AINOS, the name of a small but remarkable tribe in Japan, found chiefly in the island of Yesso. They are different in race and character from the ordinary Japanese, and seem to have been the earliest inhabitants of the country. Since the invasion of the islands by the Japanese, however, the Ainos have been gradually supplanted by the invaders, and arc now completely subject to them, although they still preserve the appearance of internal self-government, living in societies of from ten to twenty families, under a hereditary chief. Their language is quite distinct from the Japanese, and intercourse between the two peoples is carried on by a sort of mongrel dialect. The Ainos are not tall, averaging a little over 5 feet; but they are wellproportioned and strongly-built, with a type of countenance European rather than Asiatic. They are distinguished by an exuberance of hair on the head and body, a circumstance which has given rise to their name of " Hairy Kuriles." The women are ugly, and are much addicted to tattooing. The dress of the Ainos consists of a robe of skin or cotton, reaching to the knees and secured by a girdle; their huts are small and uncomfortable, with little or no furniture; and their food is mostly the produce of fishing and hunting, together with rice got by barter from the Japanese. They are probably less than 50,000 in number.