A Singular Tribe of Japanese—Blen of the Forest. THE A1NOZ.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 220, 17 September 1887, Page 5

A Singular Tribe of Japanese— Blen of the Forest.

THE AINOZ.

A missionary by the name of Carpenter, who is about returning to Japan, wheie he has laboured for some time among the Ainoz, lectured at the First Baptist Church, San Francisco, giving an interesting account of that singular tribe and the mission established among them. He de&cribed them as men of the forest, living like the North American Indians, by hunting and fishing, in the province of Nemuro, on the Island of Gaze. They are of swarthy complexion, with thick hair,heavy eyebrows and beards, and look ferocious, but are really oi kindly disposition and hospitable to a degree. They number about 12,000, but aic dew easing in numbers, paitly from the hardships and dangers of their pursuits and partly from the excessive use of sahle, a strong liquor which they prepare from lice. They are nature-worshippers, reverencing the sun, the moon, the sea, the forest, etc. Among animals the particular object of their veneration wa3 formerly the wolf, but is now the bear. They take a cub from the mother bear when very young, and bring it up like a child in the family, nursing it at the breast. When it becomes too large to be a family pet they shut it up in a pen and fatten it, and in the fall of the year, when they have a saturnalia, the bear is brought out, killed and eaten, each one getting a bit of the consecrated bear. They idolise military heroes and cherish with great reverence the memory of an ancient deliverer whom, they look foi to return to them, as the Aztecs do for the return of Montezuma. They have had no written language and no spiritual light until very recently. A Miss Batchelor, connected with their mission* has written a vocabulary for them and translated into their language, which is a> peculiar dialect of the Japanese, the Gos pel of Matthew. The mission has an acre or two of land in a lovely spot overlooking the bay of Nemuro, and a house with two rooms, one of which is used for their religious service. The name of their mission is the Good Hope Mission, and considering the great difficulties they had to encounter, their efforts have been quite successful. There have been Borne conversions, and the way is being opened for greater good in the" future. He rejoiced to return and devote his life to the work of enlightening and saving this pingular and interesting people. _______________