8o HUNTING THE SEA OTTER. 



that the number of survivors must have been few, if more 

 than one. The solemn silence which reigned supreme over 

 the black darkness of the night, the flickering torches which 

 threw their dim, uncertain light around and yet were bright 

 enough to furnish us with these details, which, woven into 

 the web of experience, told an all-too-easily-read tale of 

 misfortune and disaster. Better, surely, to have perished 

 with their shipmates during the few moments of struggle 

 with seething foam and storm-tossed billows than to be 

 cast bruised and helpless upon a shore as bleak and in- 

 hospitable as the sea that had rejected them. All inquiries, 

 later on, failed to give us any information about the unfortu- 

 nate castaways who had never been seen or heard of by the 

 natives; so, probably, like many others who make their living 

 on the great waters, they rest quietly and unknown where 

 their only dirge would be the eagles' scream mingled with 

 the roar of angry waters, which alone unite to break the 

 silence of this gloomy solitude. 



We gathered and cut as much firewood as we thought 

 sufficient, and, dragging with us the yard and sail, returned 

 without mishap to the cheery light of the fire. The sail 

 was given to the men, w T ho crawled beneath its ample folds, 

 and doubtless slept ; for cannot a Japanese sleep anywhere, 

 and at all times ? As to ourselves, we lay down or sat 

 round the fire to pass the night as best we could. The 

 skipper and I had to content ourselves with cutting out our 

 pockets, in which tobacco had been kept, and smoking 

 them, for neither of us could raise a pipeful of the precious 

 weed between us. The fire was carefully tended, as certain 

 unmistakable sounds during the night betokened the 

 presence of bears, which are both numerous and fierce in 

 these parts. After a miserable night of cold and hunger, 

 the first streak of dawn was hailed with delight. A bubbling 

 spring of clear, hot water, which issued from the rocks a 

 short distance from our camp, afforded us the means of 

 washing ourselves, and this added to our comfort. And, after 

 skinning the otters, we made an inspection of the hut and 



