interior
Searching for the Ainu in the interior
"The interior is a kind of a
jungle,” they said, "the home of yellow and black bears. And the rivers
are swollen from the heavy rains. The Ainu up the river are unfriendly and bad,
and they will kill you. Then in the high grass the horse-flies and mosquitoes
will eat you alive."
" If you go alone," said
the wise man of the party, "you will not come back alive."
These reports were not
encouraging, but dead or alive, if there were any Ainu up the stream I would
see them. There was no path or trail so I could not bring my baggage. I decided
to only carry my paint-box, wooden sketching panels, my diary, and my revolver.
I left all my other things at Otsu to wait for my return.
"Should you not come back
again, can I keep all your belongings as my property?" kindly asked the
landlord of the tea-house when I said good-bye.
All the villagers gathered early in the morning to see me start.
