Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Author’s Preface to the English Edition
- The Kanasaka Commentaries
- Unbeaten Tracks in Japan
- Preface
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Letter I: First Impressions • Letter I
- Letter II: The Old and the New • Letter II
- Letter III: Yedo • Letter III
- Letter IV: Chinese and Servants • Letter VI
- Letter V: Worship • Letter VIII
- Letter VI: The Journey Begun • Letter IX
- Letter VI (Continued): From Kasukabé to Nikkô • Letter IX (Continued)
- Letter VII: Kanaya’s House • Letter X
- Letter VIII: Nikkô • Letter XI
- Letter IX: A Watering - Place • Letter XII
- Letter X: Domestic Life • Letter XIII
- Letter X. - (Continued.): Evening Employments • Letter XIII (Continued)
- Letter X. - (Completed): Shopping • Letter XIII (Completed.)
- Letter XL: Scant Costumes • Letter XIV
- Letter XII: Dirt and Disease • Letter XV
- Letter XII-(Concluded): High Farming • Letter XV (Concluded)
- Letter XIII: A Malarious District • Letter XVI
- Letter XIV: Extreme Filthiness • Letter XVII
- Letter XV: A River Journey • Letter XVIII
- Letter XVI: Niigata • Letter XX
- Letter XVII: Discomforts • Letter XXII
- Letter XVIII: A Prosperous District • Letter XXIII
- Letter XIX: A Japanese Doctor • Letter XXIV
- LETTER XX: A FEARFUL DISEASE • LETTER XSN
- LETTER XX.—(Continued?): FUNERAL CEREMONIES • LETTER XXV {Continued)
- Letter XX.—(Concluded): Policemen • Letter XXV (Concluded.)
- Letter XXI: A Hospital Visit • Letter XXVI
- Letter XXII: The Police Force • Letter XXVII
- Letter XXIII: ITO’S Virtues And Faults • Letter XXVIII
- Letter XXIV: A Wedding Ceremony • Letter XXIX
- Letter XXV: A Holiday • Letter XXX
- Letter XXVI: A Narrow Escape • Letter XXXI
- Letter XXVII: Shirasawa • Letter XXXII
- Letter XXVIII: An Inundation • Letter XXXIII
- Letter XXVIII: – (Continued) Children’s Games • Letter XXXIII (Continued)
- Letter XXIX: The Tanabata • Letter XXXIV
- Letter XXX: Popular Superstitions • Letter XXXV
- Letter XXXI: Primitive Simplicity • Letter XXXVI
- Letter XXXII: End of the Journey • Letter XXXVII
- Letter XXXIII: The Mission WorK • Letter XXXVIII
- Letter XXXIV: HakodatÉ • Letter XXXIX
- Letter XXXV: A Change of Scenery • Letter XL
- Letter XXXV.—(continued.): A Meeting • Letter XL (continued.)
- Letter XXXVI: Living with the Ainos • Letter XLI
- Letter XXXVI—(Continued.): Aino Hospitality • Letter XLI (Continued.)
- Letter XXXVII: Savage Life • Letter XLII
- Letter XXXVII.—(Continued.): Costume and Customs • Letter XLII (Continued.)
- Letter XXXVII. -(Continued.): Religion of Ainos • Letter XLII (Continued.)
- Letter XXXVIII: A Tipsy Scene • Letter XLIII
- Letter XXXIX: Visit to a Volcano • Letter XLIV
- Letter XXXIX. — (Continued.): A Wet Trip • Letter XLIV (Continued.)
- Letter XL: A Surprise • Letter XLV
- Letter XL.—(Continued.): Solitude • Letter XLV (Continued.)
- Letter XLI: The Missing Link • Letter XLVI
- Letter XLII: Compliments • Letter XLVIII
- Letter XLIII: A Cyclone • Letter XLIX
- Letter XLIV: Cremation • Letter LIX
- Index
- Mr. Murray's General List of Works
Letter XXXVII: Savage Life • Letter XLII
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 May 2022
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Author’s Preface to the English Edition
- The Kanasaka Commentaries
- Unbeaten Tracks in Japan
- Preface
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Letter I: First Impressions • Letter I
- Letter II: The Old and the New • Letter II
- Letter III: Yedo • Letter III
- Letter IV: Chinese and Servants • Letter VI
- Letter V: Worship • Letter VIII
- Letter VI: The Journey Begun • Letter IX
- Letter VI (Continued): From Kasukabé to Nikkô • Letter IX (Continued)
- Letter VII: Kanaya’s House • Letter X
- Letter VIII: Nikkô • Letter XI
- Letter IX: A Watering - Place • Letter XII
- Letter X: Domestic Life • Letter XIII
- Letter X. - (Continued.): Evening Employments • Letter XIII (Continued)
- Letter X. - (Completed): Shopping • Letter XIII (Completed.)
- Letter XL: Scant Costumes • Letter XIV
- Letter XII: Dirt and Disease • Letter XV
- Letter XII-(Concluded): High Farming • Letter XV (Concluded)
- Letter XIII: A Malarious District • Letter XVI
- Letter XIV: Extreme Filthiness • Letter XVII
- Letter XV: A River Journey • Letter XVIII
- Letter XVI: Niigata • Letter XX
- Letter XVII: Discomforts • Letter XXII
- Letter XVIII: A Prosperous District • Letter XXIII
- Letter XIX: A Japanese Doctor • Letter XXIV
- LETTER XX: A FEARFUL DISEASE • LETTER XSN
- LETTER XX.—(Continued?): FUNERAL CEREMONIES • LETTER XXV {Continued)
- Letter XX.—(Concluded): Policemen • Letter XXV (Concluded.)
- Letter XXI: A Hospital Visit • Letter XXVI
- Letter XXII: The Police Force • Letter XXVII
- Letter XXIII: ITO’S Virtues And Faults • Letter XXVIII
- Letter XXIV: A Wedding Ceremony • Letter XXIX
- Letter XXV: A Holiday • Letter XXX
- Letter XXVI: A Narrow Escape • Letter XXXI
- Letter XXVII: Shirasawa • Letter XXXII
- Letter XXVIII: An Inundation • Letter XXXIII
- Letter XXVIII: – (Continued) Children’s Games • Letter XXXIII (Continued)
- Letter XXIX: The Tanabata • Letter XXXIV
- Letter XXX: Popular Superstitions • Letter XXXV
- Letter XXXI: Primitive Simplicity • Letter XXXVI
- Letter XXXII: End of the Journey • Letter XXXVII
- Letter XXXIII: The Mission WorK • Letter XXXVIII
- Letter XXXIV: HakodatÉ • Letter XXXIX
- Letter XXXV: A Change of Scenery • Letter XL
- Letter XXXV.—(continued.): A Meeting • Letter XL (continued.)
- Letter XXXVI: Living with the Ainos • Letter XLI
- Letter XXXVI—(Continued.): Aino Hospitality • Letter XLI (Continued.)
- Letter XXXVII: Savage Life • Letter XLII
- Letter XXXVII.—(Continued.): Costume and Customs • Letter XLII (Continued.)
- Letter XXXVII. -(Continued.): Religion of Ainos • Letter XLII (Continued.)
- Letter XXXVIII: A Tipsy Scene • Letter XLIII
- Letter XXXIX: Visit to a Volcano • Letter XLIV
- Letter XXXIX. — (Continued.): A Wet Trip • Letter XLIV (Continued.)
- Letter XL: A Surprise • Letter XLV
- Letter XL.—(Continued.): Solitude • Letter XLV (Continued.)
- Letter XLI: The Missing Link • Letter XLVI
- Letter XLII: Compliments • Letter XLVIII
- Letter XLIII: A Cyclone • Letter XLIX
- Letter XLIV: Cremation • Letter LIX
- Index
- Mr. Murray's General List of Works
Summary
Barrenness of Savage Lafe—Irreclaimable Savages—The Aino Physique—Female Comeliness—Torture and Ornament—Child Life—Docility and Obedience.
BIRATORI, YEZO, August 24.
I EXPECTED to have written out my notes on the Ainos in the comparative quiet and comfort of Sarufuto, but the delay in Benri's return, and the non-arrival of the horses, have compelled me to accept Aino hospitality for another night, which involves living on tea and potatoes, for my stock of food is exhausted. In some respects I am glad to remain longer, as it enables me to go over my stock of words, as well as my notes, with the chief, who is intelligent, and it is a pleasure to find that his statements confirm those which have been made by the young men. The glamour which at first disguises the inherent barrenness of savage life has had time to pass away, and I see it in all its nakedness as a life not much raised above the necessities of animal existence, timid, monotonous, barren of good, dark, dull, “without hope, and without God in the world;” though at its lowest and worst considerably higher and better than that of many other aboriginal races, and—must I say it ?—considerably higher and better than that of thousands of the lapsed masses of our own great cities who are baptized into Christ's name, and are laid at last in holy ground, inasmuch as the Ainos are truthful, and, on the whole, chaste, hospitable, honest, reverent, and kind to the aged. Drinking, their great vice, is not, as among us, in antagonism to their religion, but is actually a part of it, and as such would be exceptionally difficult to eradicate.
The early darkness has once again come on, and once again the elders have assembled round the fire in two long lines, with the younger men at. the ends, Pipichari, who yesterday sat in the place of honour and was helped to food first as the newest arrival, taking his place as the youngest at the end of the right-hand row.
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- Unbeaten Tracks in JapanRevisiting Isabella Bird, pp. 254 - 261Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2018