Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 33.djvu/520

504 are tacitly permitted to go fishing by themselves on moonlight nights, when they use the spear and nets almost as dexterously as the men.

There was no ceiling of any kind, and the inner side of the thatch, the beams, girders, etc., were black with smoke and glistening with oil and grease. When foreign guests remain overnight, a temporary room is set off for them at the eastern end by spreading a mat over the beams and hanging others therefrom.

There was nothing resembling a chair in the remotest degree; the men sit in true Turkish fashion, and the women either rest in that way or squat upon their heels like the Japanese. The nearest approach to a table was the small zen upon which the dishes of food are placed, an independent zen for each person, but these are not often used by the Ainu. At meals each person's bowl is filled from the pot by the mistress and handed to him, and, as their dishes are generally stews containing a little of everything in one grand mess, a series of bowls or dishes for a variety of courses is not necessary. Of wall ornaments, such as pictures and kakemono (the favorite hanging scroll picture of the Japanese), there was nothing at all.

This is rather a superficial description of an Ainu hut. Not the slightest attempt at architectural ornamentation was anywhere visible, the single idea seemingly being to provide a slight protection from the worst of the weather.

At a short distance from each hut is a small storehouse, raised on a framework about five feet from the ground. In construction this is quite the same as the house itself, the walls sloping inward slightly for the sake of strength. The door is at one end, and is reached by a ladder or a notched stick. It was a delightful comment upon the character of the Ainu to note that none of these storehouses were locked or fastened in any way against thieves. They contain the spare food, the unthrashed grain, etc. I should think, however, that some sort of locks would be necessary now that the population of the villages is becoming more and more mixed each year, for the average Japanese's ideas of meum and tuum are apt to be somewhat vague.

Another hut which I visited, and where I made a much longer stay, was not so large as the first, having no western extension. It was more modern in its appointments, being floored over entirely, excepting a small space just inside the western door, where visitors put off their sandals or shoes. We were fortunate in finding some men here, and the master took great pride and apparently much pleasure in displaying his treasures, but he refused to be at all communicative as to their history. He, too, possessed many choice bits of old lacquer, and many Japanese curios, which he said had been given to his ancestors. More than that he would