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The distance between Morioka and Numakunai is 823 ri; the first part of which after bad weather, such as when I passed, is rather bad travelling, added to the discomfort of which I was unfortunate enough on both stages we made to be accommodated with unusually small and uncomfortable pack saddles. I remarked that in distinction from South of Morioka, the pack horses we met were not bitted, but had simply rope halters; and instead of one man leading each horse, they were allowed to pick their own way, one driver looking after several. The horses, too, were lower and not so leggy as the Sendai animals. When the ground is likely to be pretty soft, the straw shoes which are generally used as protection to the horses feet, were neglected. Men’s straw sandals are cheap enough throughout this country, being usually eight tenths of a cent to one cent per pair.
The valley is more or less cultivated all the way along. As you approach Numakunai (823 ri from Morioka) the hills become moderate, and are mostly bare of wood. This village may be said to be the last in the valley, there being above only a few houses. The name is Aino, or rather said to have been slightly changed from Numakumai. Before reaching this I had not noticed any Aino names, but many places to the southward in Nambu are so named. It is probable that the aborigines held the country which drains towards the North and East until a comparatively recent date. I have since learned that near the main road South of Morioka and between that and Koriyama, there is a mound in existence, where it is said by Japanese that about twelve hundred years ago Tamura Shôgun, the reigning Mikado’s General—and by some said to be his son—heaped up the bodies of all the Ainos killed by his troops in a great battle. The explanation of the name Yezo Mori supports this tradition, “Yezo” meaning Aino, and in the Aino language “Mori” signifying a mound.
There is a feature in the upper part of the valley of the Kita-kami which cannot well be passed unobserved. It is also to be seen in many river valleys on a larger or
