CRUISE OF THE STEAMER GORWIN. 33 



whale-boat furnished by the company. Upon reaching Northeast Point, at 10 p. m., I learned 

 from the native watchman stationed there that the schooner had kept on to the northward. We 

 kept watch during the night, however, but did not see the vessel until daylight, when she was dis- 

 covered about twenty miles ofl"-shore, lying to. This showed that her people had a fixed purpose, 

 which could be no other than an intention to attempt a landing for the purpose of capturing seals, 

 and I watched the vessel closely. She was in sight until noon, when thick fog set in, obscuring 

 the view. A fresh westerly gale prevailed during that time. Late in the afternoon the wind mod- 

 erated and the weather cleared, but the schooner was not to be seen. We kept a bright lookout 

 that night also, and at 12.30 a. m. (September 1) discovered the schooner sailing down the eastern 

 side of the island, about a mile offshore. 1 immediately called up the crew, launched the boat, 

 and set out in pursuit. After a pull of a mile and a half, I reached the vessel at 1 a. m. She was 

 then anchored close inshore. I boarded her with my men and found the master of the vessel on 

 board. Upon being questioned, he freely admitted that he was there for the purpose of sealing, 

 aud that his boats had been sent ashore to make a catch. I then waited for the return of the boats. 

 The master meanwhile pleaded to be released, making various excuses, and saying that I would 

 "lose nothing" if I would let the vessel go. In a short time the three boats belonging to the vessel 

 came back loaded with seal carcasses. Having now secured all necessary evidence, I notified the 

 captain of the seizure of the vessel. It was not without trouble that I succeeded in overcoming a 

 manifest disposition to resist the seizure. I had now six white men to contend with, and some of 

 them were outspoken in their determination not to be arrested. They were beginning to arouse 

 a spirit of resistance in the captain also, when I called him aside, formally notified him that I 

 seized his vessel in behalf of the Government of the United States, warned him against resistance, 

 and demanded the vessel's papers. He immediately surrendered them, and the other men then 

 resigned themselves to their fate. There was an occasional outbreak on the part of one or the 

 other of the more turbulent ones, but nothing serious occurred from first to last. 



By the schooner's papers she was shown to be the Adele, of Hamburg, Gustave Isaacson, 

 master, with three ofiBcers and a crew of eighteen Japanese. In addition to the four white men 

 belonging to the vessel, I found on board two others whose presence was not accounted for except 

 by a verbal statement from the captain that they were passengers. They were ashore with the 

 others killing seals at the time I boarded the vessel. One of the passengers, Sullivan by name, 

 was more disposed to resist arrest than any of the others, saying that all he possessed " was in 

 the vessel." The Adele, as exhibited by her papers, was built at Shanghai in 1877, and measures 

 " fifty British tons." She sailed from Yokohama April 9 last, having cleared for a hunting voyage 

 to the North Pacific, the Kurile Islands, and return. She was therefore out of the waters for 

 which she cleared, in addition to which she had no name painted on the stern. 



Many of the seals brought off by the boats were thrown overboard in the attempt to get away, 

 but I secured twenty one, and afterwards had the skins removed and salted. The vessel con- 

 tained, besides, two hundred and seventeen seal skins, ten sea-otter skins, eighteen sea-lion skins 

 (poor), thirteen fox-skins, forty-two sacks of salt, forty-two mats of salt, and thirty-eight mats of rice. 



After daylight we got the vessel under way and proceeded to the village. The master and 

 ofiQcers of the vessel refused to have anything more to do with her management, and it therefore 

 became necessary to detain them as prisoners. As I could not hope to keei> six well-armed men 

 under restraint with my small force, aud as the vessel did not afford any safe place for confine- 

 ment, I deemed it necessary to send them ashore to be kept there until your arrival. The agent 

 of the company generously offered to provide quarters and food for them as prisoners, and the 

 special agent kindly volunteered to assume charge of them. The crew then refused duty. I 

 detained five of them on board and sent the remainder ashore. 



Soon after our arrival at the village, word was received by telephone from Northeast Point 

 that a schooner was there engaged in the capture of seals, and that another vessel was approach- 

 ing from the northward. It was necessary to drive off these marauders as soon as possible, so I 

 procured a fi-esh crew of natives and started forthwith. As the Adele could not be left with safety, 

 owing to the want of any harbor, I considered it advisable to use her for the purpose of giving 

 chase to the others. 



Upon reaching Northeast Point I saw one schooner lying at anchor, about six miles off-shore, 

 H. Mis. 602 3 



