone, fishing, riding, or travelling, sing out bits of their past lives as they remember this scene or that event.
Ainu music is almost entirely vocal, and their singing has more the character of therecitativethan of theariaproper. Their songs are always forsolo; and during my stay among the hairy people I never heard a concerted piece, nor even an air or a single voice with a chorus for a number of voices; neither did I hear any songs performed by men and women together, but invariably by men to other men, and by women to other women. It seems to me that the reason why they have no choruses is their strict etiquette, which forbids them to interrupt a speaker till he has finished his narrative; and as their songs are only narratives which the musical sing-song makes more impressive, it seems more than probable that the reason I have given is the right one. If a singer during his narrative stops, and is silent for a minute or two, another takes up the "lost chord" in exactly the same intonation of voice, asking a question or singing words of comfort, anger, or scorn, as the case may be; but no Ainu ever joins in the song before the person singing has stopped.
The hairy people are fond, not only of their own, but of all music, and their ear is acute enough to hit a tone or note when sung to them, and even to remember with more or less accuracy a short air after they have heard it two or three times. Many who have come in contact with the Japanese have learned from them songs of a totally different character from their own. Of my personal experience I can speak of a boy who, while I was sketching, heard me sing a few bars of theTrovatore. An hour or two later I heard him repeat this passage, certainly with an Ainulibretto, and somewhat Ainuized; but for all that he had managed to catch the melody, which showed that the lad must have had some musical instinct as well as a good musical memory.
MUKKO, OR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTA "MUKKO," OR MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.
SIDE VIEW OF THE MUKKOSIDE VIEW OF THE "MUKKO."
The Ainu are remarkably quick at reproducing sounds which are direct imitations of noises, cries of animals, &c., and it is instinctive in them, as when children they are not taught or trained to do so. The education of Ainu children is indeed a thing far to seek in every way, and what they know is self-taught. Nature is their only school. The Ainu voice is pleasant, flexible, and very soft in quality. The men are mostly baritone and bass, the women alto; but when singing, a falsetto is preferred to the natural voice, especially by the women, and this always without an instrumental accompaniment. Musical instruments are more than rare among the Ainu; indeed, I saw only one, which is now in my own possession. It is a black-stained wooden instrument, fifty-one inches in length and three wide. The upper part is flat, the under is half a cylinder scooped out by a knife, while five keys are fixed in the short neck, in which a cavity is cut, leaving a space for the strings to be tied to each key. The top is circular, and flattened on each side. One very small hole is bored exactly in the middle of the instrument and another is at the lower end, where the point of a triangular piece of leather, seven inches long, is passed through and fastened by a knot tied in the leather on the opposite side. The five strings, which are ofUlmus campestrisfibre, are fastened to this leather piece and then to each key. A peculiarity of this instrument is, that it has two prism-shaped bridges, and they are placed at each end of the harmonic case. The Ainu call itmukko, which word, however, means only a musical instrument;and as it is applied by them to all Japanese instruments of music, it shows that they do not distinguish very sharply one instrument from another. Though in my long journeying I found one of thesemukkos, I was never able to discover any Ainu who could play on it, and the Ainu of Ishikari from whom I bought it told me that the man, the only one, who could play on it, was dead. This was unfortunate, as none of the others could tell me how he tuned it; and one old man, in attempting to solve the problem, broke three strings. Seeing that I was then quite unable to learn any of the tunes of the deceased Ainu Paganini I purchased the instrument, and found by cross-examining the natives that it was played by twanging the strings with the fingers, and not with a plectrum, as is the case with the Japaneseshamesen. In the illustration I have faithfully drawn a front and a side view of this instrument, so as to give the reader an exact idea of its shape. The Ainu of Volcano Bay sometimes make bamboo jew's-harps for their children; but even those are very uncommon, so we might as well define Ainu music as entirely vocal. Ainu music is sentimental, and not displeasing, but it is monotonous, and continually repeats itself. It is difficult to establish a rule as to what order of intervals their music is founded on, as their progressions, modulations, and rhythmical effects are often so peculiar as to make it impossible to indicate them accurately by means of our musical notation; but the nearest approach to it is the diatonic minor scale. The Ainu are fond of chromatic intervals, and when their recital comes to an exciting point they make use of this method in acrescendoto give strength to the narrative, especially at the end of the tune, which invariably winds up in the tonic. The intervals which are of most frequent occurrence in the Ainu tunes are as follows:—