MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 



521 



thought would serve us to drink 

 out of. 



The approach of the morning 

 drove us once more among the 

 hills. Day-light, however, sur- 

 prised us on the side of a barren 

 mountain, covered onl)', here and 

 there, with a few bushes. We 

 beheld foot-paths on every side, 

 and villages along the shore, as 

 far as our eyes could see. A thick 

 forest, in which we might have 

 concealed ourselves, lay at such a 

 distance, that it would have taken 

 us a long time to reach it, we 

 were, therefore, obliged to lie 

 down under the bushes around us. 

 The day being fine, we dried our 

 clothes, and deliberated on new 

 plans of escape. We v/ere well 

 aware that we could obtain pro- 

 visions only bv forcible means, 

 and that, after having committed 

 violence, we should no longer be 

 in safety, as the Japanese ivould 

 doubtless redouble their vigilance, 

 and station guards along the 

 coast ; all chance, therefore, of 

 getting on board a vessel would 

 have been entirely at an end. 

 We thought it a more adviseable 

 scheme to gain possession of a 

 couple of fishing-boats, which 

 ^were to be met with at every 

 .point along the shore, and to row 

 to a small island covered with 

 wood, which lay betweeii twenty- 

 five and thirty worsts from the 

 coasts, and which, when we were 

 at Matsmai we had htard was 

 uninhabited. W^e might there 

 build a convenient hut, kindle 

 fire when we pleased, and during 

 the day gather, witliout danger 

 of detection, shell -fish and sea 

 weeds for our support. It would 

 thus be very easy for us to wait 

 until an opportunity presented 



itself, in calm weather, of board- 

 ing a loaded vessel sailing past 

 the island. This v/as a part of 

 our plan, which we were of opi- 

 nion could be executed without 

 difficulty, as during the three 

 days we had been on this part of 

 the coast, we had observed that 

 all vessels and boats passed be- 

 tween the island and the coast of 

 Matsmai, and it appeared always 

 stood near the island ; we were 

 besides aware, that m the summer 

 calms very frequently occur io 

 those seas. If this project should 

 fail we still might, during the 

 summer, when the wind is never 

 violent, and almost always blowing 

 from the east, trust to the fishing- 

 boats for carrying us to the coast 

 ofTartary, which is about four 

 hundred and six worsts distant 

 from Matsmai. 



But while we were framing 

 plans for our deliverance, an ad- 

 verse fate was preparing for us. 

 We saw people walkingbackwards 

 and forwards on the foot-paths by 

 which we were surrounded, but 

 it did not appear that we were 

 observed by them. At length, 

 on a hill at some distance, Mr. 

 Chlebnikoff perceived a woman 

 who frequently pointed to the 

 place in which we were, and 

 turned round on every side, 

 beckoning with her hand, as if 

 calling on persons to approach 

 her. We soon understood that 

 these signs concerned us, and we 

 descended into a hollow in the 

 hope of escaping through it into 

 the heart of the forest. Before, 

 however, we reached the bottom 

 of the hollow, we found it sud- 

 denly surrounded by men, who 

 hastened to the spot from every 

 side, on foot and on horseback. 



The 



