uilt their
houses by the sea. They used to go out for miles to fish, but now they
are so petered out that they go only to the mouths of the rivers to
fish. They used to hunt in the mountains, but they do not take
hunting-trips any more. Venereal diseases and rum (saki) have depleted
them year by year, just as in the case of our American Indians. They are
largely sterile now. They used to build their own boats, but they build
no more. It is a biological old age. Their day is through."

"It is a sad thing to see a race dying out," said Pat.

"Especially a white race, as these Ainus seem to be," said another
member of the party.

And back to the village we went silently, plodding through a driving
blizzard that bore in upon us with terrific force. As we fought our way
through this blizzard, I could not help feeling a great sense of
depression. It is a fearful thing to see anything die, especially a race
of human beings. That is a great epic tragedy worthy of a Shakespeare.
That is enough to wring the soul of the gods. That a race has played the
game, has been powerful and conquering and triumphant, and then step by
step has petered out and become weak and senile until biological decay
has set in--that is fearful.

Another illustration of the ignominious failure of a lower type of mind
to understand a higher type of mind is set forth in the following
letter which was written at my request by a missionary whom I met in San
Francisco just as the final chapters of this book were being written.

The first time I met this missionary was in Seoul, Korea.

I have been told so many times that the cruelties in Korea have been
stopped. Certain men said that they had been stopped immediately after
the Independence Movement, but they were not stopped. At frequent
intervals the American press is flooded with statements which come from
Japanese press sources that the outrages in Korea have ceased.

I said to this missionary, who had just arrived from Korea, "Is it true
that the cruelties have stopped in Korea?"

"No! They have not stopped! They have not even diminished! They are
getting worse, rather than better!"

"Would you be willing to write out, in your own handwriting, a few
things that you know yourself which have occurred since I was in Korea
so that the book which I am writing may be accurate and up to date in
its facts?"

"I will be glad to do that for you! We who are missionaries dare not
speak the truth!"

"Why?