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LETTER XLVI

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 October 2010

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Summary

Lebungé is a most fascinating place in its awful isolation. The house-master was a friendly man, and much attached to the Ainos. If other officials entrusted with Aino concerns treat the Ainos as fraternally as those of Usu and Lebungé, there is not much to lament. This man also gave them a high character for honesty and harmlessness, and asked if they might come and see me before I left; so twenty men, mostly carrying very pretty children, came into the yard with the horses. They had never seen a foreigner, but either from apathy or politeness, they neither stare nor press upon one as the Japanese do, and always make a courteous recognition. The bear-skin housing of my saddle pleased them very much, and my boots of unblacked leather, which they compare to the deer-hide moccasins which they wear for winter hunting. Their voices were the lowest and most musical that I have heard, incongruous sounds to proceed from such hairy, powerful looking men. Their love for their children was most marked. They caressed them tenderly, and held them aloft for notice, and when the house-master told them how much I admired the brown, dark-eyed, winsome creatures, their faces lighted with pleasure, and they saluted me over and over again. These, like other Ainos, utter a short, screeching sound when they are not pleased, and then one recognises the savage.

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Unbeaten Tracks in Japan
An Account of Travels in the Interior, Including Visits to the Aborigines of Yezo and the Shrines of Nikkô and Isé
, pp. 143 - 153
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010
First published in: 1880

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  • LETTER XLVI
  • Isabella Lucy Bird
  • Book: Unbeaten Tracks in Japan
  • Online publication: 05 October 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511709845.017
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  • LETTER XLVI
  • Isabella Lucy Bird
  • Book: Unbeaten Tracks in Japan
  • Online publication: 05 October 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511709845.017
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • LETTER XLVI
  • Isabella Lucy Bird
  • Book: Unbeaten Tracks in Japan
  • Online publication: 05 October 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511709845.017
Available formats
×