44 HUNTING THE SEA OTTER. 



off, for we were close to the sea, we caught our first glimpse 

 of a sea lion, and a magnificent fellow he looked. Perfectly 

 motionless in the smooth sea, he reminded one of a huge 

 frog with his great broad shoulders just visible above the 

 water ; he seemed to regard us with a mild curiosity. 

 Before we could recover from our surprise he turned his 

 great head solemnly from side to side, as if unable to come 

 to any satisfactory conclusion about us, and sank in that 

 slow, eerie way common to the seal tribe, so suggestive of 

 a drowning man. On our return to the schooner, we found 

 Snow in no very pleasant frame of mind. The Governor's 

 reception had not been so gracious as at the former 

 interview, and, in spite of his promises and in the face of 

 his own papers and signature, he now positively refused to 

 give up our property ; the only concession he made was to 

 allow us to remove our anchors and chains, and that only 

 after Snow had assured him in the most forcible manner 

 that, in the event of disaster, a more than probable 

 contingency if we left without them, he alone would be held 

 responsible. This rather alarmed him, for at that time 

 England was represented in Japan by a minister whom of 

 old the Japanese knew they dared not trifle with ; this 

 gentleman was the late Sir Harry Parkes, to whose 

 uprightness of character and zeal for the service British 

 influence in the country was entirely due. While on this 

 subject I may say that it is a pleasure to know that his 

 eminent qualities were fully appreciated both at home and 

 abroad, and his death shortly afterwards in China, to which 

 country he was transferred, was universally regretted ; but 

 only those whose immediate interests he so ably cherished 

 and protected are in a position adequately to judge of the 

 success of his ministrations. 



As nothing more could be done that day we rowed 

 ashore to have a look at the village. We found it consisted 

 chiefly of fish-curing establishments, which formed a street 

 stretching along the beach. The better class of houses, 

 perched on the side of the hill rising behind them to the 



