HUNTING THE SEA OTTER. 7 



available, was purchased and hastily equipped for the 

 voyage. 



Sanguine as we were, it was impossible to be altogether 

 satisfied with the result of our exertions, whether in 

 regard to vessel, crew, or armament. But the resources at 

 our disposal, however limited and inefficient, were the only 

 means by which experience always difficult and generally 

 costly was to be obtained. And we parted at length with 

 the understanding that, if even partial success should crown 

 our efforts, the present attempt should be followed up by us 

 both in the ensuing spring in such a manner and with such 

 an outfit as the practical knowledge, which it was expected 

 would be gained, might dictate. 



Briefly stated, this voyage was neither pleasant nor 

 profitable. The vessel was not only old but unseaworthy, 

 the skipper incompetent, the crew insubordinate, and both 

 outfit and armament, in the shape of boats and rifles, defective. 

 So leaky was the old schooner that the pumps were seldom 

 at rest, and before a quarter of the distance to the hunting 

 ground had been completed both masts went by the board 

 during a sudden squall off Scindai Bay. This caused a 

 delay of over two months, and when eventually the scene 

 of operations was reached, the lateness of the season pre- 

 vented anything beyond the chance of a partial repayment 

 of the expenses incurred ; in fact, nothing but the in- 

 domitable energy and perseverance of my active partner, 

 Captain Snow, prevented the whole affair from being a 

 complete failure. It had been the original intention to 

 remain as late in the winter as possible, but the rotten state 

 of the old craft made it only too evident that she was ill- 

 prepared to face the furious blasts of a northern autumn. 



As the season advanced, chains had to be bound round 

 her to keep the hull from going to pieces ; battens were 

 nailed over the more open seams to keep the water out ; so 

 thankful to reach the little fishing village and harbour of 

 Nemoro, situated at the northern end of the Island of 

 Yezo Snow ran the old hulk ashore and burned her. 



