ALONE WITH THEHAIRY AINU.
OR,
3,800 MILES ON A PACK SADDLE IN YEZO ANDA CRUISE TO THE KURILE ISLANDS.
BY
A. H. SAVAGE LANDOR.
WITH MAP AND ILLUSTRATIONS BY THE AUTHOR.
LONDON:
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.
1893.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.
PREFACE.
This book is not meant as a literary work, for I am notand do not pretend to be a literary man. It is but a record—anamplified log-book, as it were—of what befell me duringmy solitary peregrinations in Hokkaido, and a collection ofnotes and observations which I hope will prove interesting toanthropologists and ethnologists as well as to the generalpublic.
Without any claim to infallibility I have tried to take anopen-minded and sensible view of everything I have attemptedto describe; in most cases, however, I have given facts withoutpassing an opinion at all, and all I have said I have triedto express as simply and plainly as possible, so as not to giverise to misunderstandings.
There are a few points which I want to make quite clear.
First, that I went to Hokkaido entirely on my own accountand for my own satisfaction. Next, that I accomplished thewhole journey (some 4200 miles, out of which 3800 wereridden on horseback and on a rough pack-saddle) perfectlyalone. By alone I mean that I had with me no friends, noservants, and no guides. My baggage consisted of next tonothing, so far as articles for my own convenience or comfortwere concerned. I carried no provisions and no tent.
I am endowed with a very sensitive nature, and I pridemyself in possessing the gift of adaptability to an extremedegree, and this may partly explain why and how I could liveso long with and like the Ainu, whose habits and customs, asmy readers will see, are somewhat different to ours.
When I go to a country I do my best to be like one of thenatives themselves, and, whether they are savage or not, Iendeavour to show respect for them and their ideas, and toconform to their customs for the time being. I make up mymind that what is good for them must be good enough forme, and though I have occasionally had to swear at myself[Pg x]for "doing in Ainuland as the Ainu does," especially asregards the food, I was not much the worse for it in theend. I never use force when I can win with kindness, andin my small experience in Hokkaido and other countries Ihave always found that real savages in their simplicity aremost "gentleman-like" people. With few exceptions they aregood-natured, dignified, and sensible, and the