Jesso is inhabited by two distinct races of mankind ; the aboligines, who call themselves Aims, and the Japanese, who have wri steel the island from their possession, and now hold them in subservience. The opinions entertained regarding the former, whn also inhabit the island or penin sula of Saghalin, are so singular and discordant as to merit a brief investigation. They have been commonly denomi nated wild Kuriles, and are supposed to be covered with hair in unnatural profusion—a peculiarity at this day ascrib ed to the inhabitants of the Kurile Islands. Nor is this opinion more prevalent among the natives of the neigh bouring commies than among Europeans who have visited the country. Mozin, a name formerly given to the island by the Japanese, signifies, the land of hairy people ; and Kannemon, an intelligent interpreter of that nation, by whom it was visited in 1652, says the beards of the men are sometimes two feet long ; that the whole face, except ing the eyes and nose, is covered by it ; and that the par _ tion depending from the upper lip is raised when they drink. Froes, a Portuguese missionary, who was at Nliaco in Japan in 1565, had previously been acquainted with this latter fact, as also that the people were very hairy all over the body ; and Saris, an English navigator, learned at Judo in 1613, that they were as hairy as monkeys. Lt the fragm.mt which is preserved of the journal of the Castricum in 1643, the hairiness of the whole body, and the size of the beard almost totally covering the face, were both the subjects of observation. It was likewise remarked from her consort the Breskens, a Dutch vessel, Which navigated the coasts of Jesso in the same year, that the people leaving the south part in a boat, had long stiff black beards ; and in 1738, Captain Spanberg, a Russian, landed on a large island in 50' north latitude, which if not Jesso itself, as there is some reason to believe, is in its immediate vicinity, where the bodies of the men were wholly covered with long hair. Further, the last English navigator who t isitcd Jesso to wards the close of the preceding century, employs these words in describing the natives of the southern extremity. "Their beards were thick and large, covering the greatest part of the face, and inclining to curl. The hair of the head was very bushy, which they cut short before on the forehead, and behind the ears ; behind it was cut straight. Their bodies were almost universally covered with long black hair, and even in some young children we observed the same appearance." This combination of testimony would assur edly seem conclusive, did not the still more recent visitors of Ainos, in the present century, deny that any such charac teristic is common among them. Their intercourse, indeed, was more with the northern inhabitants. But in Saghalin they a::mit that a child of this description was seen, though its parents were distinguished by nothing of the same kind.
We are induced to conclude, upon the whole, that the aborigines of Jesso are more hairy than the generality of mankind. They are somewhat below the middle size, strong and swift, of a dark brown complexion, almost black, with black eyes, and an agreeable physiognomy, and re semble the Kamtschadales, but have more regular fea tures ; however, new born children are perfectly white. The women have rather pleasant countenances to the south, while to the north they are ugly, and are scarcely any fairer than the men. The long rough black hair of the latter hangs down from the head behind, and that of the women of the same colour is frequently tied above in a knot, or combed over the face. It is not said that the men lacerate their bodies in any fashion for the purpose of ornament ; but the women are tattooed on the hands, face, and feet, and in some parts of the island around the mouth, in flow ers or other figures, which are executed by the mother during the earlier age of her offspring. Children go en tirely naked. There is little difference between the dress of adults of either sex, hut the feet are usually bare. A
tobacco box, pipe, and knife, are carried in a belt girding their vestments around the waist. The men wear large ear-rings of gold, silver, or baser metals, according to their rank ; the women an ornament of the same kind, • consisting of a short chain of two or three silver rings of 'All greater dimensions. Besides strings of glass beads, and other ornaments, a small shining silver plate or mirror hangs from the neck. Their fashions seem to have under gone little alteration since the earliest visits of Europeans. The Ainos testify a remarkably quiet and placid disposi tion, intermixed with a large portion of liberality and bene volence. They freely part with their property without any expectations of return, and are always ready to be servicea ble. The women are exceedingly timid and reserved, but preserving less gravity than the men, who seem tinctured with jealousy, if this may be inferred by their withdrawing them from the view of strangers, and never quitting them for a moment while in their presence. Their oldest visi tors describe them as very jealous of strangers when ap proaching their wives and daughters. Their salutations are exceedingly humble, approaching the strangers who visit their shores in an attitude of abject submission, sitting down cross-legged, stroking their beards, often stretch ing forth their hands, and bowing almost to the ground.
They speak in a slow and timid accent ; and their lan guage, which is peculiar, is intermixed with many Japanese words. They call themselves Ainos, but the real import of this word is not fully- understood, whether simply mean ing people, or distinguishing a particular race.
The Ainos around Endermo harbour, and indeed through out the island, subsist principally on dried fish, boiled with sea-weed, and mixed with oil. They have also some fruits and vegetables, but, excepting about Matzumay, their cul tivation of the earth extends no farther than to scanty patches ; and subsistence, on the whole, seems precarious. According to the older Eastern authors, all the tame bears are killed in winter, the flesh ate, and the liver reserved as medicinal against poison, and various diseases. But they have little skill in medicine ; and in cases of small-pox, or any contagious disorder, they are said to send the sick per son to the top of a lofty mountain, or to some remote place. Their houses are built of wood, thatched with reeds, and are generally of an oblong form. The whole family sleep on mats or skins, on a platform around the fire-place, which is in the middle. Small openings to carry off the smoke arc made at each end of the roof. Both sexes are very fond of smoking tobacco, yet that plant is not cultivated among them.
The men occupy themselves in the more laborious pur suits of hunting and fishing, while the women are engaged in domestic duties, making cloth of the bark of trees, and sewing and embroidering, which they do very neatly. How ever, the arts are but in a low state, as is seen in their arms, their boats, and habitations. All articles whose fabrication requires any portion of ingenuity, are supplied by the Japa nese. The men are most expert archers, discharging their arrows with remarkable force and precision. The bow is only Si inches long, the arrow 12 inches, feathered, barbed, and poisoned with so deleterious a substance for killing wild animals, that blood immediately gushes from the mouth and nose, and they die in a few minutes. Their other arms arc, swords, pikes pointed with iron, and a weapon once known in Europe, which consists of a ball attached by a chain to a handle, somewhat resembling a flail. Their shields are made of seal skin, tripled. They are ignorant of the use of fire arms. The boats of these people are principally built of fir, sewed together with twisted willows, and sharp at both ends. In rowing, each oar or skuller is moved alternately, which prevents the boat from advancing in a straight line.