According To Mr. Davies, The Average
Weight Of The Aino Adult Masculine Brain, Ascertained By
Measurement Of Aino Skulls, Is
45.90 ounces avoirdupois, a brain
weight said to exceed that of all the races, Hindoo and Mussulman,
on the
Indian plains, and that of the aboriginal races of India and
Ceylon, and is only paralleled by that of the races of the
Himalayas, the Siamese, and the Chinese Burmese. Mr. Davies says,
further, that it exceeds the mean brain weight of Asiatic races in
general. Yet with all this the Ainos are a stupid people!
Passing travellers who have seen a few of the Aino women on the
road to Satsuporo speak of them as very ugly, but as making amends
for their ugliness by their industry and conjugal fidelity. Of the
latter there is no doubt, but I am not disposed to admit the
former. The ugliness is certainly due to art and dirt. The Aino
women seldom exceed five feet and half an inch in height, but they
are beautifully formed, straight, lithe, and well-developed, with
small feet and hands, well-arched insteps, rounded limbs, well-
developed busts, and a firm, elastic gait. Their heads and faces
are small; but the hair, which falls in masses on each side of the
face like that of the men, is equally redundant. They have superb
teeth, and display them liberally in smiling. Their mouths are
somewhat wide, but well formed, and they have a ruddy comeliness
about them which is pleasing, in spite of the disfigurement of the
band which is tattooed both above and below the mouth, and which,
by being united at the corners, enlarges its apparent size and
width. A girl at Shiraoi, who, for some reason, has not been
subjected to this process, is the most beautiful creature in
features, colouring, and natural grace of form, that I have seen
for a long time. Their complexions are lighter than those of the
men. There are not many here even as dark as our European
brunettes. A few unite the eyebrows by a streak of tattooing, so
as to produce a straight line. Like the men, they cut their hair
short for two or three inches above the nape of the neck, but
instead of using a fillet they take two locks from the front and
tie them at the back.
They are universally tattooed, not only with the broad band above
and below the mouth, but with a band across the knuckles, succeeded
by an elaborate pattern on the back of the hand, and a series of
bracelets extending to the elbow. The process of disfigurement
begins at the age of five, when some of the sufferers are yet
unweaned. I saw the operation performed on a dear little bright
girl this morning. A woman took a large knife with a sharp edge,
and rapidly cut several horizontal lines on the upper lip,
following closely the curve of the very pretty mouth, and before
the slight bleeding had ceased carefully rubbed in some of the
shiny soot which collects on the mat above the fire.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 171 of 219
Words from 89299 to 89819
of 115002
