CHAPTER III- 



ANXIOUS as we were to get on, we would fain have 

 lingered for a few days to get some seal skins, but the 

 inhospitable shore was absolutely without shelter of any 

 kind. What a delightful cruise could be made along this 

 comparatively unknown coast in a good steam yacht, which, 

 regardless of wind or tide, could stand out to sea when 

 necessary, for the reefs are covered and the waters 

 abounded with sea-lions, fur and hair seals, the latter of 

 several varieties, while on the land are bears, great 

 quantities of deer (Cervus shika], almost identical with our 

 red deer, of large size and carrying splendid heads, 

 probably the Nigou or Japanese chamois (Antelope Krupi}, 

 or some kindred species in the mountains ; trout in the 

 streams ; swans, geese, and ducks of many varieties in the 

 lakes and lagoons. 



In the evening of the fourth day of our cruise a breeze 

 sprang up and we were soon running along the coast at 

 about five knots, but morning found us again in a dead calm. 

 It had been blowing hard enough outside, for in the trough 

 of the great glassy seas, which seemed too lazy to break, 

 we rolled incessantly, the gunwale almost under water, till 

 even Baker, who had been at sea, man and boy, for forty 

 years, was forced to pay toll to " Father Neptune." The 

 reefs began to show marks on the canvas, and both sails 

 and chafing gear suffered considerably, and all the time we 

 were drifting nearer the shore. This state of things lasted all 

 day, till about the same time the preceding evening, when, 

 just as orders had been given to " out boats " and tow the 

 ship off, jEolus, in sheer pity, sent us a nice steady breeze 



