On The Openings The Grass Grows Stiff And Strong
To The Height Of Eight Feet, With Its Soft Reddish Plumes Waving In
The Breeze.
The Aino first forced his horse through it, but of
course it closed again, so that constantly when he
Was close in
front I was only aware of his proximity by the tinkling of his
horse's bells, for I saw nothing of him or of my own horse except
the horn of my saddle. We tumbled into holes often, and as easily
tumbled out of them; but once we both went down in the most
unexpected manner into what must have been an old bear-trap, both
going over our horses' heads, the horses and ourselves struggling
together in a narrow space in a mist of grassy plumes, and, being
unable to communicate with my guide, the sense of the ridiculous
situation was so overpowering that, even in the midst of the
mishap, I was exhausted with laughter, though not a little bruised.
It was very hard to get out of that pitfall, and I hope I shall
never get into one again. It is not the first occasion on which I
have been glad that the Yezo horses are shoeless. It was through
this long grass that we fought our way to the tufa cones, with the
red ragged crests against the blue sky.
The scenery was magnificent, and after getting so far I longed to
explore the sources of the rivers, but besides the many
difficulties the day was far spent. I was also too weak for any
energetic undertaking, yet I felt an intuitive perception of the
passion and fascination of exploring, and understood how people
could give up their lives to it. I turned away from the tufa cones
and the glory of the ragged crests very sadly, to ride a tired
horse through great difficulties; and the animal was so thoroughly
done up that I had to walk, or rather wade, for the last hour, and
it was nightfall when I returned, to find that Ito had packed up
all my things, had been waiting ever since noon to start for
Horobets, was very grumpy at having to unpack, and thoroughly
disgusted when I told him that I was so tired and bruised that I
should have to remain the next day to rest. He said indignantly,
"I never thought that when you'd got the Kaitakushi kuruma you'd go
off the road into those woods!" We had seen some deer and many
pheasants, and a successful hunter brought in a fine stag, so that
I had venison steak for supper, and was much comforted, though Ito
seasoned the meal with well-got-up stories of the impracticability
of the Volcano Bay route.
Shiraoi consists of a large old Honjin, or yadoya, where the
daimiyo and his train used to lodge in the old days, and about
eleven Japanese houses, most of which are sake shops - a fact which
supplies an explanation of the squalor of the Aino village of
fifty-two houses, which is on the shore at a respectful distance.
There is no cultivation, in which it is like all the fishing
villages on this part of the coast, but fish-oil and fish-manure
are made in immense quantities, and, though it is not the season
here, the place is pervaded by "an ancient and fish-like smell."
The Aino houses are much smaller, poorer, and dirtier than those of
Biratori. I went into a number of them, and conversed with the
people, many of whom understand Japanese. Some of the houses
looked like dens, and, as it was raining, husband, wife, and five
or six naked children, all as dirty as they could be, with unkempt,
elf-like locks, were huddled round the fires. Still, bad as it
looked and smelt, the fire was the hearth, and the hearth was
inviolate, and each smoked and dirt-stained group was a family, and
it was an advance upon the social life of, for instance, Salt Lake
City. The roofs are much flatter than those of the mountain Ainos,
and, as there are few store-houses, quantities of fish, "green"
skins, and venison, hang from the rafters, and the smell of these
and the stinging of the smoke were most trying. Few of the houses
had any guest-seats, but in the very poorest, when I asked shelter
from the rain, they put their best mat upon the ground, and
insisted, much to my distress, on my walking over it in muddy
boots, saying, "It is Aino custom." Ever, in those squalid homes
the broad shelf, with its rows of Japanese curios, always has a
place. I mentioned that it is customary for a chief to appoint a
successor when he becomes infirm, and I came upon a case in point,
through a mistaken direction, which took us to the house of the
former chief, with a great empty bear cage at its door. On
addressing him as the chief, he said, "I am old and blind, I cannot
go out, I am of no more good," and directed us to the house of his
successor. Altogether it is obvious, from many evidences in this
village, that Japanese contiguity is hurtful, and that the Ainos
have reaped abundantly of the disadvantages without the advantages
of contact with Japanese civilisation.
That night I saw a specimen of Japanese horse-breaking as practised
in Yezo. A Japanese brought into the village street a handsome,
spirited young horse, equipped with a Japanese demi-pique saddle,
and a most cruel gag bit. The man wore very cruel spurs, and was
armed with a bit of stout board two feet long by six inches broad.
The horse had not been mounted before, and was frightened, but not
the least vicious. He was spurred into a gallop, and ridden at
full speed up and down the street, turned by main force, thrown on
his haunches, goaded with the spurs, and cowed by being mercilessly
thrashed over the ears and eyes with the piece of board till he was
blinded with blood.
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